Scenes & themes from other movies that inspired Directors: The "Clever" Ripoffs

[claws]

Not talking about blatant ripoffs, rather about movies that seemingly got their ideas from other movies and only YOU noticed. For example, watch Joseph Reuben's thrilling cult film The Stepfather (1987)



and follow that one up with Douglas Hickox' made for cable TV thriller Blackout (1985)



Similarities: atmospheric small town w/ autumn leaves setting (Identical backyard scene), domestic slasher theme, assumed Identities theme and the giveaway: exact same foggy bathroom mirror scene.

Verdict: The Stepfather contains at least 70% Blackout DNA.

[claws]

Here's another one. Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977)



... got most of its ideas from Alan Rudolph's Barn of the Naked Dead (1973)



Similarities: people with car trouble stranded in desert, nuclear/bomb testing site, crazed disfigured mutants.

Verdict: The Hills Have Eyes contains at least 60% Barn of the Naked Dead DNA.

[crackers]

Similarities: people with car trouble stranded in desert, nuclear/bomb testing site, crazed disfigured mutants.

Verdict: The Hills Have Eyes contains at least 60% Barn of the Naked Dead DNA.

I've not seen this. Is it worth watching? Looks good.

[The Burgomaster]

Similarities: people with car trouble stranded in desert, nuclear/bomb testing site, crazed disfigured mutants.

Verdict: The Hills Have Eyes contains at least 60% Barn of the Naked Dead DNA.

I've not seen this. Is it worth watching? Looks good.

My comments on it are here:  http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,118440.0.html

If you're a fan of 1970s drive-in horror and exploitation movies, you should definitely see it.  However, you won't find it to be very shocking or anything.  It's just a typical drive-in movie.  I enjoy it only because it brings me back to a time in my life that I will never be able to repeat.  The good old 70s.

[Trevor]

Single White Female (1992) ripped off the entire plot line of the South African film Sweet Murder (1990) with Embeth Davidtz - the director of the latter film told me that he was devastated by this but could do nothing about it.

[messedup]

Any comments on the City on Fire/Reservoir Dogs-Thing? You could argue that it's more a remake than a ripoff, but Tarantino still says that he didn't know the movie beforehand.

[claws]

John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)



... was obviously inspired by Torso (1973)



Similarities: one specific scene in Torso showing the killer preying on its victim in a swamp: eerie shot of the masked killer just standing there (like Michael Meyers would later do) accompanied by a very pre Halloween-ish score.

Verdict: Halloween contains at least 100% Torso DNA.

[Bushma]

If Disturbia borrowed any more from Rear Window they would have just called it a remake.

[Trevor]

The Demon ripped off Halloween in a big way.

[RCMerchant]

Ok check this out-

the familiar SHINING music...

The Shining opening credit


Now! Check out the opening music to the SCREAMING SKULL..
hmmm....starts at 1:38...same music....!!!!
Kubrick ripped off the SCREAMING SKULL!!!! 

THE SCREAMING SKULL (1958) - Full Movie

Watch it on you tube

[Jim H]

Any comments on the City on Fire/Reservoir Dogs-Thing? You could argue that it's more a remake than a ripoff, but Tarantino still says that he didn't know the movie beforehand.

That's completely BS if he said it - he's an admitted huge fan of HK cinema, and borrowed numerous bits (visuals and occasional storytelling devices) from various HK films.  However, the way they tell the basic story and the "lessons learned" are quite different in Reservoir Dogs than City on Fire.  Some of this, I thought, had to do with Eastern VS Western conceptions of loyalty and honor.  I don't think QT really did a disservice, and there are enough differences I wouldn't call it a straight up ripoff.

City on Fire actually isn't that great of a film, by the way.  Some good acting, and a couple OK action scenes, but not much else.  Reservoir Dogs is much better.

For an example that goes in the opposite direction, there's another Chow Yun-Fat film called Full Contact.  It clearly is the same storyline as the 60s Lee Marvin flick Point Blank (later adapted again as the Mel Gibson vehicle Payback).  Interestingly, ALL THREE films have a lot of their own merits.  Once again, certain character fates differ - again because of different values about honor, loyalty and brotherhood.  Full Contact is also an impressively grim film - worth checking out to contrast with the other two.

On a random note, the really awful 2001 film Head Over Heels almost shot for shot borrows a scene from From Beijing With Love.  The Chinese film, in that case, is FAAAAR superior, and plot wise they don't have a lot in common. 

[Javakoala]

The other day I saw a movie described as a woman hiding out in a convent of "gay nuns on dope." So I start watching it. 15 minutes in, I'm thinking I've seen this movie.

I had.

Sister Act is a blatant and uncredited (as far as I can tell) ripoff of Dark Habits. Sure, DH is waaaay darker in tone than SA, but the basic story was lifted mostly intact from the earlier film. Pedro Almodóvar should sue.