Remakesploitation is a genre encompassing the copying or ripping off of successful films (which usually are in the exploitation genre themselves) in order to insure the success of a new feature film.
Remakesploitation films can either claim they are sequels to the films they are ripping off, OR simply steal elements from more successful productions. Here are our 5 favorite films of the genre.
5. CRUEL JAWS (1995) / REMAKES JAWS (1975)
Directed by Italian exploitation virtuoso Bruno Mattei. Cruel Jaws goes so far, as literally cutting and pasting in footage from the films it is remaking. Along with shooting new original material, the film splices in footage from other killer shark films, such as Jaws, Jaws 2, Great White and Deep Blood! Cruel Jaws was never released in the United States for obvious reasons.
Note that the splicing in off footage is actually considered an extreme case for the genre and is not the situation with the other films on this list.
Alternate titles for the film are: Jaws 5 and The Beast.
Check out this trailer to get an idea of the film.
4. PATRICK VIVE ANCORA (1980) / REMAKES PATRICK (1978)
Another Italian entry into the genre see’s Patrick Vive Ancora ripping of the Australian supernatural film Patrick. The original film, directed by Richard Franklin, is considered somewhat of a forgotten gem (influencing a scene in Tarantino’s Kill Bill) and did quite well internationally. Such a success was Patrick, that Mario Landi directed his unofficial sequel, Parick Vive Ancora, less than 2 years later, without any knowledge of the original films director or producers.
Where Patrick tells the story of an evil young man entering a coma and then killing his victims with psychic powers, Patrick Viva Ancora does the same but adds buckets of extreme violence, gore and nudity.
Alternate titles for the film are: Patrick Is Still Alive and Patrick Still Lives.
Check out the trailer below:
3. MAHAKAAL (1993) / REMAKES A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984).
Almost a decade after the ultra successful, A Nightmare On Elm Street, comes the Indian equivalent, Mahakaal (महाकाल. ). The film pretty much follows the narrative of A Nightmare On Elms Street, but the differences come in the presentation of the main villain. Instead of, like Freddy Kruger, being a child killer who was killed by the all the towns parents, Mahakaals villain, (Shakal) was a sorcerer who was killed and buried by the protagonists policeman father, because Shakal was killing children, to increase his magical powers.
What can be said about Mahakaal though is that the cinematography is actually quite good and that the film is really fun at times. What is odd, and very different from the original film, is the strange balance of supernatural horror and the near random comedic song and dance scenes, that show up out of the blue. Directed and produced by India horror powerhouse due The Ramsay Brothers Mahakaal is quite fun. If you get the chance to watch it, especially with a group of friends, give it a go.
Alternate titles for the film are: Time of Death and The Monster.
2. LADY TERMINATOR (1989) / REMAKES THE TERMINATOR (1984)
Five years after James Cameron’s now legendary cyberpunk horror film The Terminator, comes the Indonesian director H. Tjut Djalil aka Jalil Jackson’s equivalent Lady Terminator.
Like Mahakaal, Lady Terminator incorporates elements of black magic to kick it’s plot into motion. So different is the begging of the film, that you would actually be forgiven in initially not seeing any connection to the James Cameron film about the killer cyborg.
The first 10 minutes focuses on an evil priestess (the South Sea Queen) in the year 1889, who devours men. When she is stopped by a priest however, she then goes into hiding on the ocean floor, vowing to take revenge on his linage in the future.
The film then moves forward 100 years in time to 1989, where an anthropologist named Tania dives to the ocean depths, to investigate the legend of the evil priestess.
Upon doing so Tania gets possessed by the priestess and emerges from the water as a killing machine on the hunt for the priests decedent, a wannabe pop star named Erica. All seems lost until detective Max McNeil then comes to Erica rescue and goes on the run with her.
Those familiar with The Terminator, may already have noticed that the possessed Tania is taking the role of the Terminator, Erica is Sarah Conner and Max McNeil is Kyle Reese.
However the similarities don’t end, Lady Terminator also features;
- An all out one girl army attack on a police station.
- The removal of an eye.
- Tania jumping on top of the hood of a car, while Max and Eric try and shake her off.
- A shoot out in a disco.
- Tania going around town inquiring about Erica.
- Erica and Max McNeil having sex.
The film also features hilarious overacting, underacting and dubbing, but still has it’s charm and the gritty Indonesian streets (which are supposed stand in for New York) actually give the film a unique seedy vibe. Give the film a go if you can. It’s actually a lot of fun.
An alternate title for the film is: Nasty Hunter
Check out the trailer below.
1. TERMINATOR 2 (1989) / REMAKES ALIENS (1986) & THE TERMINATOR (1984)
For fans of the Remakesploitation genre, Terminator 2 holds somewhat of a special place, because the film is such a baffling bit of work, trying to understand what exactly was going on during production, will make your head spin.
Two years after James Camerons The Terminator took the world by storm a group of Italian film makers got together and decided to do an unofficial sequel simply called Terminator 2 (not to be confused with the actual Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which was released in 1991).
Produced by Franco Gaudenzi (Robowar, Zombi 3), written by (Rats: Night of Terror, Hell of the Living Dead) and directed by Bruno Mattei (Rats: Night of Terror, Zombi 3, Cruel Jaws), the film baffles as it actually somehow gets mixed up and ends up ripping off James Cameron’s Aliens instead of The Terminator. Eventually the Terminator DOES show up but only in the last stretch of the film, where bizarrely time travel is incorporated as well.
Shot in Italy, the film takes place in the catacombs of Venice, where an elite group of mercenaries are sent to look into an underground lab, after some researchers are no longer heard from. Once there, they are attacked by alien creatures and things then go from bad to worse, when they discover one of them is also a Terminator!
Apart from being a deranged knock off, the dialogue and acting is…..astounding. Characters say and do things that will make your jaw drop and the plot moves along at the pace of a confused tornado.
Totally insane and utterly bizarre, this is one film that has to be seen to be believed. Needless to say an American release was not on the cards for this film.
Alternate titles for the film are: Shocking Dark, Terminator 2: Shocking Dark and Alienators.
// CFK BLOG // 