Oh, Good. They've Remade TEXAS CHAINSAW. Again

[EricMontreal22]

They really need a proper release on BluRay00with bells and whistles. (Did Halloween 2 ever get a release compiling the different edits? I'm behind on my Halloween discs...) I love the creepy opening which also gives a nice homage to Dr Loomis (as well as the Psycho injokes). And Steve Miner is a decent director, even if now he mainly does TV work (of course he did do two of the better Friday the 13ths).

I remember there was quite a bit of buzz whenit came out due to Kevin Williamson doing the initial treatment back when Scream was still hot--I appreciate that it respected that Laurie is at least as much the main character (i'd argue more) than Michael Myers, the way I felt Nancy was in her three Elm Street films. I admit, when the killer becomes THE star in slasher movies, it doesn't work for me. I need someone to feel connected with.

I'm not a big fan of Zombie's style of horror movies, but I can apreciate them for what they are--and as pointed out, he was just a very poor fit for Halloween.

And I ammend my view on Halloween as the ultimate slasher film--it's tied with the original Black Christmas for me (talk about bad remakes). Bob Clark was at his best directing horror even if he's more famous for other Canadian films like Porky's and A Christmas Story, and it has a brilliant cast and really set the format that Halloween then perfected. Apparently Carpenter was involved in the film on a peripheral level and was aware of the quickly killed plans to do a sequel set during... Halloween.

[Jordan Catalano]

HALLOWEEN 2 is getting a pretty spiffy Blu-ray release either next week or the following with the theatrical and the tv cuts. Sadly I don't think they cut between the two but at least this is better than the last release.

[tazber]

Lol, I had no idea Lords of Salem had screened yet. I was just browsing joblo.com and they have a review.

The last part of LORDS is likely what's going to divide audiences, as Zombie goes right down the rabbit hole, with the film taking on the vibe of an early Roman Polanski film gone mad, or Kenneth Anger at his most Satanic. To me though, this is when the film really kicked into high gear. It's bold and experimental (not to mention gross) but damn if it's not unlike anything I've seen in a horror film for years. THE LORDS OF SALEM feels like one of the most authentically “evil” films since Anger's INVOCATION OF MY DEMON BROTHER, and the Catholic in me was totally freaked out. But- at the same time, I was utterly absorbed by Zombie's nightmarish psychedelia.

I am so there.
Link

[EricMontreal22]

Thanks JC! I had no idea one was in the works--glad I held out (I think an edition just came out last year).

It's annoying what Anchor Bay has done with the first movie--the only edition with the option to view the TV scenes seems to be long gone.

[CJ N2N]

Damn, I wish I could stomach guts and gore... I could be able to see so many more cool movies. The worst I can stomach is SCREAM and HELLRAISER... I'm more than likely the minority here (and in this decade), but I'll always choose a good William Castle, Lon Chaney or Hitchcock movie over anything.

Not to say I don't like early slasher movies... HALLOWEEN and BLACK CHRISTMAS are some of my favorite movies.

[songanddanceman2]

Why oh why?

I like the original and thought the 2003 remake was brilliant (Jessica gave a great performance in that film), why the hell remake it again?

[EricMontreal22]

CJ you're prob at the same level as me when it comes to horror (although I saw Hellraiser when I was 7--true story we went to a friend's house for a movie and his parents had rented it, and somehow we ended up with their video and nobody noticed--and all I remember is a LOT of gore, so...). Even with my brief obsession with slasher films, I tend to prefer the Halloween ones with little actual gore.

[mormonophobic]

Since this has somewhat morphed into a discussion on horror, has anyone seen the trailer yet for Mama? It stars Jessica Chastain and looks pretty good. I have this total spoilerphobia where I try not to watch commercials or trailers, so I (absurdly) stopped about halfway through to leave some shock for the actual film. Still, I'll definitely go and see it. Plus anyone as talented as Jessica Chastain doing a horror movie means it has to be pretty incredible...right?

[EricMontreal22]

And it co-stars the lovely Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones! It sounds like it has potential, although horror films produced (but not directed) by del Toro are hit or miss.

[StockardFan]

I've never seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'm too freaked out.

[mormonophobic]

Since we were just discussing this yesterday, I felt like I should post it here.

Rob Zombie was interviewed about Lords of Salem and was asked about his experience with the Halloween films.

The reason I asked earlier if you wrote this following "Halloween 2," is because "Salem" marks such a departure from your "Halloween" films, both in its outlandish style and operatic scope. I got a sense that you made it in an effort to break free from whatever contraints you felt while making those films.

Pretty much, yeah. Making the "Halloween" movies was kind of a nightmare, for two reasons. There's the expectations of what it's supposed to be -- because any person that's a fan of "Halloween" thinks, "Okay, this is my idea exactly of how these movies are supposed to go." So no matter what you do, it feels like this is some weird thing. And the studio looks at it as a franchise that they want to protect.

With my second one I got pretty wacky, but it was a battle. They look at it as a franchise. With this, it was just nice to be told, "You can do whatever the **** you want as long as you stay on budget." And that's essentially what I did. I wanted to just make a crazy movie. Last night when I was watching it, I was sitting in the theater going, "I can't believe somebody gave me money to do this." The ending's so nutty, but those are the type of movies I like. I like movies where sometimes when they end you go, "What the ****? Huh? What did I just watch. I gotta watch that again. That barely made sense to me."
The whole article

[Jordan Catalano]

I saw the new TEXAS CHAINSAW this morning.

It's not horrendously bad as I expected it to be and it's not a remake of the remake or a remake of the original. It's actually a kind of direct sequel to the original film using the original characters (and original makeup which was fun to see). Don't get me wrong, this isn't a great movie and there are MORE than a few "WTF" eyerolling moments but about halfway through it turns from the standard "teens in the house getting picked off one by one" standard and goes somewhere different and actually kind of fun for a little while.

As much as I like the original CHAINSAW I'm very partial to the 2003 remake which I still consider one of the best horror films of the past 20 years. This in no way stacks up to that but for what it was, it wasn't trash. And there were actually a couple 3D effects that made me jump! That was a REAL unexpected surprise.

[ArtMan]

In Halloween 2, is Joseph Gordan-Levett the little boy who bit into the apple with the blades in it? Or does he play another character? That scene always disturbed me the most, since something like that could happen in real life.

[Jordan Catalano]

JGL was in Halloween H20 in the opening scene. I dint even think he was born when HALLOWEEN 2 was made.

[strummergirl]

The original had some black comic elements and is actually not nearly as gory as its reputation portends it to be. But is TENSE and I have yet to see actors in a horror film as scared or frightened as the cast in the original ever was. Presumably it was a total hell to shoot.

[MrMidwest]

It took me about halfway through the trailer for Mama before I realized it was Chastain and not Bryce Dallas Howard.

[Jordan Catalano]

Strummer, there's about a good 10 minutes in this CHAINSAW that are extremely tense and I was even gripping the edge of my seat. I wish the whole film could have been like that but it's still 10 minutes more of suspense than most modern horror film have at all.

[strummergirl]

Yeah it takes a while for the payoff but what an amazing payoff.

[Jordan Catalano]

Oh, you saw this new one?

[strummergirl]

No, I just realized you meant the new and not the original, which I was referring to. Sorry about that.

[Jordan Catalano]

Ah. Well I'm curious your thoughts if you do see it.

And seeing the new EVIL DEAD trailer on the big screen today was really suspenseful!

[songanddanceman2]

Hmm i think i probably will watch this but i am such a fan of the remake i wish that had been the final one (i thought the sequel to the remake was terrible)

[blaxx]

I saw it today too, and I didn't see the twist coming.

It is not a good movie, but at least it had some interesting moments.

[eatlasagna]

just saw it... there a few scares here and there but all in all it was decent... and they need to stop making characters so stupid in these movies! i guess i saw the twist coming because you guys said there was a twist... but it was still cool...

[StockardFan]

I have not ever seen a Texas Chainsaw move, and probably never will. Gives me the creepies!

[EricMontreal22]

JC may not wanna read this: http://gawker.com/5973292/everything-hilarious-in-texas-chainsaw-3d