Lets be honest, we all want our icons back on the big screen in new movies. We want to see Jason, Freddy, Micheal, & Leatherface tearing thru bodies, leaving horrific scenes of blood and body parts. We want to feel the excitement we felt when we first met these icons of horror. Within the next 2 years Hollywood will re-boot these characters in new movies, but should they?
The word re-boot scares us more than any of these movies ever did. When we hear “re-boot”, our hearts sink, we feel let down, and we just start hating. We won’t give it an opportunity to entertain us, because we’ve been burned by the “re-boot” before. 2008’s Friday the 13th, 2010’s Nightmare on Elm St. 2006 & 2013’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween 2. While they all have their moments, they mostly just lets us down. We pine for the originals. The good old days of horror. (Writers Note: i really liked 2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It felt intense, graphic and very much akin to the 1974 original. Bringing back John Larroquette as the narrator was a nice touch as well.)
Now i’m not that guy who’s going to try and tell you there are no good horror movies being made, or that nobody knows how to make good horror movies. I really like Rob Zombie, he understands horror. He knows how to terrorize people. House of 1000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects contain some of the most memorable scenes in horror history. I felt dirty after watching House of 1000 Corpses the first time. We need more movies that invoke that kind of feeling. James Wan is absolutely brilliant. Saw, Dead Silence, Insidious, & The Conjuring, all are modern horror classics. The Strangers, the first Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Annabelle, Drag Me to Hell, Trick or Treat, and The Descent all are really good horror movies. There are really good horror movies being made. So why can’t we get a decent Jason, Freddy, Micheal, or Leatherface movie?
Hollywood likes its Kickstarter idea, where we fund their movies and in return we get an acknowledgement in the film credits and a gift pack based on the amount we donate. Why not take it a step further and let us submit story ideas and in return we get a “story by” credit and a gift pack. Now i’m sure it’s not that easy, with the writters union and all, but it’s Hollywood, anything is possible. I know there is somebody out there who has a really great idea for these characters but because they’re not “in Hollywood” their story will go unread.
With the amount of good, mostly original, horror movies being made, why re-boot the horror icons? We know Hollywood is doing it just for the money. It’s a name brand that they can slap together with minimum cost and make huge profits. So why do WE want it? We know it won’t live up to expectations, we’re going to be disappointed. I believe its hope. Hope that one of our own, somebody who loves these characters as much as we do, finds a way to bring them back to life in all their blood splattered glory.
