Post #48441 by AquaZombie on Tue, Aug 19, 2003 11:51 AM

Personally, I'd rather see a movie that "steals" from another than outright tries to cash in on the title without doing the source any justice or even paying it any respect (like "Ocean's 11"). A lot of the movies just listed here are like that. Like I said, as long as they at least change the title, the concept could be up for grabs - hell, nothing's THAT original. Even AIP remade a lot of its own 50s monster classics for TV in the 60s (courtesy of bargain basement filmmaker Larry Buchanan):

INVASION OF THE SAUCERS MEN=THE EYE CREATURES

THE SHE CREATURE=CREATURES OF DESTRUCTION

IT CONQUERED THE WORLD=ZONTAR, THE THING FROM VENUS

They also remade TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000 in the 60s but I can't remember the name of that one.

I mean, for all of these, they used the same exact story, but the monsters were different (even cheaper)!

Recently Showtime remade some of these AIP classics but they were REALLY bad, not "good" bad, totally MTV'd out of recognition - and again, they used the title ONLY. If you see any of the following on video or DVD or listed on cable, avoid at all costs or at least be prepared to be disappointed (the classic originals are out of print on video and hardly ever show up on TV anymore, sigh):

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER (just AWFUL!)
EARTH VS THE SPIDER (so-so)
DAY THE WORLD ENDED (not totally worthless, perhaps the best of this lot)
TEENAGE CAVEMAN (the absolute WORST!)
SHE CREATURE (at least it has a sexy nekkid babe)

Some are more watchable than others as indicated, but again, they just stole the title and insulted the originals by totally ignoring their content. Of course, they were produced by AIP co-founder Sam Arkoff's son, Lou. The really sad thing is, most people don't even remember the originals - all drive-in legends and staples of horror host TV shows from the 60s and 70s (like "Creature Features" and "Jeepers Creepers")

The Tarantino steal of "City on Fire" is infamous and he STILL hasn't totally acknowledged the obvious (any more than Disney had admitted totally ripping off the Japanese TV series "Kimba" for "The Lion King"). For more on this story, pick up Joe Bob Briggs' new book PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING and read his in-depth essay on "Reservoir Dogs" - the whole book is fascinating reading for cult film fans.