Full Description
This collection was inspired by the observation that film remakes offer us the opportunity to revisit important issues, stories, themes, and topics in a manner that is especially relevant and meaningful to contemporary audiences. Like mythic stories that are told again and again in differing ways, film remakes present us with updated perspectives on timeless ideas. While some remakes succeed and others fail aesthetically, they always say something about the culture in which_and for which_they are produced. Contributors explore the ways in which the fears of death, loss of self, and bodily violence have been expressed and then reinterpreted in such films and remakes as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Night of the Living Dead, and Dawn of the Dead. Films such as Rollerball, The Ring, The Grudge, The Great Yokai Wars, and Insomnia are discussed as well because of their ability to give voice to collective anxieties concerning cultural change, nihilism, and globalization. While opening on a note that emphasizes the compulsion of filmmakers to revisit issues concerning fear and anxiety, this collection ends by using films like Solaris, King Kong, Star Trek, Doom, and Van Helsing to suggest that repeated confrontation with these issues allows the opportunity for creative and positive transformation.
Contents
1 Contents 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 1. Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Films Remade Part 4 I. Fear Chapter 5 2. Immanent Attack: An Existential Take on The Invasion of the Body Snatchers Films Chapter 6 3. Invasions of Fear: The Body Snatcher Theme Chapter 7 4. Remaking Romero Part 8 II. Cultural Anxiety Chapter 9 5. Cultural Change and Nihilism in the Rollerball Films Chapter 10 6. Hollywood's Remake Practices under the Copyright Regime: French Films and Japanese Horror Films Chapter 11 7. Monsters Reappearing in Great Yôkai Wars, 1968-2005 Chapter 12 8. Trading Spaces: Transnational Dislocations in Insomnia/Insomnia and Ju-on/The Grudge Part 13 III. Transformation Chapter 14 9. Second Chance: Remaking Solaris Chapter 15 10. Ape Redux: King Kong and the Kiwis Chapter 16 11. Distinct Identites of Star Trek Fan Film Remakes Chapter 17 12. Horror Video Game Remakes and the Question of Medium: Remaking Doom, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil Chapter 18 13. Film Remake or Film Adaptation?: New Media Hollywood and the Digitizing of Gothic Monsters in Van Helsing 19 Selected Bibliography 20 Index 21 About the Contributors
