Reading the Poltergeist thread got me to thinking…
While some feel that remakes are completely unnecessary, and they get things wrong (The Omen, The Amityville Horror, Psycho) more often than they get things right, modern special effects and filmmaking techniques could really make for an enjoyable re-imagining of some movies.
For example, the aforementioned Poltergeist. The story is mostly straightfoward and doesn’t really rely on special FX, but those scenes that do require them could really be amped up by modern techniques.
I liked the first person style and the basic plot (young students get lost in woods, weird shit happens), but the jiggly hand-held camera gimmick was nauseating, the lack of any visual hint at what might be going on (drunk rednecks messing with 'em, something supernatural, etc.) ruined it for me. It was an interesting concept, just badly executed.
“Cloverfield” had the same first person, “you are THERE!” gimmick, but they actually pulled it off effectively.
I’d really love to see that old Audrey Hepburn flick made again, what was it -? Roman Holiday. I positively loved that movie but while I will watch them I don’t love black and white movies. I know this is total blasphemy but I would be happy if every old movie was colorized. Sorry. I just kept picturing what her dresses looked like, and the color of her eyes, and the beautiful world she found herself in suddenly, and of coure Peck. I wanted it so badly in color…
however I don’t think they would address it correctly. I don’t want some silly emo angsty teen, I want someone just like Audrey, so I don’t think any of the girls nowadays could do it justice, barring perhaps the young lady in Lemony Snickett.
The textbook example that’s already been done being Cronenberg’s The Fly. I also found the '80s remake of The Blob pretty impressive. I think there are a lot of similar '50s and '60s examples of movies with interesting premises executed poorly, or that are even generally good but undermined for modern audiences by laughable special effects:
And here’s an older obscurity that could make for a number of interesting modern spins – Gabriel Over The White House. A vacuous playboy puppet of special interests is elected president, but undergoes a drastic character change after awaking from a coma after a car accident. Has he been possessed by an angel?
As it is, it’s a fascinating period piece reflecting what a desperate nation was hoping for at about the time FDR was elected. Today it could be updated into something similar, or taken in a more ambiguous or creepier direction if the actions and motivations of the possessing spirit were more unsettling (the scenes in the original involving defense policy and the “national police force” already hint in such a direction).
And I’ll add his The Puppet Masters as well. Give it the proper milieu as described in the novels (flying cars, etc) instead of making it contemporary with our world.
I’d love to see a big-budget remake of War of the Worlds set in Victorian England. Not a version set in the contemporary USA, and not a version made for television.
Strange Brew - A Canadian film with a huge cult following.
Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Put it in space. I love this idea so much, I’ve contemplated writing it myself, but, of course, I couldn’t afford the rights.
Logan’s Run - Bay’s ‘The Island’ is pretty much a de facto remake, but I still think it could be done well with today’s effects.
I would love to see a version of “Fletch” with a lead character that was ANYTHING like the one from the books. I mean, Chevy Chase was funny, but the character he played was NOT Fletch.