One of many zaniest little cult horror movies of the Nineteen Nineties is getting a remake, and it is coming from a reasonably unlikely crew. In accordance with Selection, “Idle Arms,” the 1999 stoner horror comedy that stars Devon Sawa as an adolescent named Anton who’s pressured to do battle along with his hand when it turns into possessed by the satan, is getting a remake produced by Jason Reitman, the director behind films like “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “Saturday Evening.” The remake will see him reteaming with “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” star Finn Wolfhard, who’s writing the screenplay with Billy Bryk, whom the “Stranger Issues” actor collaborated with on their movie “Hell of a Summer time.” Wolfhard and Bryk are additionally doubtlessly within the working to direct the reimagining as effectively, given the success of “Hell of a Summer time” when it debuted at TIFF in 2023. Reitman and Wolfhard’s careers are each in a spot the place they’ve the clout to probably get to actually do what they need, so it will likely be fascinating to see if they’ve a robust imaginative and prescient for film or if it may be one other run-of-the-mill remake.
“Idle Arms” is a reasonably distinctive little ’90s film, mixing stoner humor with completely brutal blood and gore and one among horror’s most weird villains. (Severely, are you able to consider one other film the place individuals are on the run from a possessed, disembodied hand?) The actual query, actually, is how Wolfhard and Bryk are going to replace the film for contemporary audiences — that and if a stoner horror comedy may even work today in any respect.
Can the ridiculous magic of Idle Arms actually be replicated?
Here is the factor about “Idle Arms”: critics completely despised it and audiences had been fairly blended. It additionally had the horrible luck to come back out proper after the Columbine Excessive College capturing, which meant nobody needed to observe teenagers get killed onscreen. It ended up discovering an viewers on dwelling media, and through the years that viewers has grown into a reasonably good little cult following. It is a ridiculously foolish film, following Anton as he realizes his hand is possessed and has been killing folks whereas he sleeps. He even finally ends up killing his two greatest mates, Mick (Seth Inexperienced) and Pnub (Elden Henson), who come again from the useless as a result of the stroll to the white mild was simply too far. The forged is an ideal ’90s ensemble, together with Vivica A. Fox as a demon hunter and Jessica Alba as Anton’s crush and neighbor, and it even has The Offspring enjoying reside on the college Halloween dance. The film is a time capsule of types that will likely be tough to replace, particularly within the age of social media, cell telephones, and legalized hashish in lots of states.
Look, I completely love “Idle Arms.” It is the right sort of foolish, disgusting little horror flick that we simply do not get a lot of anymore. Will Millennials fascinated about a remake of one among their previous faves take a look at the brand new one? Will youthful audiences be fascinated about what “Idle Arms” has to supply in any respect? Solely time will inform, however Wolfhard and Bryk actually have their work reduce out for them.