Quote:
Originally posted by no mulier
Remake ... a new version of an earlier movie.
... If John Carpenter's The Thing doesn't say anything to you, I don't know what will...
... House of Wax, the director had some inspiration and has injected new ideas into the story...
...Lamoreux, I didn't realize there's that many teens-on-the-road films. But Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the grandfather of all these flicks. And therein lies the "nod" idea. You're being too literal with it anyway. EVIL DEAD and CABIN FEVER are in no way similar to TCM. I haven't seen ALIEN DEAD and WRONG TURN.
|
Because kicking a dead horse is such good sport...
My point is simply that HOUSE OF WAX (2005) is NOT a remake. It is not a NEW VERSION of an earlier movie. It has not injected NEW IDEAS into a story. It borrowed (read that, stoled) the title of a classic horror film, said, "Hey, let's actually make a house out of wax! Get it!" and wrapped a completely average much-older-actors-pretending-they're-teens slasher film around their, eh hem, idea.
I didn't say squat about Carpenter's THE THING. Had I, it would have gone something like this: Fantastic picture that took the time and trouble to go back to the original source material and make a terrific new film. A great REMAKE.
And my opinion has little to do with the fact I didn't like the new HOUSE OF WAX. I hated the remake of THE FLY. Nevertheless, they went to the effort to retell the same story. Therefore it is a true remake and a valiant effort. Whether or not I like it is completely beside the point.
Lastly, I was not comparing EVIL DEAD and CABIN FEVER to TCM. I was listing films featuring teens (or, more to the point, protagonists) stuck in the middle of bumbf--k Arkansas who run into things that say, "Rah! I'm a monsta!" There are many, many, MANY. And I won't bore either you or myself by listing any more. A carload of... whoever... on their way to... wherever... when they run into trouble is a standard movie device for launching a picture. See MY COUSIN VINNEY for heaven's sake. It is servicable and it gets the picture going, but probably wasn't an ephiphany striking the writer in the shower that required his jumping out and scratching the idea in the collected steam on the medicine cabinet mirror.
That said, I'm glad you enjoyed HOUSE OF WAX. Outside of the interesting visuals at the climax, I did not.