Saw-bore yourself to sleep but leave Scanners alone.

Just when I thought the trite monotonous series of Saw movies had finally fecked off, Saw 6 has been released. This latest instalment is not directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, previous director of most of the Saw franchise but by Kevin Greutert, editor of all Saw movies. Personally I couldn’t give a flying fig about Saw and the never ending stagnant, sado-masochistic saga. Problem I have is with a rumour. If the rumour is true then another component of the horror genre has been given a kick in the knackers and it’s credibility as a genre will be further eroded. Rumour going around is- Bousman is going to direct a re-make of David Cronenberg’s infamous Scanners. Laugh or cry was my initial reaction to the re-make rumour, throw bleedin Bousman into the mix and anger took over, sacrilege. I’ll say it again- SACRILEGE!!!!!

There is nothing Hollywood producers won’t fudge, no original classic too sacred for their grubby, greedy fingers to grab and make a hash of. When was the last time main stream American cinema, particularly in regards to the horror genre come up with something fresh, some innovative, something we the audience could get our metaphorical teeth into? I really have lost count of how many times contemporary producers/script writers have plunged backwards in time and plucked numerous horror classics only to make a complete bollocks of them, Scanners handled by Bousman has all the hallmarks of being a complete catastrophe and I just can’t see him ‘bucking the trend’. (Why hasn’t someone told Rob Zombie TO STOP btw!!!!!!!?)

Straight out of film school whose only credentials to date are to be fair are a bunch of Saw movies and not even the first one which was the best one out of the lot, Bousman directing a re-make of Scanners is plainly ridiculous. He strikes me as a director that favours style over content. This has been noticed by metal/rock artists of the MTV generation as he has been asked and has directed metal videos. Hardly a bloody surprise. A re-make will only amount to another sanitised MTV styled horror teen flick. Any director worth his salt that had read the scripts for these movies would have ran a country mile. Not Bousman though. What you get is weak/same old narrative; bare-thread plots with protagonists that make Jeremy Kyle look loveable- all holding together a collection of torture porn sequences and little else. Put all of those elements together with slick editing and cinematography and you are left with little more than a two-hr MTV metal video. As I have said ‘all style over content’. I tried to watch Saw 3 with his commentary but f*ck that for a lark, I couldn’t watch it all the way through as his narcisstic holier than thou attitude reminded me of Chris ‘lardy Leeds boy’ Moyles.

I could rant and rave further about how Bousman isn’t fit to lace Cronenberg’s shoes and why Bousman should not direct Scanners but I will leave it there. I do predict that in say about 10/20yrs time Bousman won’t have the same reputation as Cronenberg. Balls to that as no one really knows who he is now! As I see things at this present moment in time European horror is a far superior beast as too is Asian horror. Fact is Scanners should be left alone. The horror fraternity doses not need another classic pulped into an MTV grunge/metal video. Sadly directors such as Bousman and Rob Zombie appeal to a younger MTV generation as the atrocious re-hash of Halloween bares out. Bums on seats does not necessarily equate to good art so LEAVE SCANNERS ALONE. I have to leave now to summon-up my telekinetic powers in a bid to make Bousman’s head explode.