The Hollywood machine has run out of ideas. Sure, most of the movies are bassy explosion-fests anyway but the threadbare plots which loosely tied together the series of booms, crashes and flashing lights were occasionally quite inventive. Some time in the past few years this well of talent dried up and producers started looking to the recent past for “new” films. The Wicker Man is a fantastic horror tale where Edward Woodward plays a puritannical police officer uncovering an insidious plot surrounding the disappearance of a young girl. I don’t care to see the Nicholas Cage version. For those who’ve seen the original check out the trailer and see if there’s something they DON’T give away… “Who’s the Wicker Man?!” “…believe nothing that you see or hear!” Christ, the kid on the poster even has evil eyes.
I digress… I recently caught a trailer for Children of Men which is based on a 1992 novel by PD James. I thought it was an interesting and original plot… Sure, its purpose is to string together a series of explosions and flashing lights but at least it’s not a remake! Or is it..? My brother reminded me of the 1983 Italian B Sci-Fi movie 2019 – Dopo la caduta di New York (2019: After the Fall of New York) he saw some years back. Here’s the plotline they used to tie together their particular series of explosions and flashing lights. Oh well, back to the scripting board.