10 Reshoots That Actually Improved Horror Movies
Re-shoots are usually a death sentence, but for not for these ten horrors.
There are many words and phrases that film fans dread - cinematic universe, gritty reboot, directed by Zack Snyder - but one that consistently causes cinephiles' blood to run cold is "reshoot".
A reshoot is any scene that was shot after a movie's initial filming period wrapped up. Sometimes directors aren't happy with their original efforts and want to change things, sometimes real-life events require an artistic pivot, and sometimes, worst of all, the studio interferes.
Damn studios, what do they even do? Except finance the films... and distribute them... and handle all the marketing... never mind.
However, that word doesn't always signal doom and gloom, as, in a few rare cases, reshoots have actually been a good thing. Hard to believe, but it's true.
This list will give ten examples of this unlikely phenomenon from the horror world; times when directors or other outside forces were right to demand a change. Some only resulted in minor alterations, but they were effective nonetheless, whilst for others, you'll find it hard to imagine a world where the original versions of these films could have ever existed.
10. Misery
If you've ever worried that you might be a little too obsessed with a celebrity, just remember that you've never kidnapped your idol and smashed their legs in with a sledgehammer. Unless you have, in which case, you may want to get some help.
Director Rob Reiner brought Misery, Stephen King's classic story of fandom gone too far, to the big screen in 1990. James Caan played author Paul Sheldon, whilst Kathy Bates dazzled as his savior/captor, Annie Wilkes.
In the end, Paul escapes Annie's clutches by killing her, but Reiner wasn't happy with how his character looked after his epic struggle. Originally, Paul was shown walking normally after he gains his freedom, which Reiner thought undermined what he'd been through.
Reiner went back and reshot the ending so that Paul was now walking with the use of a cane. It's a subtle detail, one that you wouldn't pick up on if you didn't know it had been changed, but it goes a long way in visualising just how horrible a time Paul had.
Hard to believe that Rob Reiner had been directing When Harry Met Sally... just one year prior.