Fandango Halloween Horror Movies and Articles

Fueled by the box office success of films like Rob Zombie’s Halloween, the notion of gussying up frightening franchises for a new generation of moviegoers has become a full-fledged, Hollywood cottage industry. They’re relatively cheap to make, and during the post-holiday winter months especially, audiences can’t seem to get enough of them. Here’s a selective look at some of the horror remakes in development or slated for release in the next few years:

I Am Legend (Warner Bros., 2007)
This long gestating remake of the 1971 Charlton Heston film The Omega Man (which was itself a remake of the 1964 Vincent Price thriller The Last Man on Earth) was very nearly made in the 1980s by Ridley Scott with Arnold Schwarzenegger. But as is the case with many Hollywood projects, when the green light finally was given, it was for a very different assemblage of talent. Will Smith stars as a New York City scientist who may well be the only survivor of a worldwide plague, directed here by former music video wizard Francis Lawrence, who made the leap to features in 2005 with the Keanu Reeves sci-fi film Constantine.

Ed Burns and Shannyn Sossamon star in
One Missed Call.

One Missed Call (Warner Bros., 2008)
Imagine getting a voicemail message from your future self, in which the specific circumstances of your death are clearly outlined. It’s basically the flipside of When A Stranger Calls, and it’s based once again on a fairly recent Japanese entry, the 2003 film Chakushin Ari. As with most of Asian horror remakes, it all traces back to a highly provocative, post-modern premise.

The Eye (Lions Gate, 2008)
The original 2002 Hong Kong film Jian Gui proved to be a great vehicle for actress Angelica Lee, who snagged several awards in Asia for her lead performance. So one would assume that the role of a woman able to perceive supernatural phenomena after being given an eye transplant could do great things for Jessica Alba. This new version is being co-directed by French filmmakers David Moreau and Xavier Palud, authors of the 2006 European horror film smash Ils (Them).

The Blob (Paramount)
Like the strange gooey organism of the title that gobbles up everything in its path, this 1958 B movie just keeps slithering along. First came the 1988 remake, starring an Entourage-less Kevin Dillon. Now, the twin brother screenwriting pair of Chad and Carey Hayes, fresh from the Paris Hilton version of House of Wax, has penned yet another take. This is an atypical holdover Paramount project for highbrow producer Scott Rudin.

Is Naomi Watts next to be attacked in The Birds?

The Birds (Universal)
Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes Productions, which previously found success with remakes of The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hitcher, is partnered here with producer Peter Guber for a remake in which Naomi Watts takes over the role essayed by Tippi Hedren. No word yet on how closely they and rumored director Martin Campbell plan to stick to the storyline of the 1963 Hitchcock original, in which a small northern California town is terrorized by various feathered fiends. But given the tepid reaction to Gus Van Sant’s scene-for-scene 1998 remake of Psycho, Bay and company would be well served to take this off on a modern tangent.

The Fly (Fox Searchlight)
The current status of this longstanding project is unknown, as studios generally refuse to reveal much in advance about any of their genre flicks. But given the iconic qualities of David Cronenberg’s chilling 1986 film about a scientist (Jeff Goldblum) whose daring experiments go horribly wrong, which itself was based on an earlier 1958 film starring David Hedison and Vincent Price, whomever tackles this remake of a remake has their work cut out for them. David Cronenberg for one is not too impressed; when he was making the rounds to promote A History of Violence, he made it clear that he thought his remake should not be remade.

Day of the Dead (Universal)
With 2004’s remake of Dawn of the Dead grossing more money domestically than any other previous zombie flick, Universal has quickly segued to another George A. Romero classic, enlisting director Steve Miner http://www.fandango.com/steveminer/filmography/p102984 (Halloween H2O, Lake Placid) and screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination series) to goose up the 1985 cult classic, about a group of military and scientific folks who take refuge in an underground bunker after the world is overrun with zombies. It’s somewhat ironic, but Romero owes a debt of gratitude to the British horror entry 28 Days Later, which really helped set in motion the current zombie renaissance.

The Crazies (Paramount)
On the heels of his reworkings of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, screenwriter Scott Kosar has penned a new version of this less well known but no less loved 1973 Romero film, in which the U.S. military tries to contain a deadly killer virus which drives people into a murderous rage.

Infection (New Line Cinema)
Vertigo Entertainment, the company responsible for remakes of The Grudge, The Ring and Dark Water, and Japanese producer Taka Ichise, are at it again. Based on a 2004 Japanese drama, an isolated hospital is overrun by a strange virus.

Benicio Del Toro as the Wolfman?

The Wolf Man (Universal, 2009)
The cast for this redo of the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr. horror classic features the powerhouse pairing of Benicio Del Toro as Larry Talbot, a man who is bitten by a werewolf, and Anthony Hopkins as his distinguished father, Sir John Talbot. No word yet on whether the new version will more directly tackle the allegorical nature of the original film’s narrative, in which German screenwriter Curt Siodmak intended the notion of a werewolf to be a metaphor for man’s evil potential as personified by the Nazis.

Other upcoming Hollywood horror remakes include Funny Games, Child’s Play, The Sentinel, Fright Night, Near Dark, Prom Night, Terror Train, April Fool’s Day and Friday the 13th.

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