pg-13 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A lot of the old-school slasher fans recall Paul Lynch's Prom Night with some degree of fondness. Not because it's a great horror film necessarily (it ain't), but because it A) offers yet another early (screamy) performance from Jamie Lee Curtis, B) features a non-comedic performance by Leslie Nielsen (which are always fun), and C) has just enough creeps, chills and gore to keep the freaks happy. But really; Prom Night isn't any sort of classic.

But the title? Now, that's a good title. It'll strike a chord in the memory banks of most movie fans, plus even if you've never even heard of the 1980 slasher flick, "Prom Night" is a good title ... especially if you're pushing a PG-13 remake and you're hoping to get the teens interested. But yeah, Sony's backing the remake, which is directed by television veteran Nelson McCormick and written by J.S. Cardone, who recently gave us The Covenant and The Forsaken. Eesh.

Scheduled for release on April 11, the new Prom Night stars youthful females like Jessica Stroup (Hills Have Eyes 2) and Brittany Snow (The Pacifier), as well as good ol' Johnathon Schaech (Hush). Plus it looks like Jessalyn Gilsig is on board, and I've had a crush on her since her Boston Public days. Sigh. Anyway, Shock Til You Drop has an exclusive peek at the remake's brand-new one-sheet, so feel free to check that out right here.

And then feel free to stop back and leave a comment about how EVERY horror movie of the past three decades is being remade these days and boy are you sick of it. (Fuel to the fire: The Prom Night director's next gig? A remake of The Stepfather.)

The last "Edited for Television" movie I watched was Die Hard 2 on CBS when I was a kid. As Bruce blew that plane to bits with his lighter, he said -- in a horribly overdubbed voice -- "Yippee ki-yay, Mr. Falcon." Never mind that no one in the film was named Mr. Falcon! That bit of mindless watering down at least made sense -- after all they're not going to drop the 'F' bomb on primetime television. This bit of mindless watering down is a lot harder to swallow: It's official. Live Free or Die Hard will be rated 'PG-13.' Bruce Willis spoke with aintitcool last week and confirmed the rating. June's Vanity Fair interview had Willis disappointed that his film was going to be cut to avoid an 'R.' He told the magazine, "I really wanted this one to live up to the promise of the first one, which I always thought was the only really good one." (Gotta disagree with him there). "That's a studio decision that is becoming more and more common, because they're trying to reach a broader audience. It seems almost a courageous move to give a picture an 'R' rating these days." It sure does. So why not be courageous?!

Now the PR machine is in full swing and Bruce is saying that those comments were taken out of context at a time when he hadn't yet seen the film. Now, after what surely was a stern talking-to by the studio, Bruce has seen the movie and he thinks it's better than the original. He claims you would never be able to tell what the rating was if you didn't know it, and that watching it, he was on the edge of his seat "at least 6 times." He insists the action and intensity are still there. That may be, but the foulmouthed John McClane we know and grew up loving simply won't. I think this is a damn shame. Excuse me, a darn shame. I've got a lot of friends who say they won't go see a 'PG-13' Die Hard film. Scott made the same claim last week. I personally don't think I have the willpower to skip it, but the news fills me with a real dread. Oh well -- I'm sure the people at Fox know what they're doing. Releasing a 'PG-13' sequel to a movie that was a huge, beloved 'R' - rated smash could only bring in more money, right? Sure. Just look at Fox's Speed 2: Cruise Control.