Caffeinated Clint
It’s been a while since Joel Schumacher (“Flatliners”, “The Lost Boys”, “Falling Down”) had a hit let alone delivered a decent flick, but his next couple of flicks – Nicole Kidman/Nicolas Cage thriller “Trespass” and now, “The Hive”, are sounding rather good – or, in the very least, eons better than “Blood Creek”, “Twelve” and “The Number 23” ever did. And I say this with love because, quite honestly, I’m a Joel Schumacher fan. From “D.C Cab” and “St Elmo’s Fire” to “The Lost Boys”, “The Client”, “A Time to Kill”, “Falling Down”, “Flatliners” and “The Phantom of the Opera”, Schumacher has given me..well, some of my favourite films. And I know he’s capable of making more just like those. I don’t quite know what the problem was with the ensemble drug-drama “Twelve” or that messy-messington “Blood Creek” but they just didn’t flow… and probably should never have been greenlight, not until the director was happy with the shooting script.
But as I said, “The Hive” and “Tresspass” sound like fun – – I hope I’m right.
“The Hive”, says Variety, is about “an emergency operator who must confront a killer from her past to save a young girl’s life.” Sounds like a good premise, right!? Yeah.. and if it wasn’t from the pen of the guy who brought us “Exit Wounds” and “13 Ghosts” I’m betting a few of us would’ve gone so far as to whack it on our must-see list.
What do I think Schumacher should be doing to get back in the biggish leagues he found himself in in the late ’80s/early ’90s? A sequel. I know, I know, but sequels are generally meh… but hear me out : The biggest problem Schumacher’s faced with his last few films is that they haven’t appealed to anyone from the outset; do a sequel to say, “Flatliners”, “Falling Down” (maybe the grown-up kid goes bonkers like Dad, did!?) or maybe even an official “Lost Boys” prequel/sequel (one not connected to the direct-to-video “Lost Boys” films of the past few years) and atleast he’s guaranteed to put bums on seats. And bums on seats equals pull, pull to do better films. I’m sure Schumacher has been offered “Flatliners” and “Lost Boys” sequels over time – and I know he was offered “St Elmo’s Fire 2” – so they’re not out of reach… so maybe, if this “Hive” thing doesn’t turn out as hoped, you might want to place a call to someone Joel? Maybe start with Julia Roberts and get her onboard a “Flatliners” follow-up.
… and all this talk of “Flatliners” make me one to dust it off again.
