Platinum Dunes gets a lot of shit. Most of it is resoundingly deserved. To many horror fans, the House That Bay Built represents everything that is currently wrong with the mainstream form of the genre:

1) Remakes
2) Slick appearance taking precedent over screenplay and direction.

What is maybe unfair is that Platinum Dunes seems to erroneously get blamed for every horror remake, whether or not they actually made it. They’ve achieved brand saturation, and now “Platinum Dunes” has become a genericized trademark like Kleenex or Band-Aid. For clarity, this is Dunes’ actual output…

  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
  • The Amityville Horror (2005)
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
  • The Hitcher (2007)
  • The Unborn (2009)
  • Friday the 13th (2009)
  • Horsemen (2009)
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

I’ll give Dunes this: none of their remakes have been PG-13. I can’t really respect much else about them, but I think that is admirable. It at least shows they get something. In fact, it seems like their dedication to gore/titties is hurting the company’s productivity. First Showing drew my attention to some comments Dunes’ producer Brad Fuller made via Twitter regarding the current state of things over at House Dunes:

“Lots of rumors out there. I want to set the record straight on Freddy and Jason. First, let’s talk Jason. [Damian Shannon and Mark Swift] wrote a great script. We are ready to go, when [New Line] is ready. But as of yet, they are not ready. As for Freddy, as far as I know, there isn’t even talk of writing another script.

Rated R horror movies, right now, don’t seem to generate interest from the studios. Everyday we want to hear from any studio that they want a horror movie, but it hasn’t happened. So right now we are working on a handful of films, including ‘TMNT’ and ‘Ouija.’ There is still hope for [rated R]  horror, because it is profitable, but there is a larger interest in tentpole film.”

The idea of doing a sequel to the Elm St. remake is pure madness. Cause there is horse shit and then there is horse shit. And then there is that film. But it seems like there should be another Dunes Jason movie. I personally did not care for the Friday remake – many felt that the film took Jason back to his roots, but I actually thought they botched the character – but it made money and it has fans. The failure to launch on the sequel is a bit perplexing, though Fuller’s comments on the state of R-rated horror shed a bit of light.

Fuller also reports that things are still moving forward on the Monster Squad remake. This is a film that seems perfectly suited for a remake. Though Dunes involvement doesn’t inspire much confidence.