Sunday, February 22, 2009

Horror Classics Remade: Friday the 13th, The Uninvited, and My Bloody Valentine

I couldn't have been happier to hear they were remaking My Bloody Valentine, A Tale of Two Sisters, and Friday the 13th. Well, maybe I was less excited about Friday the 13th, since it's probably my top 1 or 2 in my list of favorites, but I was really interested to see what they would do the TofTS and My Bloody Valentine.

My Bloody Valentine: In 3-D! I really liked the original because it felt so real. The people cast in the film actually looked like people who would live and work in a mining town (think less WB Dawson's Creek and more like Norma Rae), the mine and other settings were spooky, and there was plenty of good old killings. The remake has the added bonus of being in 3-D, so it was extra fun to watch with the pick-axes swinging out at you and the like. The cast was prettier this time around (Gotta drool on Jensen Ackles. Delish.), but filming in Pennsylvania certainly gave it the mining town feel. The remake was bloody and gory, with some good shocks. The story was pretty close to the original, with enough deviations to make it worth remaking, but not enough to make it feel like a completely different film. I am not really sure I liked the ending, but well, it could be that I am partial...

Rating:  4 1/2 Purrs Loved it!

The Uninvited: This remake of A Tale of Two Sisters was a big old disappointment. The original blew me away, with high levels of creepiness, a twisted plot, and a holy shit did that just happen ending. The Uninvited brought nothing really new to the table, but the actors were good and the setting was beautiful. Elizabeth Banks brings a nice amount of creepiness to the wicked step-mother role. I probably would have liked it better if I had no idea what was going on, so the twists would have been less obvious to me. 

Rating: 3 1/2 Purrs - I probably would have liked it better if I hadn't seen the original. 

Friday the 13th: Let's just say that even Jared Padalecki couldn't save this movie. It's like they took the original 4 in the series and squished them all into one film, so basically any plot or minimal character development on any of the "extra" characters is lost. Plus, how do you have a Friday the 13th movie with minimal time at the freakin' Camp Crystal Lake? Jason was good, but really, why do all of the characters around the lake have to be rejects from the hillbillies-r-us casting agency? I am glad they didn't just reshoot the movie almost shot for shot from the original, but I really liked the "camp counselors at the camp" enties in the series. Why deviate from the tradition so soon? Wait for the sequels at least, and stick to the original formula for the first in the reboot. You can bring something new to the table without ignoring what made the original so great. 

Rating: 3 1/2 Purrs...Man, I wish I could reboot this reboot.