Rumours have been floating around for awhile that the granddaddy of midnight madness cinematic freakshows, Rocky Horror Picture Show, is going to get a remake. Rumour has it that Susan Sarandon’s daughter, Eva Amurri, was approached to take on the role made infamous by her Mom. What does the original Janet have to say about the whole affair?

“Why would anyone want to do a remake of a cult classic? There was at one time a sequel discussed with me — and they may have even done it, I’m not sure — but none of us were really interested.”

Nothing speaks for the legacy of Rocky Horror sequel Shock Treatment so much as Susan Sarandon not only forgetting the movie’s title, but being unsure of its very existence.

I’m giving away one copy of the soundtrack for Rob Zombie’s Halloween, featuring KISS and Alice Fucking Cooper, provided by the fine folks at Deep Focus. To win, simply name the Halloween films that correspond with the masks shown above. Answers should be left in the comments. The first person to name them all correctly, or the person with the most correct answers by next Monday, gets the soundtrack. Good Luck! Halloween hits theatres August 31st.

“”Death Note” stories contain elements of mystery, death and revenge, and are harmful to children’s psychological development.” - From a statement by the Chinese government on illicit horror material.

It’s easy to get lost in the minutae of North American horror cinema and neglect the big picture. While most bloggers, myself included, are pondering the fate of R-rated horror, half a world away there’s a genuine War on Horror.

It all started with Death Note, a hugely popular horror manga which tells the story of a boy who comes into possession of a notebook which has the power to kill anyone whose name is written within. With the help of the internet, Death Note and other horror publications have fallen into the hands of eager students in China, who find the stories to be a great way to deal with stress and anxiety. Some students were so taken with the story that they created their own Death Note binders, which they used to catalogue the names of people they were angry with. These people included their own parents and teachers, who did not take kindly to being marked for death.

The result has been a nationwide crackdown on all horror material. According to the agency in charge of dealing with pornography and other harmful materials, they have confiscated 5,912 “Death Note” books, 11,930 other illegal horror books, and 1,364 horror CDs and DVDs, most of which are likely bootlegs to begin with. The government also intends on clamping down on horror content on the internet.

The ban has even resulted in actual death threats from students directed at teachers, which has only strengthened the government’s stance.

Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir managed to sneak in a small conversation with Rob Zombie during the shooting of his Halloween remake. I’m not entirely sure, but this may be the only interview Zombie has given since he began production. During their talk Zombie discusses the virture of remakes, dream casting, and internet rumours.

“For a few minutes, when I first started, someone would always email me and go, “Is it true so-and-so is Laurie Strode?” “No, it’s not true, I don’t even know who that person is you’re mentioning.” But then it would get posted anyway and y’know, I’m done, I can’t address nonsense all day long, I’ve got actual work to do. Clearly, they would sit at home, think of something and just put it out there because there was no basis in anything ever. Life’s too short to address bullshit all day long.”

I do have to take issue with one comment Dave makes about The Devil’s Rejects. The main reason I enjoyed that film was because I felt it went nowhere near romanticizing The Fireflys. In fact, I thought the entire thing was the exact opposite, with the clan coming off as a group of worthless schlubs who couldn’t keep their shit together for more than a handful of days when left to their own devices.

History repeats itself, as The Hitcher remake doesn’t fare as well at the box office as originally predicted by most pundits. The reason the Hitcher seemed to be a cinch to win was due to the lack of fresh competition, as it was the only movie that opened wide this weekend. The Hitcher placed fourth in the rankings. Serves it right for denying the existence of modern-day hitchikers. Bastards.

Pan’s Labryinth, which has been receiving gradually wider releases over the past few weeks, placed seventh. Now that part pisses me off. I’ve been dying to see Pan’s Labryinth since I first heard of it, but it only opened in my city this past weekend. This would be fine, except it opened in the tiniest, throwaway theatre in town. I’d probably have a better experience getting a bootleg and watching it at home. All this because the powers-that-be don’t seem to have any faith in the damn thing. Now I’m not sure if I should bother going, or hope that with it’s newfound popularity it will open in a decent-sized theatre.

I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but I just can’t seem to get indignant about the recent trend in horror remakes. I’ve become hardened over the years. But there is one remake that pisses me off, and it’s The Hitcher, though not for any reason you may suspect. It’s not because I hold the original in high regard, or because the screenwriter is the same mastermind behind the recent When A Stranger Calls fiasco. No, my reason for hating The Hitcher remake before it’s release is admittedly stupid and petty on my part.

“The problem these days - I don’t know about in Australia, but here - nobody picks up hitchhikers anymore. So I had to work on making the villain a lot cleverer… more calculated.”

That is a quote from an interview with The Hitcher screenwriter Jake Wade Wall, and it drives up the wall. Has this guy ever stepped outside? How do you hire someone for a hitchhiking movie who isn’t aware, or willing to make himself aware, that although hitchhiking isn’t nearly as prevalent today as it was over twenty years ago it’s still practiced by thousands in North America alone. Not only have I hitchhiked quite a few times but I’ve also picked up hitchhikers on those rare occassions when I’ve been out driving, and I’ve never had to resort to clever or calculating ruses to sucker my rides. Just a thumb and some patience.

If you still want to subject yourself to the seizure-inducing trailer for The Hitcher remake, knock yourself out. Via Bloody Disgusting.

Billy! What did you do to one of my favourite movies, Billy?!?

“Thanks” to Cinematical for directing me to this teaser.

Twitch Film has the lowdown on Douglas Buck’s remake of De Palma’s Sisters, including the trailer. I’m not sure if this is the regular trailer or one cobbled together for potential distributors, but it’s quite lengthy and gives away a fair amount, so be warned, if you haven’t seen the original there are a few spoilers.

I’m interested to see how Buck’s flat, emotionally distant style translates to this story. The trailer makes it seem almost as if it will be filtered through Cronenberg in much the same way De Palma channels Hitchcock.

As you may be aware, a remake of Universal’s The Wolfman is set to be released sometime in 2008 with Benicio Del Toro as the lead. Those who doubt Del Toro’s ability to play a lycanthrope need only view Big Top Pee-Wee where he starred as Duke The Dog-Faced Boy, his first appearance on the silver screen.

Found via the Dread Central forums.

As a kid I liked the musical remake of Little Shop of Horrors, mainly for Steve Martin’s performance as the dentist. I can honestly say that if it had retained the original ending I would have loved this movie. Above you’ll find over twenty minutes of bleak black-and-white footage that cost in the neighbourhood of $2 million, all left on the cutting room floor because of some poor test screenings. It’s about as contrary to the ending they finally used as you can get. The next time someone complains that the monster rarely triumphs in a horror movie, I’ll be directing them to the apocalyptic insanity that closes this footage.

One remake I’m looking forward to is Douglas Buck’s version of DePalma’s Sisters. His Family Portraits trilogy is a must-see for anyone who likes their horror to be quiet yet unsettling.

Fangoria has a chat with Buck about the upcoming release, specifically concerning David Cronenberg’s near-involvement.

“As you know, David Cronenberg was originally slated to play the role. The character is Dr. Bryant, who, in a brief documentary snippet, discusses the necessity of surgically separating the mentally troubled Siamese twins—you can see why Cronenberg was initially attracted to it.”

That piece of casting would have been quite the coup. I think I enjoy Cronenberg’s acting nearly as much as his directing.

Welcome to Crazytown. Twitchfilms points out rumblings among the otaku crowd that there may be an anime remake of Argento’s Suspiria by Studio Gonzo in the works.

Oh, c’mon! Tell me you aren’t the least bit intrigued. If you have to produce a remake, at the very least take it in a completely different direction. That way, if you fail, well, at least it was a spectactular failure destined for cult status instead of an inferior retread that mimics the original shot-for-shot.

I’m going to shoot through the remake news as quickly as possible.

You’ve probably already seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake prequel trailer. Final Girl has a handle on the poster.

The 40-Year Old Virgin 2 : Wicker Man trailer is up as well. The less said about that the better.

The Stepfather is stepping up to the plate. Somehow it makes me even more sad to see some of the minor classics up for remakes than it is to see the majors.

The only remake on this list that has me the least bit excited is the possiblity of a made-for-TV Wolfen movie. I have a particular fondness for the low-budget aesthetic of the television movie. It often adds to the lurid quality of the film. That and the original Wolfen, though probably too slow and confusing for a 7 year-old, creeped me out enough that I even tried to read the novel.

And finally, some behind-the-scenes for the upcoming Black Christmas remake. For the record, Black Christmas is my favourite horror movie, behind only Night of the Living Dead and the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, so I have no hope that this will come to any good. Regardless, whether you’re actually interested or morbidly fascinated, there are a few neat tidbits in there for you.

It seems a little redundant at this point to bring up Rob Zombie’s directorial committment to the remake of Halloween, but the news is still just sinking in. I was never that big a fan of the original series, including the first installment (comparable and inferior as it was to the earlier Black Christmas), but the news that Zombie is restarting the series is just interesting enough to draw me in.

This the new HALLOWEEN. Call it a remake, an update, a reimaging or whatever, but one thing that for sure is this is a whole new start… a new begining with no connection to the other series. That is exactly why the project appeals to me. I can take it and run with it.

I talked to John Carpenter about this the other day and he said, “Go for it, Rob. Make it your own”. And that’s exactly what I intend to do.

I thought House of 1000 Corpses was awful, which is understandable for a director’s first film, but thought it’s sequel, The Devil’s Rejects, was better by leaps and bounds. After watching that, I was ready to follow Zombie anywhere he went with his film career, especially if he kept improving at the rate he seemed to have going. I just never imagined that he would abandon original material to jump on the “reinvisioning” bandwagon.

Could Zombie have turned the franchise around? Yeah, probably. But he’s going to have to pull off one of the best genre films ever made to even attempt to get out from under the shadow of the original Halloween, if that’s even possible. You’re a better man than I, Gunga Din.

I was debating whether to discuss the remake of The Omen on the blog, but I’ve recently discovered that it falls outside my purview. In a recent interview, Omen star Liev Schreiber explained that The Omen is not actually a horror movie.

For me, it felt more like a suspense thriller. It’s a big subject, and I believe that’s why [the original] got to so many people back in the ’70s when it came out. There was something really taboo about it, and it does kind of touch on all these moral questions that are not entirely OK to touch on, so that to me is the real meat of it, and what made it so interesting.

And what condescending thoughts does co-star Julia Stiles share on the subject of horror as a genre?

I’m a fan of horror movies from afar, but I’ve never been interested in doing them as an actor, because I didn’t find there was much to sink my teeth into. Horror films are usually about blood and guts and special effects, and an actor doesn’t really have much to work with there. But I really liked THE OMEN; it’s one of the most psychologically driven films out there, and that gave me an opportunity to elaborate on the part I was playing, so it’s kind of special in its genre.

I’m always surprised by this kind of shamefaced denial of the genre, as if horror isn’t capable of containing worthwhile pieces of work because it’s already filled to the brim with garbage. Apparently, the only person in the cast to excel in their role was Mia Farrow, who from all accounts didn’t hold herself above the genre she was working in.

Maybe they’ll learn with time.