Movies: Dubious Horror Remakes

Okay, imagine it's 1967. It's been 25 years since the original release of "Casablanca," and the performances of Bogart and Bergman have already started to seep into legend. A bigshot Hollywood producer decides it's time for a remake, since the original was in black-and-white and technology has advanced; the famous Marseillaise scene can be shot in color now. The original director and cast are all ignored in favor of new faces.

Sound preposterous? That's exactly what's happening with "A Nightmare on Elm Street":



ANoES might not be "Casablanca," but it's certainly one of the best horror movies ever made. It's the last of the slasher trinity to fall victim to the remake bug - like hapless coeds in a horror movie, "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" have already been tackled with middling results.

Wes Craven was against this remake since he wasn't brought on as a consultant, and I'm not surprised. From the above trailer, the remake seems to hew far too closely to the mythology Craven established. Heck, many of the actual shots are identical (Freddy's claws in the bathtub, the zero-gravity kill of one of Nancy's friends). Does New Line Cinema, "the house that Freddy built," not respect Craven's input any more? Do they think they can just lift his ideas wholesale and not be called out on it?

Whew. Rant off. I hate to sound too curmudgeonly, but it's just plain...wrong to mess with classic horror flicks near Halloween, don't you think?