60 Second Halloween Remake

From Dread Central:

"In response to a radio station film festival,

Darren Jones went out and spent four days acting, filming, directing,

composing and doing everything necessary to create a 60 second version of

John Carpenter's iconic film, Halloween. Check it out."

Looks like the voting is closed for now, but click over to

 Vancouver's Virgin Radio 95.3's Fake Film Festival website

Day 20: A great remake

I have two I could choose here:

The Friday the 13th remake wasn't the perfect remake fans were hoping for, but I think it is better than a lot of people give it credit for. I like it, and I definitely thinks it is better than some of the later F13 sequels. Yes, I'm talking about you, Jason Takes Manhattan!

The House of Wax remake gets scoffed at and I really don't know why! Yes, Paris Hilton is in it, but she gets offed in a very satisfying way. And the rest of the film is just creepy greatness. Quite good!

Day 18: A movie with unsettling scenery

Going with the 2005 remake of House of Wax.

A town full of wax-covered corpses. A home/museum made entirely out of wax, which then burns and melts as the last survivors try to escape. This movie doesn't get the creepy, eerie credit it deserves!

A Nightmare on Elm Street - new trailer

Okay, so this was everywhere yesterday:



Looks good to me. Keeps some of the scenes/aspects of the original while looking fresh and updated. Guess time shall tell!

(via everywhere, but I first caught it at The Captain's Ramblings)

Movie Monday - Land of the Lost

Land of the Lost (2009)

[Will Ferrell; Anna Friel; Danny McBride; Jorma Taccone; John Boylan; Matt Lauer]

Plot: On his latest expedition, Dr. Rick Marshall is sucked into a space-time vortex alongside his research assistant and a redneck survivalist. In this alternate universe, the trio make friends with a primate named Chaka, their only ally in a world full of dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures.

My take: Ugh. This movie was just bad. There are a few funny parts and I am sure you saw them in the trailer. Everything else is just blah and boring.

I am a fan of the original show (my review of it is here). And I would have been a fan of a remake that was done well. This changed things that didn't need to be changed and tried to force humor in where it just did not work. Will Ferrel was great as Buddy the Elf, but since then, I have just not found the dude funny.

The sad thing is that the higher budget and the modern effects could have made a Land of the Lost flick that was both true to the original and awesome for today. Sadly, they went and blew the whole thing.

Don't rent it, don't buy it, just avoid it.

A Nightmare on Elm Street remake trailer

So, this hit the web with a bang yesterday:

A Nightmare on Elm Street in HD


Looks good, I suppose. Lots of nods to the original film.

I think Jackie Earle Haley is a great choice for Freddy Krueger. He needs to be different that Robert Englund's Freddy, and it appears he has achieved that.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is due in theaters April 30, 2010.

(via TheHorrorGeek.com and Freddy in Space)

SHUTTER (2008)

I watched SHUTTER for the first time last night, from 2008.

This film was better than I anticipated. Had some creepy scenes and some mystery. And the ending was sort of a surprise, although I had an inkling in that direction.

The acting was good, for the most part. Joshua Jackson has grown on me as an actor (I like him in FRINGE) and Rachael Taylor was good, not sure if I have seen her in anything before.

The deaths weren't gory, more subtle, which I think fit the feel of the film. This is a remake, but I never saw the original film, so I can't judge it on that. It was okay, definitely good for a viewing.

Friday the 13th - Jason is back!

So... I watched all the previous films over the past week, from the original all the way to "Freddy vs. Jason". I watched both discs of the "His Name Was Jason" documentary. And today, with my wife, my brother and my sister-in-law, I saw the newest film.

I liked it. I didn't LOVE it, but I didn't HATE it, either. It had a very cool opening, with a bunch of kills before the title even hit the screen. And the rest was good, Jason-killing slasher fun.

All the "Jason film" elements are present: teenagers; the woods; the lake; sex; nudity; weapons and Jason. Each film is just a different way of putting it all together, I suppose. To differing results.

Little things here and there bugged me, but other things I thought were cool. Evens out, I suppose. No movie can be perfect for every fan everywhere. Just not possible. Some kills I thought were cool and different, others run-of-the-mill.

The way he gets the hockey mask was a bit "blah" to me. Thought they could have made it's introduction a little "cooler". But that is nothing major.

The ending-leading-up-to-the-ending (you will understand when you see it) was a little "what the?", really. I mean... WHY would they do that??? But, it is what it is.

So fans will LOVE it, some will HATE it. I like it, which is all that matters. I will watch it again. And again. Hey, I am just happy to have Jason back on the big screen. And in the end, that is what matters.

Next time I have a movie marathon, I will have 12 movies to watch! Wow... And, that makes Jason's next foray to the screen his 13th appearance. Not sure when that will be, but I am sure it will happen. And how cool is that? I remember when I was a kid, all the other kids saying that the "Jason movies" were going to go to 13 parts. Now, really no one ever said such a thing, they were always a film-to-film proposition. But here we are on the cusp of there actually being 13 films. Now THAT will be a marathon, some day!

Welcome back, Jason!