Current mood:	frustrated
Current music:	Shinedown - 45

Japanese films vs. Remakes

I've just finished watching the American remake of The Ring again. I've seen this particular remake 3 or 4 times now, and I swear it gets worse every time. I've also seen the remakes of Dark Water and The Grudge twice, and I think I have finally managed to semi-articulate my rage at these travesties of cinema.

You see, the genius of the Japanese originals (Ring, Dark Water and Ju-On respectively) is that the original films are clever, and Spartan. They present a vision of horror, something really freakin' scary. The reason they are so scary is that they let you use your own imagination, which is the scariest thing any human being owns. These films seldom use special effects, because they're not needed; it's your own brain that provides the nightmarish in-between moments and backstory.

The problem with the remakes is very simple: they try to explain and demonstrate every single detail. The Ring, for example: seeing how the dead look robs the whole aspect of fear - it makes it laughable, in fact. I was rolling my eyes and saying "oh for fuck's sake" through the whole film. I don't need to see everything - I have a brain, okay?

And in that vein - what exactly is with the need to explain everything? To tie everything up into nice "here's the solution, let me explain it" bundles? It's WAY scarier to fill in the gaps yourself. I don't need to hear about exactly how/where/when or why things got creepy - that bores me. Give me the vaguest idea of some horrid past and leave me to work it out, then I'll shit myself. In the original Ring, it's horrifying because you know something so bad happened to Samara that she's doing what she's doing. The remake decides to show me flashbacks, medical records and long explanations (again with needless special effects) - I'm BORED now, it's not interesting!

*le sigh* Had to vent - that one's been brewing for YEARS.