I was seriously impressed with price's performance. And the always beautiful Dianna Rigg. Scratching my head as to whether those douchebag SAW producers had any idea James Wan stole the film.
shareI was also seriously impressed with Price's performance as well as that of Diana Rigg.
I disagree with your proposal for a remake. I don't believe this movie should be remade because nothing could really be added to it, making a remake pretty pointless. Who could play Lionheart better than Price anyway? It would be some search finding an actor as good as him for this role. We've had enough remakes of Price's movies, including HOUSE OF WAX and HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. The remake of the latter I happen to like, but only because I'm fully prepared to view it as though it was a movie in its own right. When I first saw the remake of HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, I didn't like it because I was comparing it to the original. On subsequent viewings it is clear that the remake is actually very different and I think of it as a very different movie. I think the term "re-imagining" or something like that is used to describe this phenomenon. Turning back to the main point, I don't believe we need a remake of THEATRE OF BLOOD - it's a classic and one I feel will be more and more appreciated as time goes on.
Turning to your references to SAW, I simply don't see the connection. Most of the focus on SAW is on two men locked in a room and the pressures on one to kill the other. The killer in SAW was also very different to Lionheart. He was a dying man who wanted to punish those who did not appreciate their own lives and what they have. So, he decided to use his imagination in devising horrible gruesome ways to make them feel pain and leave them to die if they refused to take part in his "games". In contrast, Lionheart is someone seeking revenge and he knows exactly who his targets are and focuses on them only. Lionheart kills because the critics did not appreciate him not because they didn't appreciate themselves. On the contrary, the critics were established as unlikable characters who were probably too full of themselves. That sounds a lot different to SAW if you ask me. In SAW, the sympathy of the viewers is clearly meant to be towards the victims (at least in the first instalment of that series). In contrast, THEATRE OF BLOOD toys with the viewers' minds, meaning that some would find it difficult to decide who to feel for - the killer or the victims. Most viewers feel for Lionheart more than his victims I think. Once again, very different to SAW I say.
THEATRE OF BLOOD has more in common with SE7EN than it does with SAW. But I don't consider SE7EN to be a rip-off of THEATRE OF BLOOD either.
There was a theatrical version of this movie a few years ago with Diana Rigg's daughter playing Lionheart's daughter.
shareYes, I agree it is impossible to replace Vincent Price, but I would like to see this updated.
shareI have a feeling Alan Rickman could do Lionheart justice if he played the role.
shareThat would be perfect. That guy gives me the creeps.
shareI don't think a remake could ever be all that satisfying. This is an example of a movie that should just remain as it is. I seriously believe that this was Vincent Price's best movie performance and it would be very to hard match, much less beat, even by Rickman.
Secondly, comic horror was pretty much a fixture of the early seventies and it doesn't play so well today. Most directors would either down-play the comedy, and leave us with a mere slasher film, or stay faithful to the script, which would give us a film that was corny and clichéd.
Im sorry,but I will never understand why people want remakes of classic films.The mere fact that they were made so long ago is what makes them a classic,the look,the feel,the actors.Im sorry,but I will never get the remake idea.
Ezmirelda, I SO agree with you. The OP obviously likes the film, so why does it "so deserve" a remake. We all know recent remakes of classic horror films (The Haunting comes to mind) suck!
share"Saw" rips off many Vincent Price films, especially "The Abominable Dr. Phibes." And what's the point of a remake when this film got it right the first time?
shareThis film doesn't need a remake; it's fine the way it is.
"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"
'This film doesn't need a remake; it's fine the way it is.'
Agreed.
Remakes rarely reach the glory and craftmanship of the original. I don't hear people clamoring for an updated version of Citizen Kane, why because it's a classic, just like this film.
Do you understand the words that I am saying to you?
[deleted]
Pretty much.
shareUm, I can't think of any glaring similarities in "Theatre of Blood" and "Saw." Now, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes," on the other hand, has way more than a little bit in common with both films.
As for a remake, my stance is that if a filmmaker can simultaneously bring something new to the table while paying homage to the original, there's nothing wrong with remakes. I mean, "The Thing," "The Fly," "Cape Fear," "House on Haunted Hill" and "House of Wax" are all films made more than once which co-exist quite well. Unfortunately, we've had such an onslaught of inferior horror remakes for the past decade that ALL remakes seem to be getting a bad rap.
There are definitely improvements that could be made to the tale of Edward Lionheart. The pace is off in spots, several segments are campier than they should be (though I doubt anyone could pull off poodle pies without seeming overtly campy...), and there's some lapses in logic. Unfortunately, finding an actor to replace Price would be a daunting task, and few filmmakers have been able to successfully pull off the tightrope-act of merging horror and humor in recent years. And with that in mind, probably best to leave it alone.
http://vinnierattolle.blogspot.com/
I don't understand peoples need for remakes. Why not just enjoy the original? It doesn't get any better than Vincent Price in this
shareThis great movie so deserves NOT to be remade.
CG gore is the worst thing that has ever happened to the horror genre.