Now, I'm not one of those close-minded, dismissive people who hear about the creation of another remake and say, "OH THE FIRST ONE WAS A CLASSIC! IT CAN NEVER BE AS GOOD AS THE FIRST ONE!" I have watched almost every horror movie remake that has come out and judged them fairly. My conclusion was...most of them suck. I'm not trying to be a rude jackass, but the plain fact is that you are trying to remake movies that are already very good, and by doing so, are automatically setting yourself up for failure. The old saying is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Take A Nightmare on Elm Street for example. I knew, the second I saw a preview for the remake of this, that it would end in failure. Here's why: When I say "Freddy Kreuger" most people know who I'm talking about. You are taking a horror movie villain that is iconic and trying to change him, and that will always hit a sore spot with movie goers who have seen the original. Most people don't like change like that in film because they already have a cemented idea of how this villain should be and how the movie should go. Jackie Earle Haley isn't a bad actor, nor was his Freddy Krueger awful, but when he's compared to Robert Englund, he seems quite inferior. It's what I like to call "Dorothy Syndrome". Everybody who hears "Wizard of Oz" automatically thinks of Judy Garland as Dorothy. Now, you may see a stage show of Wizard of Oz in the theater, and the actress playing Dorothy may be phenomenal, but in the back of your head you think, "She's not Judy Garland." Ending the rant on the Nightmare on Elm Street remake, there were other elements besides Freddy that made the movie fail, but I want to address other things so I'll just say one more thing. The one part of the movie I found intriguing that the original didn't have was how it delved more into Freddy's personal history and whether he really hurt children at all. I mean, of coure he did, that's pretty predictable, but I still enjoyed the little flashbacks of his pre-burned life.
Anyways I seem to be rambling on quite a bit. Sorry. I have so much more to say, but I'll stop for now. There are a select few remakes I like (one or two), but most are a no-go for me. I'll end my blog with a challenge. A challenge to the movie industry in general. MOVIE INDUSTRY, IF YOU ARE LISTENING, PLEASE GIVE ME A FILM THAT IS ORIGINAL. STOP TRYING TO TAKE MASTERPIECES AND MAKE THEM BETTER! I would not take Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night, vomit on it, and say, "HERE THIS IS MY ART I MADE IT BETTER." And please, oh pretty please, DON'T REMAKE A MOVIE AND GIVE IT A DIFFERENT TITLE. I'M LOOKING AT YOU "THE ROOMATE"!!! WE ALL KNOW YOU'RE A REMAKE OF SINGLE WHITE FEMALE DAMNIT!