And by a revival, we’re talking about remaking many of the old ones, from the start of film making through really about the early 1960’s. That’s the question that was discussed briefly on WTTK here in Raleigh.
The genre never really went away. There are certainly movies here and there. Some are remakes. Ho many vampire movies have there been? Werewolves? King Kong was remade for the 2nd time a few years ago. Personally, I like the one with Faye Dunnaway the best.
Can you remake those old ones for the theaters? Good question. Something like Tarantula might work. Others, like The Tingled, might not, even as a fun summer flick. Making them for a network like SciFi or Chiller might be better. Lord knows SciFi needs some quality movies, instead of the normal drek.
Could many be remade without being silly or modern preachy, hosed much like was done with Noah? And be interesting for modern movie goers, who would shell out quite a bit more than decades ago? Would the subject matter interest them? Here’s some to consider:
Creature from the Black Lagoon: I never really like the original. The concept was great, but rather schlocky.
Phantom of the Oprah? Hunchback of Notre Dame? Nosferatu, done properly, to really scare the crap out of people, give them a serious case of the willies, would be good.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Kinda have that with the Hulk. The Invisible Man? That could be tough, unless set in an earlier era. Need to see and feel the madness.
Black Cat and Black Sabbath might be good. How about a modern version of The Blob?
If Hollywood wants to reach in the bag for remakes, why not use good material? Sometimes people just want to see a fun film without a deep message, though, of course, so many of those 50’s movies were linked to the Cold War and nuclear weapons. Like Them. Would one want to remake Jaws? How about campy stuff like Blood Beach? They remade Piranha, which was silly, campy, lots of gratuitous nudity, and hearkened back the 70’s and early 80’s movies, attempting to be fun, along with scary and gory.
Mummies are kinda out at the moment. The one with Brendan Frasier was great. How about a proper Wolfman? The recent one was bad. Would The Skull or It Came From Beneath The Sea work? Hey, maybe an American version of The Host?
What do you think? Anything you’d like to see remade, if done well? What’s your favorite monster movie? Could Godzilla bring on a Renaissance?
