Read the rest of my Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 movie review.

This remake, of all remakes that have come before it, crosses the line of artistic integrity. Sure, there have been perfectly good films that were remade only a few years later in the form of Vanilla Sky and The Ring and several others. Those remakes are annoying enough, because if you watch the originals they are just as good or better, and not at all dated. They just don’t star as marketable actors as Hollywood can bring to the table. And they’re in a different language, made in another country, and there are a lot of people who don’t like subtitles for some sad, misguided reason (you’re exempt if you are visually impaired, of course).

But to remake a perfectly good English-language film that everyone can see, most people had the opportunity to see in theaters, everyone has had the opportunity to rent… that’s just ridiculous. It’s artistically stupid. Hell, it’s artistically insulting.

If you’re wondering, the remake will star Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence and Zoe Saldana- oh, and Kevin Hart just joined the cast. OK, there are some big names in there, but if you look at the box office history of these actors, they’re not exactly going to rake in the dough.

While the mini-series feels a bit dated now, I was pretty young when I first saw it… and it gave me nightmares. Clowns are frightening enough, but evil clowns can scare the shit out of anyone. As long as the director, who has yet to be announced, doesn’t turn this movie into a montage of cheap scares, the remake of It could be quite effective.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, “follows a group of miscreants called The Losers Club who come into contact with a creature called It, who takes form in a clown called Pennywise. Years later, as adults, the group are brought together when the creature returns, even though they can’t remember the original incident.”

No production date is set, but Dave Kajganich has been hired to write the script. Kajganich is also doing the upcoming remake of Pet Semetary, and is also responsible for 2007’s The Invasion, a film that doesn’t exactly inspire raves. Given that the history of Stephen Kings movies is pretty shaky, I’ll hold my breath.

I am not a fan of the Friday the 13th movies at all – as I believe they suck royal suckage – but I am looking forward to seeing what a re-imagining can do to Jason. Hell, it can only be better than the crap that has been produced over the last 20 years.

Those of you who have read my full Halloween movie review know that I actually thought this new version was great, and a second viewing cemented my opinion that this movie kicks ass. I was horrified when I heard that the John Carpenter classic was being remade, but as it turns out, Zombie has made a riveting horror film that actually builds on the original. I’m not saying one way or another that this version is better or worse than the original, but the best part of the movie is the first half hour where we see Michael as a child. Some were concerned that giving Michael too much of a human side would detract from the nature of the character, but Zombie figured out a way to develop the serial killer and make him scarier in the process.

But beyond that, this Unrated Director’s Cut adds about ten minutes to the film. The new scenes don’t really add much to the film, but it’s nice to see what was cut, et cetera. More interesting are the special features, which provide some good insight into the creation of the movie. There’s nothing incredible here, but you can view an alternate ending (which, as Zombie points out in his commentary, leaves Laurie Strode with very little to do) and some deleted scenes. Again, interesting to see what was removed, but none of the scenes are especially impactful.

For such a serious movie, it’s nice to see some bloopers included.

On top of those standard features, there’s a feature commentary with Rob Zombie (I didn’t listen to it) and several featurettes, including:

• The Many Masks of Michael Myers
  A look at the creation of the different masks used in the film. I found the psychological element to the masks – which wasn’t present in the original – to be one of the best additions to the story.
• Re-Imagining Halloween
  Rob Zombie talks about how he decided to tackle the remake, including his decisions to add more to the story, to not remake the movie scene by scene (I think directors have learned after the Psycho remake) and so on and so forth. There’s nothing too surprising here, but it’s good to see Zombie talking about this thought processes.
• Meet the Cast
  One of the better featurettes on the DVD, this is a compilation of interviews with the different actors in the film.
• Casting Sessions
  If you like seeing actors off-camera, this one offers audition tapes of most of the main characters. Sort of fun to watch.
• Laurie Strode Screen Test
  I think this one speaks for itself.

All in all, fans of Zombie’s Halloween should certainly pick up this DVD. Those of you who were hesitant about watching the remake should also consider buying this one without renting first – if you’re serious about horror movies, Halloween is one of the best to come along in a long time – and certainly one of the best slashers in a while.