In 1980, Stephen King's Firestarter was published, and the 1984 film adaptation quickly became well-known thanks to Drew Barrymoore's performance as Charlie McGee, a young girl with pyrokinec powers. David Keith and Heather Locklear played her parents Andy and Vicky, and the movie grossed over $17 million worldwide. The 2022 remake was a bit less successful, grossing $14,889,250 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
The draw for the 2022 film was seeing Zac Efron in the role of Charlie's devoted dad, and while it's clear Efron gave the film his all, the movie suffers from a few problems that tend to happen with some horror movie remakes.
While Firestarter is one of Stephen King's best novels, neither the original nor the remake is considered one of the greatest movies based on his work. The films lack a sense of urgency or a fascinating plot, which is too bad since the premise of a child with pyrokinec abilities is cool. But besides seeing an adorable child actor playing a character with powers, there isn't a lot going on here. It never feels like a surprise when government agents capture Charlie or know where she is as it never seems like she will be able to get away.
The main problems with the Firestarter remake? The plot is dull and the characters don't have the kind of development that Stephen King's fans are used to seeing. The story doesn't veer too far away from the original, which is a mistake that many of the worst horror movie remakes make. In the '80s film, Andy finds his wife Vicky dead and learns that Charlie has been kidnapped. In the remake, Vicky stays alive for longer, although she does get murdered. In both movies, a government agency wants Charlie for her powers, and Charlie is left alone at the end without either parent to take care of her and keep her safe.
While it should feel impossible to stop watching the film as audiences should want Charlie to be protected at all costs, it's hard to become truly invested. Zac Efron's performance as Andy is fairly good, but ultimately, he seems to feel powerless and hopeless when it comes to helping his daughter, which doesn't make him one of the best horror movie main characters. While it's clear that Andy loves his daughter, it would be nice to see more scenes of them connecting besides a brief one at the beginning of the film.
Vicky (Sydney Lemmon) is a poorly developed character and while it makes sense that she doesn't want anyone to find out the truth about Charlie, she goes about it all wrong. Vicky doesn't let Charlie use the Internet, which makes Charlie a laughing stock at school and makes it hard for her to do her homework. Vicky has taken her protectiveness too far, which makes her seem mean and unfair, not caring.
If the remake could add some new and different plot points, perhaps the characters would feel more fully formed. Instead, Charlie loses her mom and then her dad and John Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes) looks for her, just like in the original film. While some '80s horror movies are timeless, seeing a young Drew Barrymore shine is really the best and most memorable part of the 1984 film, and the rest is pretty forgettable.
If Firestarter had made some changes to the story, then it would be a much better remake. For one thing, it would be great to see Andy as a single dad to Charlie. This would allow the movie to develop their bond a lot more and to explain that since it has always been the two of them, he's determined to keep her safe and would do anything for her, and in turn, Charlie thinks that he's an amazing, loving parent.
It's always nice when a horror movie ending is satisfying, which unfortunately doesn't happen with the 1984 or 2022 Firestarter. In both cases, Charlie is left orphaned with both of her parents having been killed. The future looks bleak and she's unsure what will happen next. This isn't ideal, though, because if audiences are supposed to care about Charlie, there should be a happier conclusion where Charlie seems to be doing alright. It's all too obvious from the beginning of the movie that the government agents will eventually get Charlie, and that's not enjoyable to watch.
If horror fans watched the 1984 movie, they know what to expect and it's not a huge surprise when Charlie ends up isolated and without her family. If Firestarter made some new storytelling choices, it would be more fun to watch as the best horror movie remakes have interesting settings and strong characters who are hard to stop watching.