Although much maligned, the horror remake is not always the worst thing in the world. It seems that remaking the classics of horror has been Hollywood's favorite shortcut for decades, but every now and then, they get it right. Two great examples of this would be John Carpenter's 1982 film, The Thing, and David Cronenberg's 1986 film, The Fly. This month, Brian Solomon of TheVaultofHorror.netpresents BEDLAM AT THE BIJOU: Before They Were Remakes, a screening of the two 1950s originals that inspired those films.
On this night, we journey back in time to experience the original gems that gave rise to those superb remakes. Veteran director Howard Hawkes directs Gunsmoke's own James Arness as the titular character in the original, The Thing. Next,
David Hedison appears as the original human/insect hybrid in the original The Fly - featuring a supporting appearance by
Vincent Price!
"It's very rare that a horror remake becomes just as beloved as the original-if not more so," says BEDLAM AT THE BIJOU host Brian Solomon. "Usually, they catch a pretty bad rap. So for this event, I wanted to celebrate two particular horror franchises that were well treated by the whole remake craze. And the best way I could figure out to do that was to revisit what made the originals so great in the first place."
Solomon's guest for the evening will once again be film critic
Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post. And in keeping with the theme, there will be a trivia contest in which patrons will be asked to tell the differences between many of the originals and remakes in fright film history.
This is the tenth monthly installment of BEDLAM AT THE BIJOU, with previous double features focusing on such topics as animation, giant monsters, underwater monsters, zombies, Dracula, Frankenstein and
Vincent Price.
BEDLAM AT THE BIJOU: Before They Were Remakes takes place Thursday, June 20 at The Bijou Theatre at 275 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport. The evening begins at 7pm, and tickets are $10. Call 203-332-3228 or go the TheBijouTheatre.com for more information.
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