This weekend our favorite sewer dwelling clown Pennywise resurfaced. Not only did he put fear back into the hearts of 80s and 90s babies around the nation, he may have sparked a revival of Old School 80s/90s horror films in general. IT is a Stephen King Novel that was released in 1986, and adapted into a film in 1990. The first IT adaption was released on November 18th, 1990. This is a classic cult film that is loved around the world. This weekend, a reboot of IT was released, and the movie shattered box office records. Andy Muschiette’s IT raked in $123 million dollars over this past weekend, and opened to a larger audience than Wonder Woman.

This says something, in a day and age where superhero films are breaking records, and taking top spots in box office sales period… IT comes in and absolutely destroys the competition. We will see if IT keeps this up in the weeks to come with films like American Assassin and Kingsman: The Golden Circle releasing this month as well. I think it will. With everything that has happened in Texas and Florida (prayers to all the families/people who took damage from Irma or Harvey), IT still put up major numbers. I think that IT will continue to exceed expectations.

There is definitely something at work here. This could spark the return of old school horror films from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I say old school because the classic horror films in my eyes are Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman, etc. The Universal movie monsters. Those monsters currently have their own universe being created right now. The Mummy starring Tom Cruise started that. Well, IT may start a revival of its own. Yes, these movies are owned by different studios, but the revival is possible.
I’m only going to speak on a few of these films, so please don’t crucify me if I leave out your favorite slasher(s)/demon(s).

Halloween – Danny McBride: 

The original Halloween was released in 1978. The film was created by John Carpenter. Halloween was the beginning of the slasher films.

Rob Zombie brought us two amazing Halloween films, and Danny McBride is giving us a reboot in 2018. This film has so much potential. McBride has said he’s going to go back to the roots of John Carpenter’s Halloween films. Rob Zombie definitely did that in the first film, but he added supernatural elements in the second film. The earlier films had them as well. The supernatural elements didn’t sit well with some fans, and kind of killed the buzz on the films. Hopefully Danny McBride can bring that fear back, and terrify us all again with Micheal Myers.

Hellraiser – James DeMonaco: 

The original Hellraiser was directed by Clive Barker, and released in 1987. The film is based on a sexual deviant named Frank. He gains sexual pleasure from things that many people wouldn’t consider normal. He basically opens up Pandoras box, and gets mutilated. His brother, and his brother’s unfaithful wife (Julia) move into his old house, and they accidentally awaken Frank (or what’s left of him). He uses Julia, who his one true love, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct his body.

Yes, there’s a new Hellraiser, but it was straight to DVD. Like many other old school horror franchises, Hellraiser was once a very much fan crazed franchise. Pinhead was feared by many of us, and his films faired quite well. I think Hellraiser could make it back to the big screen. Just take a year or two away from it, and hand it to someone like James DeMonaco (Director of the Purge franchise) for a complete reboot. I think he’d fair well with this. His movies aren’t super gory, but the violence in them is always insane. Plus so far, the Purge saga is very political, I can see him doing the same with Hellraiser. The Sci-fi/fantasy portion in IMAX or IMAX 3D would be dope as well. I say lay off of it for like 3 years, then do a complete reboot for the big screen.

Scream – Drew Goddard:

A film from the horror God Wes Craven. This film is definitely a classic. Based in a town called Woodsboro. Scream is about a killer whose main target happens to be Sydney Prescott. Sydney’s mother was murdered a year ago, and now there is a new killer on the loose. This killer stalks, teases, taunts, and then commits grisly murders. The killer is a master of horror films, and usually asks trivia questions before murdering his victims. The killer could be anybody.

Drew Goddard, director of Cabin in the Woods, is the obvious choice for a Scream reboot. Have you seen Cabin in the Woods? The movie is amazing. I loved it. If you haven’t seen it, then you wouldn’t understand. Drew Goddard could easily take Scream, and make it great. Yes, the TV show is available to stream on the MTV app and Netflix. Yes, the show is still fresh, and it is pretty damn good. If DC can give us a Flash TV show and a Flash movie, then Dimension Films and MTV can give us a reboot of Scream.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre – James Gunn:

Texas Chainsaw Massacre was first released in 1974. The movie set off a whole franchise that would terrify people for years. The film is about a girl named Sally and her paraplegic brother Franklin. They go to see if their grandfather’s grave has been vandalized. They end up running into a family of Cannibals. One of them, Leatherface, wields a chainsaw. He also wears a mask made of human skin.

Yes, there are many recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre films (two of which I thought were pretty terrible). There is a continuation film releasing in October titled Leatherface. The film is about how it all started, and it serves as a prequel to the 1974 film. Personally, I would rather see James Gunn just take the whole franchise and reboot it. The way he filmed Belko and the realism of the film would mesh well. If anybody can deliver a reboot of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with amazing writing, it would be James Gunn.

Nightmare on Elm Street – James Wan:

The original was created by the horror God Wes Craven (Yes, just like Scream). Nightmare on Elm Street was released in 1984. The teens on Elm Street are falling victim to a dream demon. He preys on teens, and feeds off their fear. He kills them in their dreams, and it kills them in reality. A girl named Nancy may know the key to stopping them, but she has to find out a dark secret in order to use it.

A James Wan helmed Nightmare on Elm Street would be crazy. The Conjuring and Annabelle are two movies that come to mind. The way he uses the different worlds in Insidious would definitely work here. The only problem would be finding the perfect Freddy Krueger. Jackie Earl Haley played him in 2010, and while I enjoyed his version. Many people did not. That would probably be the biggest challenge for him. An IMAX Nightmare on Elm Street would be extremely creepy. I would pay $16 to see that.

Friday the 13th – Eli Roth:

The original Friday the 13th was released in 1980. The film was about a mother getting revenge for her son’s (Jason Vorhees) death. He drowned during a summer camp because the counselors weren’t paying attention to him. His mother gets pissed, and she takes justice into her own hands. She goes on a killing spree, and at the end we finally see Jason.

There was a recent reboot in 2009. I personally loved the film. The film featured Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki. It did not do well with the critics though, and there were talks of a sequel… Yet, here we are. The sequel was going to feature Jason in 3D in the snow. The movie has been scrapped, so far. There is a video game available right now that was released this year. I would still love to see a reboot of Friday the 13th helmed by The Bear Jew himself Eli Roth . His films are usually filled with gore, and really over the edge. I could see him taking us to Camp Crystal Lake in 3D with snow though. He would be an amazing choice for this, he could probably even pull off playing Jason Vorhees. This would be epic on so many levels.

Notables:

Children of the Corn – The Duffer Brothers
Leprechaun – Jordan Peele
Child’s Play – Stiles White

There we go guys. IT crashed the box office this past weekend, and may revive the old school films. As a fan of slasher/horror films, I would love to see these films rebooted. The continuations are cool, but with the IT reboot making its rounds… I’d like to see these big blockbuster horror films rebooted/reimagined and resurrected. If I missed a movie, let me know in the comments, tweet me, tweet the studios! Thank you for reading!

– Rascal F. Kennedy