It’s a big bright night, let’s howl at the moon
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010Universal and Simply Zesty invited a bunch of us along to see the classic Hollywood horror The Wolf Man last night. Chock full of the great horror heroes Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr., it was a great experience to see it on the big screen.
The screen in question was Denzille Lane cinema, an intimate venue that has no more than 30 seats. A few beers and some pizza before the film didn’t stop a few people from scoffing at the ancient black and white horror, but I loved it.
As with Benicio del Toro’s remake (released 12th February) the 1941 movie centres on Larry Talbot (Chaney) who returns home after many years away to take charge of the family estate alongside his father (Rains). On a night out wooing one of the local girls, he is attacked and bitten by a wolf. Though he kills the wolf, all that is found the next day is the body of a travelling gypsy (Lugosi). Den den dennnn!
Look, it’s silly, it’s not aged well, but it’s a genuine classic that spawned an entire sub-genre of horror. If you haven’t seen it, pick it up – you won’t be disappointed. But if you need the great special effects, solid plot and decent character arcs then maybe the remake is more for you:
Even a man who is pure in heart,
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright.
While I’m not a big fan of Hollywood’s obsession with remaking everything, there’s no doubt that this one was due. With Wolfman, The A-Team, Robin Hood and A Nightmare on Elm Street all seeing resurgences this year, we could be in for a year of great remakes. What do you think?
tagged under: Universal.Wolfman
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Remakes are one of those things that I’m just not sure about. I totally believe the The Wolf Man is ripe for a remake. It’s a classic story and a lot has changed in 70 years, particularly make-up/effects wise, and that was something important to the story even back then. Robin Hood is probably ripe for one too, again that’s a classic story, but films like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th or even Casino Royale? I don’t think so.
As far as I’m concerned those are franchises that are still active, why a remake? Why not write a new story? Or maybe it’s just because I actually loved the direction they went in with Jason X so I didn’t see the point in going backwards! Even if you want to harken back to an eariler style, there’s no reason it can’t be done with a new story…
I am with Nicola on this one – I love cinema and the odd remake/reinterpreataion is welcome but don’t flog the dead donkey!
Batman for example worked very well – and surprisingly (for me) did Star Trek. But I think films that will work well are films with a long history and huge additions to the source material. The ones that fall flat are the one offs – hugely successful in their day but just not with the whole history behind them – e.g. Psycho.
There have been a lot of absolutely pointless remakes/reboots down the ages…’Psycho’ being for me the worst offender (though i like Gus Van Saint as a director). But yes, the odd time it is welcome – Star Trek most definately!
I am looking forward to the Wolfman very much, for as much as i love the original (and all those Universal classics) the story and current sfx suit a present day remake very well (and may attract a new generation of fans to those old horror classics)