Tag: reboot

Scream [AKA Scream 5] (2022, dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)

25 years after the original Woodsboro killings, a new series of murders. Cheerily meta sequel / reboot / remake, better with the self-aware jokes than with real suspense, despite a couple of inventive moments. Hard to care about the new cast or the murder-mystery element though, which robs the movie of impetus.

Here’s the trailer.

Candyman (2021, dir. Nia DaCosta)

A troubled artist invokes an urban legend. Both a direct sequel and a reboot to the minor 90s classic (while borrowing also from the David Cronenberg version of The Fly), this version has effective visuals and strong gore moments, but isn’t remotely scary. A problem for a genre pic, its good intentions notwithstanding.

Here’s the trailer

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021, dir. William Eubank)

An adopted documentarian traces her birth family to an Amish community: she makes a film. Otherwise-unrelated reboot of the long-running found-footage horror series. Takes its time, but there’s some okay supernatural stuff among the usual jumpscares and format contrivances (a Christopher Landon script helps). An unfamiliar cast helps.

Here’s the trailer.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, dir. David Blue Garcia)

Gentrifiers seeking to invest in a Texas ghost town provoke the residents. Uneven belated sequel, taking the 2018 Halloween as inspiration. Some gleeful gore and a couple of sly gags and visual moments, but Leatherface is entirely justified here, and huge chunks of the movie have neither sense nor logic.

Here’s the trailer.

Amityville: The Awakening (2017, dir. Franck Khalfoun)

A dysfunctional family including a young man in a persistent vegetative state moves into a house with a past. Odd franchise reboot (plus a touch of Patrick) with an interesting meta approach and a strong cast. Some competent jump scares and one neat story idea make this worthwhile for genre fans.

Here’s the trailer. And another viewpoint.

Wrong Turn VI [AKA Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort] (2014, dir. Valeri Milev)

A young man and his friends arrive at a remote spa hotel: he has inherited the property, but it comes with family complications. A partial reboot that tries a few new things, though soon defaults to the boobs, blood, and inbreeds usual. A further reboot is promised for 2021.

Here’s the trailer.

Friday the 13th (2009, dir. Marcus Nispel)

Two groups of students spend weekends by a deserted summer camp; murders ensue. Clunky attempted series reboot/sidequel with perfunctory handling, and a focus on hunk/hottie/stoner soap operatics rather than story or logic. Not much good, to be honest.

Here’s the trailer.

Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island [AKA Fantasy Island] (2020, dir. Jeff Wadlow)

Five people arrive at an island resort where they are each promised their fantasy can come true. Horror-tinged revisiting of the 70s TV show, that plays initially like an Amicus/EC anthology. It doesn’t all work, but there’s plenty going on, and the cast of game character actors is a smart approach.

The Grudge (2020, dir. Nicolas Pesce)

A widowed detective investigates deaths linked to the same house. Well-made series reboot (set between the first two of the 00s US J-horror remakes) that delivers with scares, splatter, icky imagery, fine cast and direction, plus some interesting script work. More a series of vignettes than an actual story, but this is superior genre fare.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010, dir. Samuel Bayer)

A group of teenagers are stalked by a vengeful dream demon. A well-resourced series reboot – remaking the 1984 genre classic – that works well enough on its own terms, but which doesn’t add enough (a voguish focus on the villain’s backstory aside) to make it distinctive. Fine in itself, though, if hardly memorable.