Screen Rant recently talked about all the remakes and reboots coming out of the unoriginal machine called Hollywood. With the dozens of proposed remakes littering web sites and publications, it can sometimes be hard to discern the good from the bad. The good, in this case, would be a remake of Universal Studios classic monster B-movie, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Back in December, rumor was that Breck Eisner (Sahara) – who was originally attached to the project – would be abandoning the helm. Universal denied that rumor saying he was still on board and would be directing the feature after finishing up his current remake of George Romero’s The Crazies with Timothy Olyphant.
According to Bloody-Disgusting, that no longer appears to be the case. At this point, the Universal Studios and Strike Entertainment remake of Black Lagoon has no director but it shouldn’t take them long to find another one. On the positive side, Gary Ross, whose father wrote the original movie, is producing. Maybe that will keep the film from veering too far off course.
Personally, this is the one horror film that I’m looking forward to seeing remade. I miss the old black and white monster classics from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Wolfman, The Mummy, Dracula, THEM, Tarantula: films like these were made during the Golden Age of monster movies, back when the focus of the film was on the monster and not the highly overpaid big name actor or actress involved in the film.
Best line from Tarantula: “…there you go, give women the right to vote and suddenly you’re becoming scientists…”
I would love to see a throwback to the old-school monster movies. No over-the-top special effects-laden battles between the monster and the National Guard; no ridiculous plot where the monster is related to someone chasing him; no stupid comedic take on the monster with Seth Rogen or Will Ferrell. Just a retelling of the original story set in modern times.
Also, I don’t want to see a completely CGI monster! Just because the technology exists doesn’t mean it must always be used. There’s something to be said for a man in a rubber suit. Abe Sapien in Hellboy would have looked horrible done entirely in CG. Instead, they relied on the good use of physical make-up and used minimal CG to enhance his look.
This would be a good time to bring up my choice for a director for Creature from the Black Lagoon: Guillermo del Toro. I like his cinematic vision –Pan’s Labyrinth in particular – and his eye for story. I think he would make a movie that is both a faithful recreation and somehting new and enjoyable to watch.
What are your thoughts on having a few good monster movie remakes and are you looking forward to seeing the Gill Man wander the waters of the Amazon River again?
Creature from the Black Lagoon is scheduled for release in 2011.
