Excl: Craven on remakes!
Feb. 19, 2009
This is shaping up to be the year where horror remakes might actually be accepted by us genre fans! Scoff if you must, but it seems inevitable. First MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D does pretty damn good then FRIDAY THE 13TH goes and breaks the frickin record for biggest horror opening. So like I said... can this finally spell the acceptance of remakes?
It seems that way. Speaking of remakes, one man heavily involved in a number would be genre legend Wes Craven. It all started with THE HILLS HAVE EYES and is stemming to THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, SHOCKER, THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS, and of course... A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Well our man JimmyO recently got a chance to catch up with Craven at a party showcasing THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT remake, which Jimmy says isn't half bad at all, saying it scores in the horror/thriller department. Hmm. But alas, THE LAST HOUSE opinions will come soon I'm sure... I'm here to tell you what Craven told JimmyO about all this remake hooplah!
Before I get to that though... Craven also talked a bit about his upcoming flick 25/8, which is Craven's much-anticipated(?) return to original horror. Here's what he told Jimmy in regards to 25/8: "My wife produced 25/8, the first film I've written since WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE. We shot it last summer, we're in post [production], and we're very proud of it. It's a totally new kind of horror film. That's the kind of thing I wanna do, you know, write my own stuff."
Well that's all intriguing... but exactly what you'd expect a director to say about his upcoming work. Alas I have faith in Craven and am highly anticipating 25/8, don't let me down Wes! Now onto the juicy remake talk! Interestingly enough it seems Craven didn't even mention A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET... wonder why? Could it be he doesn't have anything to do with the production? Seems that's all on Platinum Dunes now... and I'm OK with that. What Craven did mention were the remakes of both SHOCKER and THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. Here's what Jimmy got out of the legendary director:
"We're actually talking about remaking THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. Possibly SHOCKER also. So these ones that we've been remaking, especially THE HILLS HAVE EYES and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, I own with the producer. Two different producers and both close friends. Peter Locke with The Hills Have Eyes and Sean Cunningham with Last House. So we now own them after thirty years we got them back. It's funny because when we made those deals we thought, we'll never be alive in thirty years, we were all like [mimicking smoking pot]… but it turns out we're still alive. So were able to remake those. And People Under the Stairs and Shocker, although we don't own them, Universal owns them but we have rights with Universal and myself, and the producer who is Shep Gordon to say yes or no. So if we all say yes we can do it. Universal can't go off and make them with somebody else. So we're talking about doing that now."
Seems to me like Craven knows these puppies are going to get remade and that he would like to be the one overseeing rather than someone else. JimmyO also thinks so in response to Craven's enthusiasm when talking about these remakes. Oh... and why doesn't it surprise me at all that Mr. Craven is/was a fan of the smoking of the pot? Where do you think the idea for Freddy came from... I understand your wicked ways Mr. Craven. So there you have it... go ahead and read up on what Craven thinks of these remakes and spit your own opinions down below! As always, keep it here for any updates on any and all Craven films!
LAST HOUSE remake star Monica Potter
Spilled Blood: I give it 5 more years before SCREAM is remade.
4:02PM on 02/19/2009
Ohhhhhh you mean the stupid ones!
Ohhhhhh you mean the stupid ones!