Michael Bay Talks Horror Remakes
Blockbuster action director/horror remake producer Michael Bay obviously believes certain films are ripe for ‘reimagining.’ But even Bay has his limits, especially when it comes to addressing the report that one of his forthcoming projects will be an update of the classic Alfred Hitchcock chiller THE BIRDS.
‘I dont even want to talk about THE BIRDS, because thats just so far down the line,’ Bay said during a recent press go-round for his summer sci-fi epic THE ISLAND (which some have seen as an uncredited redo of 1979s PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR). ‘Actually, Im having misgivings at this point about even trying to remake that.’
But that doesnt mean the head of the Platinum Dunes company has suddenly gotten cold feet about reworking past fright fare. Hot on the heels of the successful TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and AMITYVILLE HORROR updates, Bay and Platinum Dunes have lined up the remake rights to the 1986 cult favorite THE HITCHER and are working on the TEXAS CHAINSAW prequel (for which David J. Schow is penning the new script, a previous draft by Sheldon Turner having been dropped).
‘I did the new TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE because I wanted to start a company to help young directors,’ Bay says. ‘The movie was a title that was in our culture, but there was a whole generation of kids who had never seen the original. When I do remakes, Im not out to try and improve on the original, but just to make it relevant for a new audience. It was the same with THE AMITYVILLE HORROR.’
One film that Bay insists should never be remadeand that he is disappointed to find out already hasis THE SHINING. ‘I would never touch that,’ he says. ‘I love Kubrick, and that movie has the scariest shot I think Ive ever seen: those two twins in the hallway.’
Courtesy of Fangoria
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