Years ago name value was all about getting a star to be in your movie. Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney come to mind. They were the first and most people knew them just by their last name. Believe it or not Karloff has appeared on U.S. postage stamps more than ANYONE in history. Later we had Cushing, Lee, and Price. Most, if not all, were house hold words. They were know the world over as great horror stars.
In the late 70's and 80's horror stars were replaced with directors. The new "names" were Carpenter, Craven, Romero and others. Horror films didn't list the stars of the films but the directors. From the director of Night Of The Living Dead or From the director of Halloween graced movie posters.
It seems that we are entering a new age of "name value". We seem to be entering a time when name value is about titles. How many TCMs or Dawns do we want? Remakes can be a good think. The new Dawn and Thing prove that a remake or retelling isn't always bad. But how much should you be able to change a story and still use name value? The new Dawn was a great movie and would have been just as good with a different title. It is a great stand alone movie. The Thing is a great movie and it does have a different title from the original.
If you watch a movie because Karloff is in it you always get Karloff. When you watch a movie because Craven directed it you always get Craven. But if you go see a movie based on a title what are you sure of getting?
In the late 70's and 80's horror stars were replaced with directors. The new "names" were Carpenter, Craven, Romero and others. Horror films didn't list the stars of the films but the directors. From the director of Night Of The Living Dead or From the director of Halloween graced movie posters.
It seems that we are entering a new age of "name value". We seem to be entering a time when name value is about titles. How many TCMs or Dawns do we want? Remakes can be a good think. The new Dawn and Thing prove that a remake or retelling isn't always bad. But how much should you be able to change a story and still use name value? The new Dawn was a great movie and would have been just as good with a different title. It is a great stand alone movie. The Thing is a great movie and it does have a different title from the original.
If you watch a movie because Karloff is in it you always get Karloff. When you watch a movie because Craven directed it you always get Craven. But if you go see a movie based on a title what are you sure of getting?
