Horror movies being remade is a sensitive topic to some. Seriously, what’s the deal with the hate towards these movies? How many times have you been sitting in a movie theatre and a trailer comes on for another remake of a horror movie from the 80’ and 90’s? We don’t mind remakes! Who doesn’t love seeing their favorite slasher characters given a new movie to wreak havoc in?
We have an idea as to why this is happening.
Horror Movies Bring in the Money
Let’s get this obvious one out of the way. It’s been said the film industry has run out of new ideas. Now before you grab your pitchforks and torches. Hear us out. Hollywood is a business. It’s much easier for Hollywood to produce a movie using the licensing and source material of a familiar, established character than create a new character and hope it sticks with audiences. Unfortunately, when studios take this cash-grab approach, the story and elements that made the original so great take a back seat to flashy modern effects.
(Yes, we like Jamie Lee Curtis’ acting better in the original version of Halloween)
There’s a New Generation of Movie Fans
According to a study performed by Movio, the age of the average ticket sold to a horror movie is younger than the general population of moviegoers. This means that even though many of us grew up with Freddy Krueger sneaking into our dreams; the current audience members missed out on this. So it’s all new to them. It doesn’t help either that 44% of the horror/scary movie fans attend the movies 12 times a year! What feels old to you and I, may be fresh and original to someone else.
The Internet Killed the Horror Star
From the famous Misfit Crimson Ghost mask to the copy and paste Nosferatu gif, Horror imagery is everywhere. And there’s no sign of it stopping. Before you call us a Boomer, just go to any department store and look in the graphic tee section. It’s covered with old horror movies and bands complete with the intentional rips and cracks.
The internet has given audiences of all ages an opportunity to hold onto the past. We love it! The internet helped popularize seemingly outdated movies and objects by bringing them into the mainstream. When this happens, movie studios notice and begin production on.
Let us emphasize, we don’t hate remakes. We love seeing anything spooky or unsettling make its way to the big screens. In fact, we recognize that even some of the most popular movies that paved the way for the monsters we know today such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are remakes themselves all the way back in 1931.
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