Phantom Limbs: Dissecting Horror's Lost Sequels and Remakes

In the intro, the author explains that the entries in this book are all new and that he hopes that it will lead to future volumes that will include projects that are covered on a web site that are not in this book. The bibliography included books, podcasts and a web site. To give an example of what each entry has, I will start with the first one which concerns a 1980 project, Psycho : The Return of Norman Bates. The Pre-op section details the seminal 1960 movie based upon the Robert Bloch novel and the actual sequels. Not in a pedantic, lengthy way, but just enough to give background. The Sugery portion details with how the authors put together the script and the possibles for cast and director, it was to have been directed by Anthony Perkins who would have reprised his role later in the movie, as the story mostly concerned Jamie the daughter of Sam Loomis and Lila, and the part would have been played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who was not interested and later claimed her reason was for a scene that was not in any version of the script to begin with. What little I will divulge is that the climax had a cave system under the Bates House and what is in it. The Tingles section explains why the movie did not get made. I do not feel like getting into all 25 chapters, but I will just remark on a few. The mooted redo of Race With the Devil would have been very different and there is quite a story behind how it ended up not getting made. Cineplex was to have been a remake of Anguish (1988). The Wrath of the Gods would have been the second sequel to The Wicker Man and part of it concerns a performance of the Wagner opera The Twilight of the Gods, part of the Ring cycle. There are pages of a poster and storyboard art. A 2011 redo of Chopping Mall was to have been more of a reimagining with ghosts instead of robots. A chapter on a never made redo of I Walked with a Zombie has two different concept posters, each has a different title. Finally, among the monsters in Old Blood : Stake Land III are tree vampires. Yes, there is a lot more. Unmade sequels to Predator, Hellraiser, Saw, Texas Chainsaw Love at First Bite, Halloween, a 2012 sequel to Silent Night, a loose remake of Castle Freak, a prequel to The Shining called Halloran, and a second sequel to Laid to Rest that is tangled up in complicated rights issues. I hope that this will lead to future volumes on unmade horror movies.

Great writing. Great read. Great author.