They
say there are only a few stories out there in the world. Maybe that's
why so many classic horror stories seem to have been remade as the
fluffiest romances modern Hollywood has to offer. Here are just a few.
We're not entirely sure that the people who made these romcoms realized that they were rebooting classic horror stories. But probably they did, right?
With all that fuss and bother about vampirism and fly-eating mental patients, it’s easy to forget that Dracula was,
at heart, a story about the cold feet of young couples on the verge of
marriage. The three principle victims – Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker
and Lucy Westenra, are all about to get married, and are all fretting
about aspects of their marriage. Dracula comes in and prevents, delays,
or bedevils their marriage plans. In Forces of Nature, Ben
Affleck, at the height of his popularity as an actor, plays a guy named
Ben who must go on a journey just prior to his marriage. There he meets
an enigmatic stranger (played by Sandra Bullock who definitely should
play Dracula in the next Bram Stoker film), who delays his trip, forcing
him to take a tour through a bizarre underworld during which he meets
people who challenge his faith in marriage and tempt him personally.
There are also some weird, hallucinatory semi-supernatural scenes that
evoke the experiences of unreliable narrator Jonathan Harker in the
book. (Plus there's a succubus doling out sexual degradation scene
where Sandy strips Ben in a club for cash.) It ends with the banishment
of the stranger and the re-commitment to the marriage, but both heroes
are forever haunted by their encounter.
For
more information about a wonderful romantic comedy please visit What Would Meg
Do?
