Hellraiser and Near Dark Remakes Get Directors?

Posted by on October 4th, 2007   Filed under: Movies, Rumours
Source: Bloody Disgusting

When it comes to remakes, the expectation nowadays is that they are generally inferior to the original, created mainly as a quick cash grab with as little effort to be creative as possible. However, as we all know, there are occasionally remakes that improve upon the original, or at least offer a fresh take on an old classic. It all comes down to the talent involved, and for two opposite examples of this, we can look at the upcoming remakes of two classic horror flicks: Hellraiser and Near Dark.

Bloody Disgusting has the scoop that French newcomers Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (À l’intérieur) are deep in talks to direct the reboot of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. While I haven’t seen À l’intérieur (watch the trailer here), it seems to be making waves within the horror community, and France is just generally a hot bed of horror talent right now. This is something that will get people excited about what would otherwise be another needless remake. On the other hand, Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company have named a director for their new take on the 1987 vampire film Near Dark. Looks like it will be another music video director: Samuel Bayer (Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Green Day’s “Bullet with a Bible”). This doesn’t seem like a particularly inspired choice, but since the guy hasn’t done any feature length films yet, it’s hard to know what to expect. What do you think, will either of these remakes do justice to the originals?



  • My immediate reaction about a Hellraiser remake is that it shouldn’t be made since people still love the original. However, Clive Barker’s involvement, having written the screenplay for the remake, eases my mind a little. Also, some of the effects could definitely use and update.

    As far as Near Dark is concerned, this is the kind of movie that I think actually deserves a remake. It’s not terribly popular, and a lot of people don’t even know about it. What better way to introduce it to an audience than to remake it? I’ve always thought that movies should only really be remade if they’re bad or not successful, because what’s the point of remaking a movie that’s already good? This is not to say that Near Dark is horrible, because I still enjoy it whenever I see it, but mostly because of Bill Paxton’s over-the-top performance.

  • What’s interesting about the “Hellraiser” announcement is that this project is being spearheaded by Barker who I once heard say he wished he could have had a bigger budget to make “Hellraiser” the first time around.

    Maybe Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are the guys to do it. I haven’t seen “À l’intérieur” but by all accounts it’s pretty good. May have to give it a visit.

  • derek

    when i first saw that they were making a remake on hellraiser i was very happy because i saw and loved the original but there were a few things that could have been done better and with the help of modern magic i beleive that it could become a much more scary and realistic movie i mean look at the halloween remake.

    then as far as the remake of near dark goes i loved the original but again thought that some things were kinda cheezy and again with the help of modern magic those things can be corrected…as far as acting liked everything but the kid,adrian pasdar and the girlfreind BUT NO ONE COULD DO AS GOOD A JOB AS BILL PAXTON!!!