A lot of horror movie remakes have came out recently, Let Me In, the American version of Let the Right One In, and Fright Night, and The Crow are to be scheduled for release in the near future.  But the one that most are talking about is the remake of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.

Visionary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, director of Hellboy, and Pan’s Labyrinth, has written the script.  Del Toro is known for his fantastical monsters, and scary undertones to his movies.  Well, so far Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark has people shaking in their boots even when watching the trailer.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is a monster movie about a young introverted girl named Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison).  Sally is threatened by the monsters whom have been locked up in their new house for years.  Moving in with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes), she has to persuade her father of monster’s existence if she is to survive.

Del Toro was brought up in an extremely Catholic household, when he was young he started to make small movies and then learned make-up artistry from the legendary artist Dick Smith who worked on The Exorcist.  His most critically acclaimed movies consist of the two movies set during the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco, El Laberinton Del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) and El Espinazo Del Diable (The Devil’s Backbone).

Many of Del Toro’s movies are themed with child-like horrors with a child protagonist.  Primarily, Del Toro’s work and sense of style is derived from his childhood.  Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is one of his movies that draws heavily from his childhood.

When Del Toro was a kid, he had watched the movie made for TV under the same name as Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.  He claims it was one of the scariest movies he has ever seen. “For my generation it was the scariest TV movie we ever saw.  It creeped out my whole family and it stayed on my mind,” Del Toro said in the production notes.

When all the writing, shooting, and editing was finished, the movie was sent to the MPAA  (Motion Picture Association of America).  The hopes of obtaining a rated PG-13 were dashed when the movie came back stamped with an R-rating.  Del Toro and the creators spoke to the MPAA to see what they could change for a the lower rating.  The MPAA responded, “Why ruin a perfectly scary movie?”

Troy Nixey is set to direct.  Prior he has only directed one short by the name of Latchkey’s Lament.  His real achievements lie with comic books.

Nixey was an illustrator for Only the End of the World Again, written by Neil Gaiman.  Nixey had also co-created the comic Trout and is know.  In his comics Nixey usually draws very dark and sinister illustrations.  Nixey’s directing will complement Del Toro’s fantastical and frightening style and add to the chills that will run up the audiences’ spines.

Del Toro is one filmmaker that is hard to say anything bad about.  His movies never fail to chill and entice the audience with his fantastical monsters.  The trailer for Don’t be Afraid of the Dark scares the viewer in the first minute, it is not hard to become hooked in the first minute.  With only one directing credit to his name, Nixey will have his work cut out for him for his first major film.

People at the Virginia Film Festival are already raving about the movie, while many others fear to see more than the trailer when it comes out August 26th.

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Conan has been a well-recognized name throughout the genre of action, ranging from books to videogames.  First conceived in 1932 by writer Robert E. Howard, Conan quickly became an iconic figure in fantasy novels then evolved into comic books in the 1950s.

In the 1980s Conan attacked the big screen being played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Now after 30 years after the making of the original movies and more than 8 years in the making, Conan the Barbarian is back on screen as he fights to avenge his slaughtered tribe.

The focus of fan’s attention has turned to the next actor that will play Conan.  Many believe that Schwarzenegger’s shoes can never be filled when it comes to playing with Conan.

After a long seven-year stretch in the development stage, the director Marcus Nispel had found his Conan in Jason Momoa.  Jason Momoa was a model though he is more famous for his acting.  HBO’s recent series, Game of Thrones, featured Momoa as the barbarian king Khal Drogo.  This character is a Conan-esque character that Momoa plays skillfully. Based on his previous work, Momoa will definitely fit the shoes that Schwarzenegger left behind or at least give him a run for his money.

Conan’s father was to be played by Mickey Rourke, but he had left the project for Dawn of War due to how long Conan was stalled.  Instead, Ron Pearlman, mainly known for playing roles like Hellboy, and One in City Of Lost Children, will take the part of Conan’s father.

The director, Marcus Nispel has directed mostly horror movies, using a kind of grey and dark color to them.  Some titles he directed include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13^th, and Frankenstein.  With such a gritty look to his movies, the movie seems to be turning down a really gory path.

Many of Nispel films are known to be gory.  So with a lot of action sequences in Conan, one can only imagine the amount of red dye that will be flying everywhere across the screen.  The grit, the blood and the harsh colors will give Conan a more horror feel than a straight action flick would have.

The movie has had many complications as it began developing.  The idea floated around Warner Brothers for a little more than seven years when Nu Image and Millennium Films obtained the rights in 2007.  Bringing on LionsGate to distribute the film along with a new revision of the script, Conan was finally beginning to take shape.

The principal photography began on March 15, 2010 and ended June 5, 2010.  With the film waiting to be release Conan fans are sure to want to catch the action, August 19^th.

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A new Footloose film is set to some out this October and fans of the first film are concerned. Originally released in 1984, it had mixed reviews at the box office, but was still popular enough to gross $80,035,402.  Starring Kevin Bacon, the soundtrack became a classic hit, and the film became an important part of great 80s movies.  It was especially liked for its catchy soundtrack and fun dancing.

Recently, more and more movies are being remade for the next generation. Usually, old films that the current generation has little knowledge about are picked, recast, and sent back to the big screen. One of the reasons this happens is because advancing technology has allowed for greater special effects, and because it’s  a gambit to make money off of a popular old film by getting people to see a newer and—supposedly—better version of their classic favorite. In this case, director Craig Brewer, loved the first film and simply wanted to see a new version of it up on the big screen.

The new movie has a similar plot to the original. It is still about a slightly rebellious teenager who comes to a town that has a dancing ban. He falls for the preacher’s daughter, and he tries to change the law to make public dancing legal. There are some differences, however. The new version has moved locations from a mid-western farming town to a Southern town with the same name.

It is set in modern times, but with elements that make it an eclectic mix of generations. Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormwald) dresses like a 1950s greaser and drives an old yellow Volkswagen Beetle, but many of the other characters dress more modern.

The music is also a combination of several styles. A number of classics from the original are back such as the title “Footloose” and “Let’s Hear it for the Boy,” but Brewer has also included some hip-hop tracks, and even some jazz. Kenny Wormwald, in an interview with Jen Yomato on www.movieline.com, explains how Brewer wanted to keep the spirit of the original while adding elements that would make it relatable to his younger viewers.

He recounted his excitement over the angry dancing scene similar to the one Kevin Bacon shot in the mill being included (sometimes referred to as punch dancing), as well as the wide variety of new music and dances.

This mix of new with old is an effort to draw two very separate audiences to this new film. Versions of several of the original tracks were included, as well as an effort to keep to the same plot in an attempt to encourage those who have already seen the original to go see the new one. Additionally, Brewer set it in modern times, and added hip-hop and choreography similar to more recent films such as Step Up to encourage audiences who are fans of those types of movies to go to this one.

The main problem with this strategy is that Brewer risks alienating both intended audiences by trying to cater to the desires of each one. Fans of the original may have a hard time swallowing the bumping and grinding to modern music, while newer audiences may be turned off by the line dancing to music with a bit of a twang.

Even if this film does match up to the original with younger audiences, who have never seen the first one, it will be a hard sell for fans of the first Footloose. After all, even Brewer admitted, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

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