The Exorcist films are always stillborn because the producers keep insisting upon having an exorcism scene even when the script doesn't warrant it. If they would have just accepted the director's original goals and let them have more creative license rather them forcing them to stick to a formula it would probably have been one of the most successful franchises.
Went with Romero's Dead series. Couldn't care less about Scream since I wouldn't watch them anyway. Hollywood should self-impose a moratorium on zombie and vampire and torture movies for the next ten years. Get those creative juices flowing and come up with some new frights.
I chose Exorcist as I am a fan of all sans Harlin's, but enough is enough. The story has been told. The only place to possibly go with it is to continue Regan's story as an adult, and I doubt they'd be able to come up with anything interesting. Alien I have a lot of hope for. While Scott is one of my favorites, I'd rather see another director get a shot at it. Aronofsky, Proyas, Nolan. What's great about the Alien series is each installment has such a remarkably different feel, and though it worked against itself with Juenet's version, the series has always benefitted from being a breeding ground for up and coming visionaries.
Went with Romero and the Dead series. Diary was one of the worst horror movies I've seen in a long time, and Survival doesn't look much better. I have pretty much given up on him now. I would love for Coscarelli to finish the Phantasm story though, and a new Carpenter Apocalypse film could be awesome! Scott's Alien prequel will probably be worth a watch as well, and a new Polanski film is always something to get excited about. As for Argento, I am one of the few that didn't hate Mother of Tears, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Maybe it was the sweet sweet gore, but I didn't hate it like I did Romero's return to the zombie genre. I do wish he would go back and do a movie with the fantastic lighting and cinematography, but that will probably never happen. I could care less about the rest.
I also went with Romero's dead series. I just wish he would stop already. It's the same boring ass commentary, shitty effects and bad acting/directing.
Exorcist. That was a film that never needed a sequel to begin with. I'd be cool with another Scream movie if it was actually good like the first one, but then I fear it may spawn another 5-10 years of shitty One Tree Hill slasher whodunits. I was looking forward to the Hellraiser redo when Barker was writing and the dude who did Martyrs was involved. Not so much now. Bradley not being involved never bothered me. He was never the focal point of the first two films (I really only acknowledge the first three) so I wouldn't mind seeing him replaced. I'd actually opt for a more accurate representation of the Cenobites as they were written in the book.
I voted for Romero's Dead series.I am so bored with them! and Scream is and will always be shite.I only saw the first one and that was more than enough 4 me...
It wasn't a choice in the poll but I'm not looking forward to the "Poltergeist" re-boot (if it's still happening.) I know the sequels sucked but the original is still one of my favorites of all-time. I just don't think there's any way to improve on the original. It would just end up a CGI mess.
If we are talking about remakes, I'd say Argento. Argento films are too weird to be remade by anyone than Dario himself. If we are talking about sequels to the franchises that already exist, my answer would be Scream. Honestly, I wouldn't really mind any of these franchises continuing. Of course, Romero and Argento aren't churning out classics any more, but at least the masters are still working. I would much rather see crappy sub-par sequels any day than dumbed-down Hollywood remakes of movies I love.
After my post in The Last Exorcism, I'm duty-bound to vote Exorcist. But I'm equally anti Alien to continue. Scream could work - but I'm against Craven doing the next version. I don't want a Scream 4, a remake is a much better idea. I don't want Sidney, Gale, or Dewey coming back. Gale was just about the only great character in Scream 3 (my opinion has definitely begun to change on that film, and I'm starting to see what everyone else couldn't stand about it). And she married Dewey. Great. Whatever. They're gone. It's over. Start over new. And make the focus about what's wrong the horror genre today. There's sure a lot they can savage. A lot of points that need to be covered. Remakes, torture films, the parodies, Twilight. Scream was good at taking topics relevant to the genre and weaving them into a story. Scream, seen as a parody (which it was never) never gets any credit for not going the Wayans brothers route of just sticking in gags and doing some brainless rapid-fire slapstick routine. It was a highly intelligent film about the genre, the people who watch the films, the people who say they watch the films and don't, the people who criticize it, the media- etc. There's a lot making a new Scream film valid. The problem they need to avoid is just casting the good looking kids and making it pretty and vacuous to attract stupid kids (which the original film series NEVER did). After that, I think there's hope in most of these franchises. IF they avoid using fans of the sequels (at least, after parts 2 or 3- in the case of Romero's Dead films at least) and people who thought the remakes were okay to revive them. If the amazing popularity of Takashi Miike's films and themes of bondage and sexuality present in some of these torture films are any indication, there's substance to go along with a Hellraiser revive, so long as they don't try to just make it a monster-slasher (anyone here think a Nightmare remake would have been better with less focus on Freddy altogether??). I have little hope for Argento's Mother series or Phantasm... but would very much be interested to see a remake instead of something like Tenebre. The futuristic themes could now perhaps be put into some kind of brand new context, perhaps. Not to mention that was a film partially about someone who directed violent films and, look at the fact that this genre has been written off for so long with labels like "tortureporn," etc. Texas Chainsaw...interests me. If they can take the focus off the fucking chainsaw and Leatherface and maybe put it more into the family and what they do. Like...maybe more like Devil's Rejects without the action and the stupid jokes. More about the horror of dark characterization. More focus on the cannibal angle (in a film that isn't another Silence of the Lambs sequel/prequel/post-quel). And the economic state of the world that drove Hooper's masterpiece. As for Child's Play... Liked the original and loved Bride of Chucky. I think there's a little potential in a remake, but I'd be lying if I said I think they can't match the look of Child's Play 2, so colorful yet so unbelievably grotesque and ugly (still a terrible movie with awful acting, characters, almost zero payoff, and a shitty story). The approach of someone now would probably be... well, exactly like the original. To the last detail. I can't think of one aspect of the first movie that wouldn't work in a movie today (although- they'll probably get lazy and do CGI instead of mechanical puppeteering). If the Polanski mention is for the series that people feel includes Repulsion and The Tenant... I can't think of a single director who I feel can tap into psychology (and who doesn't mind directing a horror film, and saying it's a horror film) well enough and could continue or pick this up again... What's Bernard Rose been doing recently? I'd love to see what he would do with something like The Tenant (which I still fucking hate with every fiber of my being). I hear people really have been loving Stuart Gordon's thrillers (King of the Ants and Stuck- which I haven't seen), so maybe he would do well moving into psychological horror. And lastly, Carpenter's apocalypse... Well, they're still doing that Thing remake- right?
