Guest Essay: A response to the horrified horror fan

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Gina McIntyre, the pop music editor at the Los Angeles Times, wrote a sharp guest essay for Hero Complex taking Hollywood to task for its current stab-first-and-ask-questions-later approach to remaking horror films. She was especially distressed to hear that ‘Mother’s Day’ was getting another whack at the American moviegoers. Now, here’s a response by Shara Kay, co-producer of the upcoming film:

Gina, I appreciated your essay, ‘Horror Remakes’ and the strong points you made, but as a woman and co-producer on Darren Lynn Bousman’s ‘Mother’s Day,’ I feel obliged to respond.

I share your passion for the genre, as do many women; in fact women now make up 52% of the overall audience for horror films. That said, the new ‘Mother’s Day’ is very different from -- and only loosely inspired by -- the 1980 film directed by Charles Kaufman.

Ours is, at its core, a battle of wits between two female heroes (Rebecca De Mornay and Jaime King). The details of the plot have to be kept under wraps, but I can tell you that it revolves around strong female characters and the lengths to which they will go to protect what is dearest to them.

Again, I appreciate your interest in the film and only ask that you reserve judgment until you’ve seen it. I think you’ll agree Darren’s approach is not what you expected.

-- Shara Kay

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