William Castle is pure gimmick showmanship, and as much as I can appreciate that, it doesn’t really do a whole lot for the film outside of the experience of its original theatrical run (and that’s true for almost all of his movies aside from House on Haunted Hill, which remains fun even without the skeleton swinging laughably through the theater at the climax).
13 Ghosts went from being that gimmicky piece to being a fun B-movie that has an admirable amount of effort put into its lore (and an equal lack of effort into having a story that isn’t nonsense) as well as thoroughly enjoyable scenery-chewing all around and, within all this goofy stuff, a legitimately terrifying premise with its ghosts.
The original is a fine bit of fun but is based around the gimmick. The remake has a lot of problems but offers a more complete experience that still feels true to the fun Castle B-vibe while being more effective.
Also, F. Murray Abraham’s role would have 100% gone to Vincent Price 30 years prior.
Kôrei (Séance), the Japanese remake of the British film Seance on a Wet Afternoon, is just as good as the original. There’s a somewhat different, but equally potent, twist in it.
Dunno what to tell you. It’s from the book, and I liked how it gave us some motivation to Wonka’s character other than “Rich nonsensical asshole,” But YMMV.
You’re not the only one. But then I love everything about ghostbusters (both franchises), except when the cartoon decided to focus on Slimer instead of the ghostbusters…
Did you know that J. Michael Straczynski was the story editor for the original Real Ghostbusters cartoon (before the crappy Slimer one)? He went on to create Babylon 5.
Huh. I grant you it’s been a lonnnnnnnnng time since I read the original. Honestly, I don’t remember any reference at all to Wonka’s family or Charlie meeting them.
Hmm, just watched the remake of Fright Night, and it’s not bad. David Tennant is great, of course. Pretty good update overall. And it was cute to see Chris Sarandon in a cameo. So I’d put it on this list.
To be fair, it’s been a long time for me too. You might be right. I may be remembering things that didn’t happen. I guess I should clarify then and state then that I don’t mind the addition of the back details, because it makes Wonka seem less like a wealthy, random, asshole.
Vacation (2015) manages to stay true to the spirit and comedic style of the original while upping the pace a bit. In an era when mainstream film comedies have tended to rein themselves into the mundane, I found the corny absurdity a breath of fresh air. I think it’s one of the best comedy features of the past decade.
I thought it was fine, but I was befuddled by its existence since it’s nearly a scene-by-scene copy of the original. The lack of the original’s soundtrack also made it more mundane. It’s like how Straw Dogs was remade a few years ago. Also not terrible, but why? Rights retention?
Sorority Row (2009) - it’s more violent and self-aware than the original and has a surprising strong cast, including a small role by Carrie Fisher (boy do I miss her). I was surprised how much I liked it.
When A Stranger Calls (2006) - really nice little update that manages to retain a continually growing tension throughout. It still doesn’t manage to be better than the opening of the original with Carol Kane, but everyone seems to forget that that opening was only the first 20-minutes of the film, and a huge chunk of the middle of the film is completely forgettable.
It got dumped on way too much. The set design was great, they were able to include scenes the first film attempt couldn’t due to special effects limitations at the time (yay, the squirrels), well cast, Deep Roy is a treasure, and I thought it was very enjoyable. Most people just hated it without even seeing it because it wasn’t the first film attempt, which is just… strange. They’re both fun, just different.
Some details were included, while some were added. Wonka doesn’t meet Charlie’s family in the book, nor is Wonka’s father discussed at all much less a character as far as I remember, but the entire squirrel sequence was my favorite part of the book and finally made it in to the newer adaptation.