This is a remake of a Canadian horror film that I grew up with and is still very dear to me. Even though I don't think they make great horror films these days, the 3D gimmick was too much to pass up. And it's nice to see that the original motivated someone to try and remake it. That said, this film is nothing extraordinary, but worth it if you have some time to kill. And be prepared to pay extra since this is a 3D film. They charged me an extra two bucks for the glasses. It isn't often you pay $9.50 for a movie at 3 in the afternoon, but what the hell.
The film is faithful to the original in a few ways. Using many of the same names and the mining community for the setting. The story centers around the aftermath of a violent rampage by a coal miner ten years earlier. And a spate of grisly new killings that coincide with the arrival of a young man who left town at the time the original murders took place. Is it just a coincidence, or is the young man picking up where the murderous miner left off? This time around, the script has a lot more going on than in the original. Sometimes a bit too much, but the action is spread out to more locations than just the creepy old mine. There is a very strong amount of gore that the original sorely lacked (thank you Paramount). You will see people mangled in just about every way you can kill someone with a pick ax. This film even recycles the dead body in the dryer shot from the original, too. It seems like they made a point to be much more graphic for the fans who had always complained about too much gore cut out from the 1981 version. And the 3D was a nice treat. It looked very good, even from the rear of the theater where I was seated. And a man in full mining gear is still a very scary sight.
I expected problems with the script, and I was correct to do so. Much of the dialog is very weak, and it seems like they used a test audience to pick the actual killer since it really could have been either of two people. Some of the acting was more than passable, and it was good to see Tom Atkins working again. The locations above ground were more lush and not as economically depressed as they looked in the original. And this kind of hurts when it comes to creating a spooky atmosphere. There are a couple moments during fight scenes where the actions of characters produced groans from the audience due to stupidity, and I really doubt the county sheriff of such a supposedly impoverished area could afford such a nice home and a housekeeper. I guess the film was still as good as I thought it could be, and I'm not a worse person for having seen it. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.
The film is faithful to the original in a few ways. Using many of the same names and the mining community for the setting. The story centers around the aftermath of a violent rampage by a coal miner ten years earlier. And a spate of grisly new killings that coincide with the arrival of a young man who left town at the time the original murders took place. Is it just a coincidence, or is the young man picking up where the murderous miner left off? This time around, the script has a lot more going on than in the original. Sometimes a bit too much, but the action is spread out to more locations than just the creepy old mine. There is a very strong amount of gore that the original sorely lacked (thank you Paramount). You will see people mangled in just about every way you can kill someone with a pick ax. This film even recycles the dead body in the dryer shot from the original, too. It seems like they made a point to be much more graphic for the fans who had always complained about too much gore cut out from the 1981 version. And the 3D was a nice treat. It looked very good, even from the rear of the theater where I was seated. And a man in full mining gear is still a very scary sight.
I expected problems with the script, and I was correct to do so. Much of the dialog is very weak, and it seems like they used a test audience to pick the actual killer since it really could have been either of two people. Some of the acting was more than passable, and it was good to see Tom Atkins working again. The locations above ground were more lush and not as economically depressed as they looked in the original. And this kind of hurts when it comes to creating a spooky atmosphere. There are a couple moments during fight scenes where the actions of characters produced groans from the audience due to stupidity, and I really doubt the county sheriff of such a supposedly impoverished area could afford such a nice home and a housekeeper. I guess the film was still as good as I thought it could be, and I'm not a worse person for having seen it. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.