Classic Horror and the new generation

[Art_of_crime]

http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/frankenstein-jj-001.jpg
So I'm a huge classic horror fan. I love the old Universal Monsters, and what came after. I'm also a fan of the newer Horror. the Slasher flicks of the 80's and 90's and the more cerebral horror movies like In the Mouth of Madness, Ringu, Ju-on (the grudge) and so on.
I thought I would make a thread where we can discuss how the new horror and remakes stack up against the old ones. Who was scarier, who was evil vs misunderstood. All that stuff.
I'll open up with a few suggestions to get the ball rolling.

Who would win in a fight Frankenstein's Monster or Michael Myers?

Have there been any remakes that do justice to or even are superior to the originals in your opinion?

Should Dr. Jekyll be held responsible for Mr. Hyde's crimes?

Is Japanese Horror here to stay or is it just the flavor of the week?

If you have any better ideas add them on. I just want to talk about horror movies.

[SnoBorderZero]

Well I'd say in terms of remakes that the only ones off the top of my head that have been any good would be 1982's "The Thing" and 2004's "Dawn of the Dead". I hate remakes because they have little point and since the material isn't its own can never really be praised for anything, and I would say that the majority of horror remakes aren't just pointless, but awful. Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, Prom Night, etc. are all absolutely terrible remakes of great originals. It's really sad actually, and what's even worse is when people my age rent movies like that, love them and have no idea that there were originals of them. My generation has no clue what a good movie is. I had to defend my case at a party once how the new Halloween was a piece of **** and how the original is a classic. Sad.

[DVDAVE]

I hate remakes too. It's a sad day when people start defending the remake of Halloween saying that it is better then the original. That makes me a sad panda :(

[Art_of_crime]

I agree The Thing was a good remake, and Dawn of the dead was great, but I still love the original. What was nice about the remake was that it had the same premise, but was different enough that it seemed almost like a different movie.
The remake of Day of the dead however was piss poor.
How did you feel about Francis Ford Copola's Dracula?

[unity768]

I saw the original Frankenstein in film study class back in 11th grade and loved it. The CW TV series Supernatural had an episode on last night with a theme that surrounded old school horror flicks, with the entire episode filmed in black and white. Very interesting.

And Snowborder, it saddens me to hear your dilemma regarding the Halloween films. It's ridiculous to even think people liked the remake over the original.

[Frizzo the Clown]

I love classic horror. In fact, I make a point, every October, to watch my collection of classic horror all month long. I've been busier than usual lately, so I haven't watched as many as I'd like, but today it was "Frankenstein."

[Art_of_crime]

Ever see Frankenstein meets the wolfman? that was a fun one. Lugosi plays the monster. very cool.

[Frizzo the Clown]

I always found it ironic that Legosi played Frankie in that one, considering he turned the part down originally.

[Art_of_crime]

yeah me too. I guess in his old age he swallowed his pride to pay the rent. He also played Igor once.

[DVDAVE]

As far as remakes yeah as I said I hate the idea they generaly suck. But the ones mentioned I do like alot "The Thing", and "The Dawn Of The Dead" remakes were great. Another one comes to mind was "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" with Donald Sutherland in my eyes the best one out of the series. But other then them I am an OG I like the originals. The original "Black Christmas" is one of my favorites of all time. I freaking hated the ramake.

[FranklinTard]

dawn of the dead remake was not better than the original. watch it again, zombies are in it for maybe 20 minutes.

[DVDAVE]

dawn of the dead remake was not better than the original. watch it again, zombies are in it for maybe 20 minutes.

NO sorry you miss understood me. I do not think that Dawn Of the Dead remake was better then the original. Not even close. But it was a decent remake and I did enjoy it. But no the original is one of my favorites of all time.

[the elmo zombie]

did we all just forget how great a remake The Blob was???

[Justin]

The Dawn of the Dead remake wasn't bad. It is certainly one of the better remakes in existence, however.

[Darth Maul]

hell ya it was, i loved that movie. Still one of my fave horror movies to this day, next to the thing of course.

[FranklinTard]

watch it again, keep in mind you want to see zombies in a zombie film.

[DVDAVE]

One of my favorites of all time is the original Black Christmas. So underrated in my book, and so influential. It is one of the few horror movies that actually does scare me. It has such a very disturbing atmosphere and mood. For fans of horror and for people who havn't checked it out do yourself a favor and check out this gem you wont regret it.

10/10

[Art_of_crime]

I hope the new trend in remakes dries up soon. I really don't want to see a Hellraiser remake, or a friday the 13th.
Halloween was bad enough.
The worst part for me was giving Michael Myers a solid back story. I liked it better when he was just this unstoppable force of evil, not some chubby little kid with mommy issues.

[steintym]

I hope the new trend in remakes dries up soon. I really don't want to see a Hellraiser remake, or a friday the 13th.
Halloween was bad enough.
The worst part for me was giving Michael Myers a solid back story. I liked it better when he was just this unstoppable force of evil, not some chubby little kid with mommy issues.

Although the Halloween remake didn't compare to the original, I did enjoy it. I think I'm one of the few that actually did enjoy it.

I'm hoping the F13 remake is solid. I'd really like to see that franchise get a reboot. It was one of my favorites growing up and it just ended up getting silly.

[somedaygreat]

I'm really hoping that Asian Horror isn't here to stay. I've seen several films (A Tale Of Two Sisters, Acacia, Ju-On, and also movies remade from Asian horror films: The Grudge, Dark Water, The Ring, The Ring 2, and The Eye).

With the exception of The Eye, I found all of these movies to be either confusing or boring. The characters are written coldly and thinly, so when they are threatened or die, the viewer really doesn't care. Making the viewer care about the characters is important.

All of the Asian horror movies I've seen seem to revolve around evil children and/or their vengeful spirits. (Again, the exception being The Eye). It gives that "seen one, you've seen 'em all" reputation to Asian horror films, and I don't like that. The fact that the evil spirit in Ju-On would kill innocent bystanders because of the way he was killed seems ridiculous to me. There really should've been an explanation of that, if not removing it completely from the American remake, and changing the manner of death of the child.

I have a lot of love/hate feelings toward The Ring. Another evil child, with no explanation for her her behavior (at least prior to her death), or why it didn't start as soon as the parents brought her home. That I guess I can live with, but as with the other Asian horror films, the characters have no depth. I especially don't like that Aiden's persona seems to be derived directly from that of Osment's character in The Sixth Sense. I also think they did a horrible job of connecting the two parents and child. The relationship between Adien and Rachel seems cold and empty, so when the audience realizes that the boy may die, no one cares on a personal level. I personally only cared because he was a child.

I hope that people will realize this, or that the Asian writers/directors will realize some things need to change with their style in that sense.

[Darth Maul]

watch it again, keep in mind you want to see zombies in a zombie film.

I watched It many times, ppl died and got up then they started attacking people. Ya they're not you're regular romero zombies but they're still zombies....that go to the gym as romero put it, but again still zombies. I guess you might have liked it I take it?

[Justin]

Edit.

[FranklinTard]

I watched It many times, ppl died and got up then they started attacking people. Ya they're not you're regular romero zombies but they're still zombies....that go to the gym as romero put it, but again still zombies. I guess you might have liked it I take it?

im pointing out how little the zombies are used in the film. you see them for a kickass opening sequence, then gone for quite some time. then finally in a retarded ending sequence with some super zombie killing buses, albeit accompanied with a sweet 80s style montage.

the movie could have used more zombies and less bull**** character building, who really watches a zombie flick for characters? honestly?

[Justin]

True -- a sweet 80's style montage would have been a nice extra.

[Matrix_Fan]

im pointing out how little the zombies are used in the film. you see them for a kickass opening sequence, then gone for quite some time. then finally in a retarded ending sequence with some super zombie killing buses, albeit accompanied with a sweet 80s style montage.

the movie could have used more zombies and less bull**** character building, who really watches a zombie flick for characters? honestly?

I take it you never watched the original movie then? It was mostly character driven than zombie driven.

The remake had less character stuff the the original did.

[Art_of_crime]

So did anyone catch the Friday the 13 trailer last night on the "Scream" awards? Its way to early to tell very much about it, but I did see one thing that made me kind of interested.
I know 10 posts ago I said I wish all remakes would dry up, I suppose I'm eating a little crow here. All I will say is that one aspect looks very interesting

[Edgar]

I agree, It does seem interesting ,but it was only a tiny bit of it so who knows

[Edgar]

here is a fight i would like disscused old school vs new school, vs, modern school

old school (dracula, the mummy, the werewolf, frankenstien's monster)

new school ( freddy, jason, leatherface, Michael Myers)

modern school (jigsaw, the hills have eyes mutants, devils rejects ,the ghost/gouls from all japanesse horror films

[jokerzfinest]

well i think that the halloween remake was pretty good the original was better but the whole back story was cool...the movies that got silly toward the end should have remakes so the mistakes that happened before can be fixed or even given new ideas....

[jokerzfinest]

what did anybody think of the remake for amityville horror i believe the new version did the original justice....?

[docstop]

What does everybody think of the movie 30 Days of Night? On the outside it says it is the scariest vampire movie of all time. I watched it for the first time on DVD and I could not find one scene that freaked me out. Maybe it was because I was watching it on tv but still i watched The Strangers right after and it definitely shocked me. I guess 30 Days is more about gore than actual scares.

[Art_of_crime]

30 days was great if you could put yourself in the situation and imagine yourself being a part of the group that was trying to survive in one of the most isolated and claustrophobic places.
It was not the most frightening movie out there, I'll give you that. However it did get a reaction out of a lot of people. It was also nice to see a vampire movie where the Vampires were not a lot of poofy overdressed gothy lame asses. (yes I'm referring to the loser vamps in Underworld that sat around the mansion all day)

[docstop]

That's just what I was thinking myself. If I had been there it would be an experience to remember... if I survived. I agree that the vampires were very realsitic but the fact that there was so many of them took away from the horror. Take the exact same situation, a small, remote village in the middle of winter, with no daylight for 30 days and make it that a serial killer is the scare effect. In fact I think there is a movie based on this coming out soon called White Out starring Kate Beckinsale. What do you guys think?

[docstop]

Don't know why the thumbs down icon was turned on. Nothing against your post, Art of Crime.

[FranklinTard]

i saw 30 days for a dollar and it was worth it. i doubt ill watch it again, but it was alright for a buck. i would agree they were superior vampires to the underworld vamps though.

[Art_of_crime]

Don't know why the thumbs down icon was turned on. Nothing against your post, Art of Crime.

no problem.
a serial killer in that situation would be great. I would go see that.
good call

[steintym]

I liked 30 Days a lot. I really enjoyed the setting. Having the entire movie take place in the snowny, small town was a cool twist. Also, cool to get away from the Goth Vampires that we see in every movie.

[rockinred]

I liked the Dawn of the Dead remake. I also think the Night of the Living Dead remake wasn't bad at all either. :omg:

[Art_of_crime]

I'm re-watching all of the friday the 13th movies except Jason X, just for kicks and because I want to have them all fresh in my mind when the remake comes out.

[steintym]

I've actually been planning on doing the same. I've seen 1 - 4 so many times that they're pretty easy to recall. I haven't watched the rest of the series in quite a few years. Might be a beer and F13 weekend.

[Art_of_crime]

I've actually been planning on doing the same. I've seen 1 - 4 so many times that they're pretty easy to recall. I haven't watched the rest of the series in quite a few years. Might be a beer and F13 weekend.
sounds like a good time to me.

[EnderDeschain]

I'm re-watching all of the friday the 13th movies except Jason X, just for kicks and because I want to have them all fresh in my mind when the remake comes out.


Why not Jason X? I thought it was the best in the series. Well, maybe that's an overstatement, The Final Chapter was probably best. But Jason X and The New Blood are tied for second.

I loved Jason X because it really built up what Jason is and respected the source material. Forget about the goofy-ass looking uber-Jason after he was rebuilt, the visual was ridiculously awful but prior to that it worked brilliantly. The whole premise of the government capturing him made perfect sense, and actually seemed inevitable.

Oh yeah, as far as I'm concerned JGTH never happened, so **** that movie.

Anyway, from the opening scene Jason was menacing in the same way that Lecter was (no, calm down, I'm not comparing the movies). That whole "caged animal" thing that, especially when used with an established character like Jason who we know what he's capable of, is scary and suspenseful when done right. Which it was. After he's cryo'd and the students find him, they thaw him out, and even while FROZEN ****ING SOLID he cuts someone's arm off.

That is why I liked this movie. After part six or so I started seeing Jason as more or less the embodiment of that presence from Final Destination. He's death with legs, baby, he's a ****ing force of nature. If events can transpire in a way that allows him to kill or maim you, no matter how unlikely said events are, they will transpire that way. Because Jason ****ing Voorhees is the opposite of life. When the big ship blew up at the end, of all the infinite trajectories the force of the blast could have put him on, of all the directions he could have been thrown in, he is hurled straight toward the only living organisms within light years. That's ****in perfect, and is how Jason should be treated.

All of that implies supernatural, but I think that's something best left unexplored. There's certainly something supernatural about him, but when it comes down to it he's still Jason, and what drives him is something close to human. Sex and drugs, that's what makes him go, that's what torques his gears, and the writers illustrated that beautifully and understood it, acknowledged it, in a way that most of the others didn't. They just threw some teens having nakedized seximization in Jason's path and let him kill them, they never really explored the fact that that's what DRIVES him. I loved the scene in X where everyone on the ship is engaged in various sexual acts of some sort or another, the two horny idiots, the Professor and the slut, and the dork and his android. As the sexual tension mounts, Jason's fingers start to move, the random slut starts moaning louder and his arm twitches and right when the sexual energy reaches it's climactic crescendo Jason SITS RIGHT THE **** UP. That was such a wonderfully executed scene that it made me grin and spill my popcorn jumping in my seat thinking "Holy ****, these people actually get it!"

The kills were stellar too, particularly the girl with her face frozen and smashed. That one's my favorite. But the guy spinning on the oversized drill bit, the ever-awesome sleeping bag into a tree, all were bad ass. Even a simple breaking of the neck was done in a distinctly Jason way. I ****ing loved this movie, and can't understand why so many others don't.

Yeah, it ****ed the football after Jason got "rebuilt". I was almost embarassed for Mr. Hodder watching him shamble around in that goofy-looking getup. But the visual aside, I felt like they handled the character perfectly. The box office on the last few was awful, so the idea of taking him completely out of his element, of taking this force of nature and putting him somewhere he really doesn't belong, was the next logical step. Jason Takes Manhattan was supposed to do something similar, but as we all know budget constraints and what-not ****ed that all up. This used the same idea but pushed it a bit farther, and it worked wonders in my opinion.

I think X was hurt quite a bit by the fact that Hellraiser and Leprechaun had already done the "in space" angle, so everyone thought it was gimmicky in the way that Leprechaun's space exploration was. It wasn't. Neither was Hellraiser Bloodline in my opinion, I thought that one was actually kind of decent. But the point is, it seems to me that Jason X is very unfairly treated by most critics and fans. I only hope the creators of the forthcoming remake have as much reverence for the source material as the guys behind X did.

[LukeHorror14]

I like the classics way better than the new stuff. To me the new stuff is sissy stuff, what ever happened to the old slasher wearing mask killing machine. 70s-early 90s were the good stuff..then horror started having remakes such as - American Psycho, Frankenstein, Halloween, The Omen, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, My Bloody Valentine 3D.....ugh..it's annoying, but then again some of the remakes were good..

[thepaulo]

It's very hard to reinvent the horror genre and remake classic films with real fresh original take.






http://www.gapthemovie.com/

[JackTourette500]

I liked 30 Days a lot. I really enjoyed the setting. Having the entire movie take place in the snowny, small town was a cool twist. Also, cool to get away from the Goth Vampires that we see in every movie.

Yeah this book is probably for you then, pal.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41k5vX-%2BXwL._SS500_.jpg

Hopefully someone snatches up the property rights soon and makes it into a movie. Probably one of the better books reads I've had in a long time.

[steintym]

^^ Cool, thanks for the recommendation. Might have to check that out.

[JackTourette500]

^^ Cool, thanks for the recommendation. Might have to check that out.

No prob., man. It's a lot like 30 Days of Night meets 'Salem's Lot.

[Movie_Jamie]

That's just what I was thinking myself. If I had been there it would be an experience to remember... if I survived. I agree that the vampires were very realsitic but the fact that there was so many of them took away from the horror. Take the exact same situation, a small, remote village in the middle of winter, with no daylight for 30 days and make it that a serial killer is the scare effect. In fact I think there is a movie based on this coming out soon called White Out starring Kate Beckinsale. What do you guys think?

I thought 30 days was a pretty good movie overall. There was something missing that didn't put it in the "great" catagory, IMO. I would see the version you described and agree it could be scarier. Although, I think the existing story could be made into a better movie with different directing.

[Emmylou]

Classic owns the horror genre because it basically created the "cliches" that many current horror movies use. This bothers us because we've already seen 'em done right the first time. That said, lots of indie horror flicks are fantastic (did anyone NOT drool over Let The Right One In?)...the big budget ones usually bomb.

PS: Haunting In Connecticut is only scary for like 15 minutes (watched it today)...dont waste your cash on a rental if you were planning on it.

[N2NOther]

did we all just forget how great a remake The Blob was???

I haven't. It's one of my all time faves.

[embracethemartian7]

hey u guys should check out Dead Tone. its freakin scary. its a recut of the movie
7eventy 5ive because of its explicit content..its about these college kids getting together and playing a prank call game and their attempt to stay alive against the maniac on the other end. CREEPY.

check out the trailer

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af79/candicrush/Dead-Tone-Poster-small.jpg

[embracethemartian7]

so i found some behind the scene pics and wanted to share it with you...also check deadtonemovie.com for the trailer

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/deeC0r/31266550c949411c532760b2d8662b4654f.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/deeC0r/8382_L_cbfbbde961.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/deeC0r/152813_2.jpg

[RedSmile]

I'd Rather watch the new remakes then regular new horror films. The new ones they've been releasing are gay. All of them are about some ghost, or demon, and vengful sould and bs. Too much of the supernatural. The only recent scary films that are different and original are the Orphan and the Uninvited.

[Samymn]

i dont ever remember being scareed by horror or even gore movies as a kid but always trying to rcreate it with my toys maybe its my damn generation desentized to scary stuff or maybe im just ****ed but ive always longed for more more more except this one movie with ed wood in it....you may have seen it plan nine from outer space. yeah it was scary, especially about a year later i saw ed wood in the theaters man oh man

[Escape]

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af79/candicrush/Dead-Tone-Poster-small.jpg
Just checked the trailer. Could be ok for a rental. Simple enough plot it seems along the lines with the boy who cried wolf.

[Jordan KO]

Friday the 13th 2009 > Friday the 13th pt 1 &2
Halloween > Rob Zombie's Halloween
Aliens, Predator > Alien vs. Predator films
Dawn of the Dead 2004 = George Romero's Dawn of the Dead
Saw > Hostel
The Wolf Man > Cursed
the grudge > the ring
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 > The Beginning
Valentine > My Bloody Valentine 3D
Resident Evil > Return of the Living Dead
Nightmare on Elm Street = Jeepers Creepers
Joy Ride > The Hitcher 2006
IMO

[ghteacher]

I guess my pick is to redo the JAWS franchise and see if Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss would return. The CGI woudl be awesome I think and have a group of sharks, not just the one. Also, bring in some of the elements that made movies like ORCA and THE DEEP so great and also the orginal film

JAWS - RETURN TO AMITY

[DVDAVE]

I guess my pick is to redo the JAWS franchise and see if Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss would return. The CGI woudl be awesome I think and have a group of sharks, not just the one. Also, bring in some of the elements that made movies like ORCA and THE DEEP so great and also the orginal film

JAWS - RETURN TO AMITY

This would be the worst thing that could possibly happen for me. Jaws is my favorite film ever and if they remade it I would just take a hole bottle of sleeeping pills and hope to never wake up. For the love of god I hope that would never happen.

[docstop]

This would be the worst thing that could possibly happen for me. Jaws is my favorite film ever and if they remade it I would just take a hole bottle of sleeeping pills and hope to never wake up. For the love of god I hope that would never happen.

Gotta agree... not about the suicide part but a remake would not work at all.

[Ryan6]

The last great Horror Movie imo was The Blair Witch Project. Have not been too impressed with the recent stuff. The rage movies are quite cool, but there ain't much to shout about. Don't think the 70s will ever be matched.:D

[PutOnTheGlasses]

Gotta love the puppet master series

If you havent seen it, full moon is doing a big ass sale on halloween
http://www.fullmoondirect.com/