Four of Them

That's right, ladies. The seductive allure of Blogathon has dragged me in yet again. This time, it is courtesy of The Kid, who asks us: why do we hate remakes so much? Or something like that.

Well, seeing as how I'm much too lazy to go looking around for pictures, we're freestyling it. Yo.

Okay, here's why I hate remakes: a lot of the time, they show a blatant disrespect and/or disregard for their originals. Especially remakes of Asian horror films, a trend that might've been put to rest with The Uninvited, or maybe even The Unborn (though it isn't a remake, the generic title, blue tinting, and themes or oddly-jointed demons coming for re-venge could easily be mistaken for such).

You see, they're all too glad to attach the original's good name in press releases, but when it comes time for execution, well, what they do can land anywhere between ineptness, scorn, and all-out hatred.

This is, of course, not true for all cases. Many non-horror films have been remade swimingly. I hear The Karate Kid is serviceable, for example. I mean, there are many remakes every year that go off wonderfully fine, even great. The remake, when done well, can reintroduce a whole new audience to a film beaten down by time, give it new life.

But what sucks is this: for we, the people who saw those movies before they were remade, it holds only a curiousity factor, as we'll likely know the ins and outs before the trailer is released. If they cast someone for the modern day Hollywood glamour, we're out. It will, to us, forever be that thing that makes your blood boil whenever it's on TV, or worse yet, when your less-versed compadres mistakingly think it is the one and only version of the story.

Remakes stand the constant threat of abusing the original's loyal fans, with such key words as 'wider audience' and 'freshen up' and...whatever. Disregarding us as those crusty old-movie fans who don't really matter in the grand Cinema scheme of things.

So take of that what you will. I, personally, like sequels, because my main interest in many movies is the characters, despite myself. Have a nice day.