The debut of AMC FearFest is usually a call for celebration amongst horror fans. This year, they’re celebrating 30 years of the Halloween movie marathon with a bang. AMC brought out the big guns with Greg Nicotero redesigning and updating the classic Crypt Keeper to be the host of the event, all month long. Also returning is John Kassir to voice the Crypt Keeper after doing so for Tales From the Crypt. So naturally, everyone loved the redesign, and there wasn’t plenty of whining from horror fans? Right?
Wrong.
They whined online.
A lot.
Taking A Look At The Classic Design
So if you’re comparing the design to the old one from the TV show, yes, it is different. But is it that much different? I was assuming all the whining was from people seeing the still images and not the whole thing in motion on screen. That was true, but when the full thing came out, the whining didn’t stop. The torture apparently never stops with these people.
After seeing the full trailer and some of the vignettes on FearFest, I can safely say that this redesign is definitely different. But it still feels like the Crypt Keeper after all. This isn’t a fundamental change to the character’s identity; it’s updating a classic character. Bringing out the old puppet, exactly the same, would have felt like a cash-grab, a nostalgia-baiting exercise. So when we have plenty of horror fans out there crying out whenever their favorite movie gets remade, there’s another subsection that just wants the exact same design for every entry or version of the character.
Looking At The New Design
You can take a look at the new design in the trailer for FearFest above. It’s a puppet, and it doesn’t look exactly the same. But it FEELS the same as the old Crypt Keeper. Greg Nicotero has been working with horror effects, puppets, actors, movies, and whatever else for over 40 years now. He’s the man behind The Walking Dead at times. So I’d trust him with this kind of thing.
The real issue here is what people want. We’re all fickle horror fans, we love our classic stuff. Part of the genre is built on that nostalgic feeling of watching these shows and movies as a kid. That’s part of what AMC FearFest is about as well. I’ve written about that extensively, including this year, and I get that. But when a redesign of a classic character isn’t that maddening, there’s only room for the loudest mouths to scream about it.
So kiddies, enjoy Halloween and maybe don’t whine quite so much.
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