Monday, September 19, 2011

40 Days of Night(mares) Day 28: Horror Movie You'd Like to See Remade/Rebooted

This is a difficult one to think about. Empirically speaking, I'm against remaking movies needlessly. There's few movies that can be helped by being remade. However, I am open-minded enough to look at each proposed one on a case by case basis.
For example, I could totally understand making King Kong, because the technology has come so far that it could breathe a new life into the big ape. But, it's not like the original needed to be made. Sometimes we need to learn to just leave things alone. The remake is fine, a little overlong, especially at the beginning, but it doesn't add anything, except for the insect pit.
It's hard to say what makes a remake viable in my opinion, or even considerable. There are twice as many, if not more, poor substitute remakes than there are good ones. The relative merits can be argued, but, in most cases, the original is always going to come out on top. 
But, never one to shy from a challenge, I thought about a movie that, although it remains a favorite, could use an update, and possibly a more serious tone.
They Live is a masterpiece of cheese and, for its time, impressive effects. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper stars as a blue collar guy who happens upon a pair of special sunglasses that allow him to see behind the facade of aliens that are quietly infiltrating our society through hidden messages and subliminal messages. From there, Roddy tries to figure out a way to stop the invasion. 
It wasn't a high budget film, and it shows, unfortunately, and yet, it is somehow perfect the way it is. Roddy gets to chew scenery and say some of the best one-liners committed to film. My favorite is, "I have come to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm fresh out of gum." There's also one of the longest fight sequences ever, and it's brilliant.
So, why would I want to see it redone? I feel like it would be possible to take the exact same premise, turn it darker and take out the lighter tone, and make a different, if not better movie. I'd like to see it in the hands of someone like Chris Nolan, who can instill it with the proper gravitas.
I give the original a 7 out of 10.

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