Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Trailer

I've been thinking a lot lately about the state of horror today.  Remakes, prequels...it's as if the entire genre is trying to revise its own history.  Which subsequently got me thinking that horror films aren't the only things doing that.  Revisionist history has completely taken over the entire globe.  From people posting false facts about themselves on Facebook to make people they haven't seen in twenty years think they've led a fabulous life, to Mitt Romney seemingly showing up with a different past in every campaign appearance, it's as if soceity in general has embraced the art of pretending the past never happened.

The sad fact is that the new generations are being fed bullshit, and are not being educated on what came before.  Somewhere out there, there's going to be a fifteen year old who won't know that before this supposed "direct sequel," there was already one real one.  It came out in '86 and was everything the first film was accused of being but wasn't.  And it was great in its own right.  It had a memorably over-the-top performance by Dennis Hopper, a hilarious, blatantly phallic scene with a chainsaw being thrusted between a woman's silky, spread legs and a chainsaw duel to put Motel Hell to shame.

But nobody wants to hear that.  They want new, shiny stuff, and to pretend as if the other sequel didn't happen.

Well, here you go.  Careful not to choke on it.

  • azathoth
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Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Trailer

Well, revisionism is a new thing, it's just easier to do now.  Like the petitions from people in a couple of different states putting up internet petitions they want to secede.  It gets reported as "several states want to secede."  Um, no it doesn't work that way.  Say, 30-40 years ago, if you wanted to say something like, "the Holocaust never happened," you'd get your head introduced to your ass because you had no sources or facts.  Now, people say it and can find enough Google links to say, "Hmm, maybe it's a hoax."

Here's an interesting thing to think about- why is the horror genre so caught up in this whole remake, reboot, sequel thing?  OK, I concede Batman and Spiderman as violators, but you don't have Dumb & Dumber #8, or When Harry Met Sally #7.  Even action films peter out, a la Rambo, Rocky, Lethal Weapon.  OK, Rocky isn't the best example, but they were all different plots. 

If you can make a movie with such an obvious plot as Titanic and make $1billion, how can you not come up with a twist on something without exactly copying something else?  Ace's movie had elements of a bunch of previous movies (crazy family, teens on trip, amusement park), but he put them together to make something original.

TCM: New Generation was horrible, but I love watching it just for the remote control gags.  You don't need to reinvent the wheel, just put your own twist on it; but don't just photocopy a previous movie(s).

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Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Trailer

Funny you mention the sucession thing.  Last night, my mom's sitting on the internet and calls my attention to a graphic showing twenty states which want to secede.  Today I'm riding with my uncle to pick up some propane tanks and he says, "Hey, did you see that thing last night?  Forty states are wanting to secede." 

From twenty to forty overnight.  Folks, they do like to exaggerate.

As for the new twist thing, yeah, that's actually pretty common.  I'm a regular on a screenwriting site and new writers are always worried that their stories are too similar to others.  My token advice is that it's okay; film is a cannibalistic medium.  But not every slasher flick is a Friday the 13th, not every teen romance is Sixteen Candles and not ever cop thriller is Die Hard.  It's all about taking that something familiar and making it feel new by adding your own, personal twist to it.

But that's not what's happening these days.  There are no attempts to add unique or fresh spins or perspectives.  It's about redoing the original, almost note by note, but with more expensive photography, prettier actors and more advanced special effects.  So while they may be pretty to look at, on a story basis they fail miserably.

  • azathoth
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Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Trailer

^^
This is why I like the show Supernatural.  Each season they have a new "big bad guy/thing."  They had the Yellow-Eyed demon, then something, then Lucifer, then the Apocalypse, then the angel revolt, then Leviathan, now the Words (Plaques?) of God.  Each episode follows a familiar pattern, but each season twists what the "big bad" was doing, and how to combat it.  It's Buffy, but with a different slant to it.

And when you say "pretty," I always think of the actors first.  I haven't done a study on this, but it seems that our actors, in general, have a lower acting ability but a more sexy look.  I know it is a gross generalization.  <shrugs>

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Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Trailer

I think I will stroll into the theater and give this one a shot

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  • MoonRaven
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Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Trailer

I'll check this one out.

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