One Of The Stupidest Monster Movies Ever Is Actually Getting A Remake
Universal has greenlit a remake of the classic terrible but fun monster movie, The Mole People.
Universal Studios is gearing up for a The Mole People remake. A lot of people might not, at this point, know the mole people, beyond a few joking references, but the 1958 Universal monster movie has held onto enough cachet to cause the studio to include the underground beasts as part of their continued efforts to resurrect their classic monsters with fresh cinematic treatments. Deadline reports that Dave Alpert and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman are leading the effort to make this new film a reality.
Beyond fans of the MST3K episode above, a The Mole People remake is probably not top-of-mind for most movie lovers, but that’s not stopping Universal from digging deep for this one. In both the new adaptation and the original, the mole people are found living deep underground, developing keen low-light eyesight and growing pale and grotesque out of the reach of the sun’s rays. While the first film had the creatures accidentally discovered by a team of archaeologists, there is a new direction in this contemporary revisit to the underground.
In the forthcoming script by Chris Winterbauer, who pitched The Mole People remake idea to the studio, a woman seeks to save her children from their father, who has apparently absconded with them to a town shrouded in secrecy and conspiracies. How that leads her to stumble upon shriveled creatures with built-in night vision, we don’t know, but we expect the Moonshot director is writing something intriguing. Certainly, it has the potential to bring the mole people from relative obscurity into the contemporary popular imagination.
As with the new Renfield film starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula, a Mole People remake has the opportunity to feature some big stars and make creative choices that will entice audiences to come along for the ride. It may sound like a bit of a far stretch to expect contemporary moviegoers to see a film about creepy underground monsters, but there have been crazier things that have drawn viewership and even fandom. The question is whether Skybound, who is making the film for Universal, will lean into the comedy and camp potential of the original concept or take the premise and its titular monsters deadly seriously.
Either treatment for a The Mole People remake could be interesting, though some more serious takes on Universal monsters, like Tom Cruise’s attempted reboot of The Mummy, show that audiences might prefer something with more humor and adventure, not unlike the Brendan Fraser-led versions that are now classics. And while that particular iteration of the mummy might or might not return, despite Stephen Sommers’ stated desire to return to bring in recent Oscar winner Fraser again for a revival, there are plenty of creepies left in the Universal vault.
There is also plenty of potential in a The Mole People remake for either a fun and funny or deeply dark and scary treatment. We hope Winterbauer, Kirkman, and Alpert will give us something truly interesting and unique with this film, even if it at first seems like merely a long-buried idea that hasn’t seen the light of day in years.
