Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Cinematheque Reviews: 1980's Flashback Double Header - Fright Night & Conan The Barbarian (one good, one not so much)

We seem to be in some sort of second coming of the 1980's.  Last year saw the release of updated versions of The Karate Kid and Predator, and we will soon see retreads of Footloose, The Thing (which is more a retooling of the Carpenter remake from 1982 than of the original 1951 version) and (if the long-delayed film ever gets released) Red Dawn.  This past week saw the release of not one but two 80's remakes.  The first one, Fright Night (the review of which can be read HERE), is actually a pretty faithful, and quite fun adaptation of the cultish 1985 original.  The second, Conan the Barbarian (sans The Governator, and whose review can be read HERE), not so much.  Really, can Ferris Bueller, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Top Gun, Short Circuit, Weird Science, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and (Heaven forbid!) The Breakfast Club be far behind?  Actually a couple of these are rumoured to already be in the works.  Personally I am anxiously awaiting Harry and the Hendersons with a CGI Andy Serkis as the titular bigfoot.  Perhaps I should be careful what I wish for - even jokingly.


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