These days a remake is pretty much the worst thing a movie can be. You hear it with almost every other movie, it's a remake, reimagining, retelling, remodelling, rewejustwantyourmoneying, you name it. But they're not all bad. Hell, True Grit just came up and blew the original out of the water. Granted, most of them are quick cash grabs, trying to make money off a familiar name (Looking at you here, Platinum Dunes. Good job of the new Friday the 13th, though.)
Anyway, for this weeks Top 5 Friday, I wanted to list my favourite remakes.
5. Dawn of the Dead
Coming out during the start of the remake craze, Dawn of the Dead actually breathes new life to the zombie genre (28 Days Later helped as well). Making zombies fast makes them a new kind of foe to deal with and James Gunn's script and Zack Snyder's direction made everyone go "Oh, now, it doesn't suck!"
Original is better though. Slow zombies for me, thank you.
4. (Horror of) Dracula
Hammer made it big in the UK with their version of Dracula. Christopher Lee makes for an iconic Count Dracula and Peter Cushing is the best Van Helsing ever on the silver screen. Marketed in the US as Horror of Dracula, because the Lugosi version was still going around in the cinemas at the time of release. Changes made into the story work brilliantly and for my money, this is the best version of Dracula ever made, that isn't called Nosferatu.
Also stars Michael Gough, who passed away this week at the age of 93. RIP.
3. The Fly
The original 50's The Fly is mostly remembered for the ending "Save me!" and for Vincent Price's small role. David Cronenberg's remake tops the original in every aspect. Jeff Goldblum has never been better than here, the story is heartbreaking as you care about the characters and the Best Makeup Oscar was more than well deserved. See if you can spot the director cameo in the movie.
I always thought it was funny that the movie was produced by Mel Brooks's production company. It's a long way from Blazing Saddles to The Fly.
2. A Fistful of Dollars
A remake that started a whole new movie subgenre and gave us a lot of movie legends. Though it's not the first movie for Sergio Leone or Clint Eastwood, it's basically here where their careers took off. Ennio Morricone creates an iconic movie score and everyone falls in love with a different kind of western.
A remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which is a masterpiece as well. Remade later as Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis. Not so much in the masterpiece category, that one.
1. The Thing
John Carpenter's masterpiece died in the box office back in 1982, thanks to Spielberg's slightly friendlier extra-terrestrial, but in the recent years The Thing has been recognized as the classic sci-fi horror movie it is. Claustrophobic, paranoia-inducing and just a great fricking movie. Excellent special effects as well, guaranteed to stick with you. A prequel/remake is coming out this year, let's see how that compares to this one. The 1951 The Thing From Another World is worth watching as well.
Ennio Morricone's haunting score was nominated for the Worst Musical Score in the Razzie Awards in 1983. It "lost" to The Pirate Movie.
And so another list comes to a close. Join me next week on the blog as I finally will review The King's Speech and The Fighter. And a new Top 5 on Friday again! What will it be? You'll find out on Friday! It's only a week from now. Now if you excuse me, I'll go and recover from St. Patrick's Day.
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