It’s not new news that John Landis’ classic An American Werewolf In London is on track for a remake. We’ve known for a while that some foolish production company would be bank-rolling it even though common wisdom says it’s going to suck. (Or bite.) But who in Hollywood would be stupid and/or egotistical enough to believe a remake could improve upon (or even replicate) the original’s perfect hybrid of horror and humor? Who?!?
BloodyDisgusting reported over the weekend that Landis has sold the remake rights to The Weinstein Company’s Dimension Films. Cue groans from film-lovers around the world.
I’m not against remakes in general… if a film can be improved in some way then I say go for it. If it fails, the original is still available. But what can be made better here? As I said above the movie is a near-perfect mix of humor and horror. The acting from David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne (hilarious) is fantastic. The effects by Rick Baker are incredible even today. The machine gun-toting Nazi zombies are weird and freaky as hell. What can be improved here? They already tried a very loose sequel and look how that turned out.
If there’s any hope to the story it rests with the producers Bryan and Sean Furst. Their most recent film is the very impressive looking Daybreakers, and their past roster includes some quality indie films like First Snow, The Matador, and The Cooler. Is that enough to save this project from certain doom? Probably not.
Can a remake improve on the original at all?
Related Topics: Comedy, Horror
