Last month, we heard that the slasher Unhinged (not to be confused with the Russell Crowe thriller) was going to be getting a second remake. The film, first released in 1982, received a remake back in 2017 that was produced by Scott Jeffrey, Rebecca J. Matthews, and Louisa Warren, with Jeffrey also writing the screenplay. Jeffrey, Matthews, and Warren are also behind the new remake – and it has now been revealed that the third version of Unhinged finished filming earlier this month!
Matthew B.C. (H.P. Lovecraft’s Monster Portal) directed the new Unhinged from a screenplay by Harry Boxley (Mary Had a Little Lamb). The film follows four young women who, after a traumatic confrontation with a stalker, are forced to take refuge with an eccentric older man and his bed-bound wife; a couple who quickly showcase troubling behaviors.
Ella Starbuck (Witch), Jase Rivers (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey), and Toby Wynn-Davies (Dogged) star.
Directed by Don Gronquist, who wrote the screenplay with Reagan Ramsey, the 1982 version of Unhinged had the following synopsis: Three college girls on their way to a jazz festival crash their car in the isolated woods during a rainstorm and are taken in by a mysterious family in an old mansion. Little do the girls know, the family has a dark, murderous secret.
Matthew B.C. had this to say about the new remake: “We were all fans of the original and wanted to make sure those elements weren’t lost when we made the remake. Of course, modern horror audiences are more desensitized, especially when it comes to gore, so we made sure to ramp up the tension and the blood to create a more gripping, yet thematically satisfying version of the 1982 classic.” The director believes this remake will be a hit with fans of the original film, since the core elements that made the film unique, such as its deranged villain and incorporation of gender-based trauma, have only been updated in a way to make the film more compelling, violent and, ultimately, more unhinged.
The 2017 version of Unhinged told the following story: Melissa and her three American bridesmaids, who decide to take the English back roads whilst travelling to her wedding in the countryside. On the way, a deadly secret forces the girls to be stranded in the woods. They discover a house, occupied by Miss Perkins, who promises to look after them until they find help. Little do the girls know, a dark evil lurks in and around the grounds of the house. Only when the girls come face to face with ‘it’ will they truly discover what real horror is…
The 1982 film is best known for ending up on the “video nasties” list in the UK. The movie was shot in Oregon on a budget of $100,000, and future Oscar nominated director Gus Van Sant was a location scout on the production.
Are you looking forward to the new Unhinged? What do you think of the 1982 film getting a remake for the second time in the last ten years? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
The next step for the new remake: getting into film festivals.