Matt Donato – Page 4 – All Things Ick

‘Halloween’ – How Rob Zombie Made a Horror Classic Entirely His Own [Revenge of the Remakes]

October 31, 2022 Matt Donato Editorials, featured, Halloween, John Carpenter, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, Rob ZOmbie, topnews

In discussions about slasher infamy, all roads lead to Haddonfield. The Halloween franchise has amassed a convoluted franchise canon since the late 1970s, filled with retcons and redos as recently as Halloween Ends — including Rob Zombie‘s universally divisive 2007 remake. Countless horror screenwriters, including Josh Stolberg (no stranger to “Revenge of the Remakes”), attempted […]

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‘Goodnight Mommy’ – The Kind of Remake That Gives Remakes a Bad Name [Revenge of the Remakes]

September 27, 2022 Matt Donato Editorials, Goodnight Mommy, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes

Anyone who’s kept pace with “Revenge of the Remakes” here on Bloody Disgusting knows I’m a rather outspoken advocate for horror remakes. They’re inevitable, serve multiple purposes, and aren’t the poison to filmmaking culture some claim. That said? Matt Sobel’s American remake of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s Goodnight Mommy exemplifies everything you hate to […]

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‘The House on Sorority Row’ and ‘Sorority Row’ Fulfill Different Horror Cravings [Revenge of the Remakes]

September 5, 2022 Matt Donato Editorials, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, Sorority Row, The House on Sorority Row

Mark Rosman‘s The House on Sorority Row (1982) and Stewart Hendler‘s Sorority Row (2009) feel shoved aside in their respective horror classes. Titles like Pieces, Black Christmas, and The Dorm That Dripped Blood get more frequent mentions when discussing pre-90s sorority or dormitory slashers. Remake debates rarely include Sorority Row in their reassessments of unfairly […]

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‘Shark Side of the Moon’ Review – Tubi Hopes You’re in the Mood for Russian Space Shark Silliness

August 12, 2022 Matt Donato Movies, Reviews, Shark Side of the Moon, Tubi

From the directors of The Asylum’s Dune knockoff and the writers/director of The Asylum’s Aladdin ripoff comes The Asylum’s Tubi Original Shark Side of the Moon. Just when you thought it was safe to colonize Earth’s crater-covered moon again, Glenn Campbell and Tammy Klein introduce Russian human-shark hybrids as cosmic predators. Or, more appropriately, lower-than-low-budget […]

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‘The Hills Have Eyes’ Took a Horror Classic and Made It Even Better [Revenge of the Remakes]

August 4, 2022 Matt Donato Editorials, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven

Wes Craven‘s The Hills Have Eyes is a seminal “Sunny Scary” horror flick renowned for its cannibalistic hilltop clan, but it certainly presents as one of Craven’s earliest works. The sorely missed master of horror went on to hone his craft as a writer and director, tidying visions and coaxing stronger performances. Craven’s 1977 The […]

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‘Fright Night’ – ‘Supergirl’ Director’s Remake Is So Good It May Outshine the Original Classic

July 4, 2022December 11, 2025 Matt Donato Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Craig Gillespie, Editorials, featured, Fright Night, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, Tom Holland, topnews

Tom Holland‘s Fright Night has cemented itself as a crucial pillar in ’80s vampire canon. There’s an embrace of bloodsucker mythologies in addition to cheeky commentaries about how vamps are perceived in the media (using the character of Peter Vincent). It’s a tale as old as Dracula between eternal lust and pointed fangs that sometimes […]

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How ‘Firestarter’ Fails to Clear Even a Low Bar for Stephen King Adaptations [Revenge of the Remakes]

May 24, 2022 Matt Donato Editorials, Firestarter, Keith Thomas, Mark L. Lester, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, Stephen King

There’s a thin, blurry line between remake and adaptation. Keith Thomas’ Firestarter is both an adaptation of Stephen King‘s incendiary novel and a remake of Mark L. Lester‘s 1984 adaptation with the same name. Any crossover depends on how screenwriters take creative liberties with King’s source or how strictly each title follows the horror author’s […]

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‘Shark Bait’ Review – Another Mediocre Shark Attack Movie That At Least Has Gory Bite

May 13, 2022 Matt Donato Movies, Reviews, Shark Bait

James Nunn‘s Shark Bait earns its praise only by comparison in today’s grim state of contemporary fin flicks. Anyone could record more thrilling aquatic horrors than 2021’s Great White or 2022’s The Requin with a handheld camera, a kiddie pool, and a Street Sharks puppet. Not since 2020’s Deep Blue Sea 3 has shark cinema […]

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David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ Continues to Make a Strong Pro-Remake Argument [Revenge of the Remakes]

April 28, 2022 Matt Donato David Cronenberg, Editorials, Jeff Goldblum, Kurt Neumann, Mel Brooks, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, The Fly, Vincent Price

David Cronenberg‘s The Fly (1986) upholds a storied tradition of 80s remakes reinventing classic horrors through emblematic practical effects. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and Chuck Russell’s The Blob (1988) both embrace the spectacle of SFX advancement to build a better goopy mass or parasitic entity. Kurt Neumann‘s 1958 iteration of The Fly, co-starring Vincent […]

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“Good Taste Is Not a Democracy”: Slasher-Comedy ‘Detention’ Is Better Than Ever 10 Years Later

April 14, 2022 Matt Donato Detention, featured, Joseph Kahn, news, topnews

Joseph Kahn‘s Detention deserves its own club when we talk about underappreciated, before-their-time strokes of brilliance. What an embarrassment of riches in a post-meta Scream world where so few imitators live up to Wes Craven’s redefinition of evolutionary slashers. Yes, initial reception led to negative aggregator scores for numerous reasons — too many subgenres smashed […]

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‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’ Proves Originality Can Come from Recreations [Revenge of the Remakes]

February 23, 2022 Matt Donato Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Charles B. Pierce, Editorials, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, The Town that Dreaded Sundown

Through my “Revenge of the Remakes” odyssey — today’s marks lucky number 20 — there haven’t been many disparities in quality like that between Alfonso Gomez-Rejon‘s and Charles B. Pierce‘s The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Pierce’s 1976 original adapts 1946’s Texarkana Moonlight Murders as a 40’s crime thriller that’s hokey, tonally abysmal, and dull with […]

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‘House of Wax’ 2005 Turned a 1950s Horror Movie into a Slasher Spectacle [Revenge of the Remakes]

January 31, 2022 Matt Donato Editorials, Elisha Cuthbert, House of Wax, Jaume Collet-Serra, Movies, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Paris Hilton, Revenge of the Remakes, Vincent Price

Jaume Collet-Serra‘s 2005 House of Wax remake is a mashup of influences and intentions. It’s supposedly based on Andre DeToth‘s 1953 thriller of the same name, itself a remake of 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum — but you couldn’t tell based on watches alone. Collet-Serra admits in Fangoria Magazine that his House of Wax […]

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‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Kick-Started the Modern Franchise Remake With Relentless Inhumanity [Revenge of the Remakes]

December 3, 2021 Matt Donato Editorials, featured, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, topnews

Welcome to Revenge of the Remakes, where columnist Matt Donato takes us on a journey through the world of horror remakes. We all complain about Hollywood’s lack of originality whenever studios announce new remakes, reboots, and reimaginings, but the reality? Far more positive examples of refurbished classics and updated legacies exist than you’re willing to remember […]

The ‘April Fool’s Day’ Remake Kills Off All the Charm of the Original Slasher [Revenge of the Remakes]

November 4, 2021 Matt Donato april fool's day, Editorials, fred walton, Movies, Revenge of the Remakes, Scout Taylor-Compton

Nia DaCosta’s ‘Candyman’ Reimagines the Mythology With a Sequel-Reboot Hybrid [Revenge of the Remakes]

September 2, 2021 Matt Donato Bernard Rose, Candyman, Editorials, featured, Movies, Nia DaCosta, Revenge of the Remakes, Tony Todd, topnews