I can check another Director off on my Seen All of Their Films List- Glenn Morgan.
After Willard, the gentleman did a Remake of a Horror Classic. Does the fact that Bob Clark hung around on Set help things out? A little bit.
This 2006 Film was released on Christmas Day, which pissed off many, many people.
I vaguely remember this- a Co-Worker told me that their Holiday plans was going to see this- but it sure didn't match up to the Silent Night, Deadly Night affair.
Another House full of Co-Eds- check.
The Plot is mostly the same, but we get the Rob Zombie's Halloween treatment here as we find out EVERYTHING about the mysterious killer this time around.
For some reason, they made him That Yellow Bastard too.
We even know what his favorite snack is.
The Film tries to confuse you, it seems, by continually introducing new, random characters into the Film, both in Flashbacks and in the main Story.
Is this to distract you from how obvious the Two Killers (because Scream invented that- we all know) twist is here.
Seriously, people die in the House BEFORE we see Billy escape, so...
On the plus side, we get to see some nice, non-cliche Female Characters.
On the negative side, they are all just here to die gory, violent deaths and/or scream.
Did they get paid by the scream?
The ladies find nothing but danger and reasons to scream inside the House.
It sure is a good thing that the catch-all 'It is Christmas- everyone left' excuse works, no?
I guess they could go outside, but...it is not recommended.
Is this Film overlooked due to being 'yet another Remake' (right at the time that this trend really picked up)?
To find out, stream it now (or wait for my comments below).
Yeah, it is not good. It could have been. There's legitimate potential in this Story, even with *some* of the changes made.
It worked in the '70s, so why not?
The Film, for one, is way too in love with just being gross in its violence. There's something creepy about how it was handled in the Original. That's pretty much gone, especially when it overplays its one card.
The original is famous for the shot of the body with the bag on its head in the rocking chair. It works here too. However, then we get EVERY victim- save maybe one or two- getting the same treatment with the bag.
Throw in some gore and gross stuff put in there- allegedly- by Producer/Criminal Harvey Weinstein and you get a mess of a Film that is just unsettling in that Hostel way. That's not a compliment, Eli Roth.
I gave this one a fair shot- honestly. It was just gross, cruel and dumb, with a tacked on Third Act Finale that does no good for anybody.
After a different kind of freak out, I'm kind of curious to check out the OTHER Remake in the future.
A Film with a good Setup...and terrible execution. Good touches here and there don't make up for the ugly, cruel tone overall.
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