Kermode Uncut: Are Remakes Always Rubbish?

last Friday the first Friday of 2013 I took myself in the morning down to the local multiplex to pay to see a screening of Texas Chainsaw 3d prior to going up to the BBC to the radio 5 live show I do with Simon Maher where I reviewed the film I paid to see it because the film wasn't press screened to critics unsurprising because it after rubbish does this make any difference well over the weekend with the very good box office in the u.s. 23 million dollars went straight in the number one spot doesn't mean it's a good movie means that people went to see it why because of the enduring reputation of the original the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre my experience of watching Texas Chainsaw 3d was that all the time I was watching the film which is a kind of reboot come remake them into new story new characters but basically all go through all the old set pieces so it's kind of somewhere between the two but all the time I was watching I just kept thinking I really like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre remembering the thrill of seeing it the first time at the Phoenix and essentially remembering the difficulty that James firm and the chief sensor had with attempting to cut it he said that it had the pornography of Terror about it but there's almost no blood so he couldn't cut it he can do anything to dispel it's strange magical spell and all the time I was watching Texas Chainsaw 3d all I could think was I really really like the original why am I watching this pale shallow imitation it started me thinking about remakes and now generally there is a feeling that remakes of classic movies are not such a great idea however occasionally I beg to differ when we did the cupboard uncut film club more of which in the next few weeks we started off with breathless the Richard Gere remake of a Buddhist Sutra and I have no shame in saying this personally I prefer breathless also I remain a big fan of sorcerer William Friedkin's remake of wages affair when that film came out it was panned by critics and ignored by audiences but over the years its reputation is growing I meant being quite surprised but actually rather like the remake of the Thomas Crown Affair despite the fact that it had sting singing the title song in it my question to you therefore is this which is the remake or reboot or or or relaunch or reimagining of a film which most left you remembering just how great the original was and just how little you want to be seeing a pale reflection and which was the remake that made you think you know what I expected that to be bad but boy it turned out to be good

Channel: kermodeandmayo

Views: 28,068

Rating: 4.8847737 out of 5

Keywords: Texas Chainsaw 3D, Mark Kermode, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, reboot, Phoenix East Finchley, James Ferman

Id: PZSs7YwLXqY

Length: 2min 33sec (153 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 08 2013