The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Screaming in the 1970s is Not Like Screaming in 2009

When people hear the word “remake,” the first things that usually spring to mind are low budgets and shoddy acting. And despite watered-down plotlines and half-rate actors, remakes in the world of horror have become even more popular, spawning a slew of gruesome (in more than one way) films.
The Talon compared two horror cult classics to their remakes and attempted to determine how they stack up to the originals.

The Omen (1976 and 2006)
Robert Thorn is the American ambassador to Italy when his wife gives birth to a stillborn child. Thorn substitutes another baby, whose mother died in childbirth, as theirs, but soon realizes that this child is really the son of Satan.
The original movie does not resort to the usual “blood and guts” scare tactics common in Hollywood horror blockbusters today, but instead relies on Gregory Peck’s chilling performance as Robert to provide a greater sense of impending misfortune and fear.
The original also has an amazing musical score that really emphasizes Robert’s torment and fear exceptionally well.
The remake, however, is a completely different story.
It completely lacks the feeling of dread and foreboding so clearly present in the original, and instead opts to be more stylistic and visually appealing.

The screenwriters added many unnecessary details and scenes to the original storyline, including disturbing dream sequences, which are filled with redundant symbolism and imagery.

The Amityville Horror (1979 and 2005)
Based on a true story, George and Kathy Lutz, a newlywed couple with three children, move into their dream home on the coast of Long Island. They soon find out though that their home was the site of a grisly murder and that an evil spirit in the house is planning to possess the family.
The original has some interesting film work, which is unfortunately overshadowed by mediocre editing, filled with cheesy cut-tos and flashbacks.
However, the sound effects and musical score are excellent and really gives the movie a chilling, creepy feel. It also allows for slower pacing, but that definitely works to give the film a subtle sense of dreadful suspense.
As for the acting, it feels over-the-top, but dry and emotionless other times. However, the acting in the original was no way near as terrible as in the remake.
Funnyman Ryan Reynolds makes it really difficult for the audience to take him seriously.
Several important scenes are left out and many details are changed, such as the elimination of the important “red room.” In general, the remake was not very scary.
There may be a couple frightening scenes, however, they are full of pretty much just “monster hiding in the closet” type surprises.

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