I've sometimes been criticized for being overly optimistic when it comes to movies, but something I read today about the impending remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria (yes, it's happening) has me in a hopeful mood. Or, it could just be the Effexor.Anyways, ShockTillYouDrop managed to corner the remake's director David Gordon Green at Comic-Con today, and what he had to say makes it sound like maybe, just maybe, we can expect a little more out of the new Suspiria than, say, the myriad soulless reboots currently being spit out by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes company:
"The script is finished. We're out trying to find the right supportive financial institution who wants to take a risk and make a really bold, distinctive and unique horror film. It's not the obvious... it doesn't slip naturally into the niche market of contemporary horror movies. It's something that I think has the potential to be classic and a lot more artistically-inclined than a lot of the contemporary horror stuff."In other words, it sounds like Green has some genuine respect for the original, and is actually trying to craft a remake that at least attempts to recapture what made it so good in the first place, instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole (of course, that begs the question of why do you need to remake it in the first place--but then the obvious answer is, as it always has been, money.)
Interestingly, Green also notes that it's an Italian production company that's spearheading the project, so at least it isn't a case of an American company trying to cash in on a foreign classic it doesn't understand (ie. Godzilla or The Wicker Man). An American distributor will be found once the film is complete.Maybe it's that optimistic streak, but count me in on this one. True, the horror remakes have gotten out of hand and need to stop. But this one and The Wolf Man could wind up being for this decade what The Thing and The Fly were in the 1980s.
The idea of giving this the remake treatment still gives me the willies, and not the good kind. If it HAS to happen, I wish they'd give the job to Dante Tomaselli or Lucky McKee.
ReplyDeleteI don´t get this remakes, I truly don´t. Most of them are just insulting, not only regarding the originals , but in terms of craft. How could anybody with an ounce of sense think that movies like The Fog or the atrocious The Haunting were better than the original or even gave them new aspects the original did miss?
ReplyDeleteIs creativity so dead today? How can it be that this stuff gets produced while new ideas - if there are new ideas, what do I know - don´t get even close?
You know, come to think of it, all those movies remakes are like zombies, braindead and reeking.
It's a very cynical movement in Hollywood today. It's not about the art--they have no interest in adding anything, or reinterpreting anything. It's just safe, easy money--you adapt a known commodity with a built-in audience, rather than take a chance on something new and unknown.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid whoever gets it is just going to wreck it - what made the movie where the haunting sets, the music and the atmosphere. I just don't really see them pulling that off.
ReplyDeleteWhat good can come of a Suspiria remake?
ReplyDeleteIf anyone's going to remake it, it should either be Brian De Palma or David Lynch.
I completely agree with all here, that ideally, a Suspiria remake should not be attempted. But if it's going to happen, I do believe it's in a lot better hands than Michael Bay's.
ReplyDeleteAnother one of my favourite movies about the wrecked.... Does this mean they'll remake the entire three mothers trilogy? Wouldn't bother me too much for the third installment, which seemed kind of like a cheap copy of Argento anyway - but Suspiria????? They'll never pull it off. I agree with whoever said that it's the atmosphere - the sets, the music, the colours - that make this film.
ReplyDeleteI loved your title - It screams disbelief.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are right about the money thing....whether they do a good job on it or not, people will watch out of curiosity and they will here the jingle jangle of the coins landing in their pockets.