Oh Suspiria..how I thought you were safe once again.

Suspiria remake coming soon..more confirmed than before

There was a time that I felt giallo films were safe from remakes. They hadn't caught on in America like J-horror did, and it seemed like only the most enthusiastic of horror fanatics would seek them out. Despite the fact that Argento managed to get directorial jobs late in his career with American studios also didn't seem to mean anything towards increasing mainstream popularity with Italian horror in general. So much to my dismay, I read years ago about the initial plans to remake Suspiria, arguably one of the most iconic and legendary giallo films out there. Despite that David Gordon Green(who directed such marvels as Pineapple Express) seems to be a fan given his description of what he intends to do, I feel as cynical as can be in regards to this. Disregarding the fact that he's done nothing in the horror genre, there's simply no need to remake this whatsoever. I personally don't feel Suspiria was as good of a movie as most; it was atmospheric, the direction was fantastic, and it had some genuinely creepy scenes and imagery, but it tended to drag on longer than it should have, and by the end I felt myself thinking "finally some resolution". Despite that, I recognize it for what it is. It's as flawless of a film as you'll get tackling that story and attempting to recreate the atmosphere of the time it was filmed, the unbelievable score, and taking over for an Argento in his prime is arrogant. The man has money. He doesn't need to remake Suspiria for the cash so what's the point?

Green goes on to say:

[Our ‘Suspiria’] doesn’t follow the trend of the traditional horror movies of late, so it’s a leap of faith, financially. It’s actually very faithful.

So what is the point then? If it's faithful, then you need not remake it. If it's not faithful, then you most certainly don't remake it. If you want to talk financial risks then take how you're a fan of the film/genre and create something original that pays homage to films like Suspiria. To bother justifying a remake by saying it's faithful is asinine. I would *love* to see horror movies made today that utilized a style reminiscent of giallo films, but I have no desire to see remakes of them. If one positive is to come of this, at least maybe it will be in the form of a super-packed Suspiria Blu-Ray.

The Silent House

The Silent House

Ahh yes. Now that hand-held cameras are all the rage, it was seemingly about time that another gimmicky horror film was to rear it's head up. This time the selling point is "real time". Now admittedly, that is a cool gimmick. It takes a lot of planning and a lot of effort to do any amount of filming done in one continuous take, but I highly doubt that's what happens here. Not even Hitchcock's Rope was one continuous take, however it was filmed to hide the cuts as well as possible. From what I've read about this film, it uses a similar tactic of conveniently placed "black outs" where it's rather obvious cuts were made. That's all fine and dandy, as I can't imagine filming a movie in one shot, but advertising the film as "REAL TIME" and "one continuous shot!" when it isn't is cheap marketing and doesn't instill confidence in the viewer that the film is actually, you know, any good. It's one thing to draw attention to your movie by playing with people's heads ala Blair Witch, but it's another to flat out lie about how a movie is made. I suspect the "inspired by true events" is equally as false, but that always goes without saying.

Trailer analysis:





To be fair, aside from the oddly out of place music, it looks like a pretty good movie. The actress seems like she does a decent enough job as long as she's consistent within the rest of the film outside the trailer. The atmosphere also looks to be a major focus which is very good. If you're going to even attempt to look as though you filmed a horror movie in one take, then atmosphere needs to be your priority since clearly gore and jump out scares can't be as readily available. IMDB lists it as a 5.5 at the moment, but given people tend to vote either 10 or 1 on that site, and only 417 votes are up, that's a little ambiguous to judge by at the moment. Overall it looks enjoyable and I'll watch it when I can find it.

Child's Play reboot on again..off again?

Source:Update claims reboot off

At some point I had managed to lose track of this reboot. Last I followed it was around 2008, as the article states, which was when it was first announced. As most reboots/remakes, or movies in general go, once something is announced it's pretty easy to lose track of it under the assumption that it is "in the works" so to speak and you'll hear an update whenever it comes. I was shocked to find out that the reboot had been off in the first place, but was glad to see it was back on. 

Child's Play is one of those franchises you either seem to love or hate. Personally, I love it. I don't particularly like the new movies(who does?) but the original three are certainly entertaining enough, with the first one being a fantastic horror flick all around. I was happy to see Don Mancini, who had once spoke of the franchise as if it were his personal anchor and bane to his existence, actually had some enthusiasm for the new reboot and I was very anxious to see what would come of it. Not only did the promise of Chucky being scary again leave me excited, but also it is seemingly one franchise that Hollywood powers have deemed it OK to not use CG where it otherwise would be easy(I hate CG).

Although many won't be crying over a reboot not happening, I'm ultimately disappointed in this one. It's inevitable that Chucky makes his return to the screen, I had just hoped it could have been done sooner rather than later. I can only hope that when that time comes they stick to the darker roots and not waste potential with another total B-movie sequel.