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One of the fascinating aspects of film is to compare two movies that are analogous in tone or genre, but not equivalent in their entertainment value. If the two were directly competing for an audience's satisfaction, one would win easily and the other would lose severely.

In addition to Hollywood's ongoing goal to put every single comic book character in existence onto the big screen, the second largest trend has been the film remake. Each year more and more remakes, particularly movies in the horror genre, are released. So far there have only been a few movies where I actually saw the original first like Clash of the Titans, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm St. However, I can imagine 20 or 30 years from now, if things stay on the same course, that we may be subjected to a remake of E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Star Wars.

For this week's column, I wanted to compare two horror remakes. Both of these I saw before the original, so I was able to judge them without prejudice or influence.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I remember reading a review by Roger Ebert for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when it was first released and he gave it an F for being a cruel and violent movie that made him feel bad. Then he turns around and praises The Passion of the Christ for not being afraid to show the inhumanity that occurred. Hypocrisy aside, I don't understand how a movie can be given a poor grade for provoking an unpleasant emotional reaction. While it does seem wrong to recommend a movie like Chainsaw that is clearly a very sick production, I believe that if a movie is able to generate such a reaction from its audience where it actually makes them sad or horrified, then it is a very well made film. This is the horror genre, so anyone that criticizes a movie for being mean should not be watching it in the first place. One would think that Roger Ebert, being one of the most famous critics in North America, would know how to judge a movie by its genre. Apparently, he wants his horror movies to be more light-hearted. Perhaps, Freddy needs to pop up and throw out some kind of sarcastic line before anyone is killed?

Chainsaw was also criticized by many Internet bloggers because it is a remake and everyone seems to love the original. Now there are two kinds of people that watch remakes; those that despise it immediately because it is a remake, and those that are able to not be influenced by the original and judge the remake as a separate entity living in its own universe. Personally, I did not watch the original until several months after seeing the new version, and I found it to be an amateurish production. I was surprised by how much love it receives. In particular, I hate the dinner table moment where the director chooses to zoom continuously in and out on the female protagonist's eye and open mouth. This scene was so pathetic, incompetently shot, and annoying that I nearly shut the film off.

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