Remakes and Re-releases

ramblings by Lindy Loo

I bought three of my favorite horror movies on DVD today at the cool-as-a-dead-man price of $30.10 in order to gear up for Halloween (and potential horror-movie marathon nights with friends). This seemed to me to be a decent deal--3 dvds for $30--but then again, I may just be rationalizing the fact that I just spent $30 on horror movies, heh heh.

Movies I purchased:

The Shining,

Ginger Snaps,

and The Exorcist.

I debated about the latter one for quite some time actually--I've seen both the original Exorcist and the rereleased version with the added scenes. I really dig some of the stuff that was added into the rerelease, but then there are other parts that I'm not too fond of (the spiderwalk scene--which I still have mixed feelings about, the extended ending, etc.). So for quite some time I mulled over which one I wanted to purchase. And I could NOT fricking decide. So I ended up letting fate handle it--the description of the copy I bought looks as though it's the rerelease. However, when potential buyers emailed in about what version it was, the seller said it was the original. So there we go, confusion--confusion that will very nicely and neatly make the decision for me. Heh heh.

All this maddening decision-making got me thinking about original cuts vs. director's cuts and original movies vs. remakes. And here are my conclusions:

As a general rule, I tend to think that original cuts are better than the director's cuts, but then maybe I'm just an anal-retentive purist. Director's cuts seem to be more interesting when watched after the original and in light of what the movie is trying to do/say/etc. But I can see the arguments for Director's Cuts because they are moreso what the director WOULD'VE done if (s)he COULD'VE. So bladdee blee.

And as for REMAKES, as a general rule, remakes of old horror movies suck. (That being said, I just realized after compiling the list below that I haven't actually SEEN most remakes of horror movies--probably just because I have a huge disdain for remakes period, so my opinion=grain of salt.)

Remakes of old horror movies that suck:

The Haunting (new/old--worst remake EVER)

Psycho (new/old)

The Grudge (new/old
--I can't really speak for the original since I've
not yet seen it; but the new one stunk)

Remakes of old horror movies that do not suck:

Dawn of the Dead (new/old)

The Ring (new/old
--though I do dig the
original quite a bit more)

Nosferatu (new/old)

Remakes that I refuse to see:

The Shining (new/old)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (new/old)

This is, of course, all just my two cents stemming out of boredom at work, so feel free to add your own in that little space called the COMMENTS section below.