5 Best And Worst Horror Remakes
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Horror remakes have been around forever, but they became the trend in Hollywood a little over a decade ago. While some horror remakes can be great, they typically tend towards being not so great. Most horror fans have a love-hate relationship with remakes, so we are diving into my picks for five of the worst and five of the best horror remakes!
I have left off the newest Halloween movies because they are technically part of a reboot and not remakes.
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The Worst
5. House On Haunted Hill (1999)
Image Source: IMDB
I am a huge fan of the 1959 Vincent Price-led classic, and with a cast that included the talents of Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, and Taye Diggs, I had high hopes for this remake. Unfortunately, this film was a huge letdown. The film is borderline silly, and the scares are practically non-existent. The remake lost the creativity and cunningness of the original.
4. Psycho (1998)
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I still cannot quite wrap my head around the concept for this remake. While most remakes take some liberties with the source material, the 1998 Vince Vaughn remake was almost a shot-for-shot identical to the 1960 original film. This made audiences and critics wonder why the film was made in the first place if there was going to be nothing new brought to the table. One of the biggest issues with the film however is the casting of Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates. Anthony Perkins’ portrayal of the character in the original film created a likable psycho whereas Vaughn’s portrayal was unlikeable and uncomfortable.
3. The Omen (2006)
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Similar to the 1998 Psycho remake, this film made little sense in the reason for it being made. The film was so much like the original that it felt like a waste of time and money to watch. The film had terrible, almost laughable effects making the scare scenes feel more like moments of humor. This film’s Damien was portrayed as pure evil from the very beginning which removed the original film’s moral struggle of whether or not the child should be permitted to live. The only reason I can see why this film was made was that the studio saw that the date 06/06/06 was coming up and thought this would be the perfect film to release on that date. They weren’t wrong, I just wish they had done the original more justice.
2. A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
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This one hurts. I am a huge fan of The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and when this film came out, I was there on opening night. This was originally billed as a reboot of the franchise but quickly found itself added to the remake pile after it bombed with audiences and critics. The fact that the studio now had better special effects and they chose to completely change the look of Freddy Krueger was one of the things that hurt the most with this film. The final nail in the coffin for this film was that the writers chose to explore the possibility that Freddy was innocent and the Elm Street parents were the true villains. This made no sense in the context of the original source material or the gruesome ways he murders their children later in the film. This is the only film on this part of the list that I would love to see someone try to remake and give it the treatment the Halloween films are currently getting.
1. Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007)
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This is my least favorite horror film of all time. Similar to the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, I was really excited about this film when it was released. Having Rob Zombie as the creative mind promised a more gruesome Michael Myers and originally that seemed like a great thing especially when fans learned that Danielle Harris would be in the film, a nod to Halloween 4 and 5. The film chose to explore the idea that Michael was the way he was because he came from an abusive household and may be mentally ill. This removed all of the sinister mystery of the character and also removed the focus on Laurie Strode as the innocent main character being stalked by her villainous brother. Adding the mental health element to the film created a moral dilemma that ruined all of the mystery and appeal that was present in the original film.
The Best
5. Evil Dead (2013)
Image Source: IMDB
The original film relied heavily on comedy which the remake chose to leave out completely. With a larger budget than the original and newer, more advanced technology, director Fede Alvarez brought a gruesome retelling to a beloved classic. The Evil Dead remake is one of the only movies on this list that not only did the original source material justice but could have also stood on its own two feet as its own horror film. If the Evil Dead references had been removed from the film, the 2013 remake would have still been a spectacular stand-alone horror film. Lastly, replacing Bruce Campbell’s Ash with Jane Levy’s Mia gave audiences an incredibly strong and terrifying female lead, something that is not very common in gruesome horror films.
4. Friday The 13th (2009)
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This is one of the best slasher remakes ever made, in my opinion. The 2009 film took everything great about the original and added new characters, better jump scares, and more gore without losing any of the charms of the classic. The remake continued to explore the strange otherworldly attachment between Jason and his mother, and as an ode to the original, it even included the same ending. The only real miss with this film was that the original film did not feature Jason as the killer.
3. It & It Chapter 2 (2017 & 2019)
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These are one of the few remakes that I believe are better than their source material. The 1990 Tv mini-series will always be a classic, thanks to Tim Curry’s portrayal of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Unfortunately, the original feels more like a horror comedy to modern fans and thus loses most of the scare factor that was originally intended. The 2017 and 2019 remakes had phenomenal casting and utilized state-of-the-art special effects, practical effects, and CGI to breathe new life into a classic.
2. The Invisible Man (2020)
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The 2020 remake of The Invisible Man was more of a reimagining as opposed to a true remake. In the 1933 classic, the protagonist and antagonist are one and the same, a scientist who after discovering how to make himself invisible goes insane and begins killing. The remake explores the perils of abusive relationships and how wealth and science can be a truly terrifying combination. Elizabeth Moss is genius in this film and the multiple twists, turns, and jump scares keep the audience on the edge of their seat until the credits begin to roll.
1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
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This was not the first remake of Bram Stoker’s classic tale, but it is the best. Francis Ford Coppola made few changes to the source material and relied on the atmosphere above all else. The film brought horror and gothic romance to the big screen in a way that still frightens and intrigues fans 30 years later. Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Count Dracula is second to none and Winona Ryder is stunning in her portrayal of Mina.
The horror remake trend had taken a break for a while, but we have started to see more reboots and remakes making their way to theaters. With the reboot of the Halloween franchise and an upcoming Hellraiser reboot coming to Hulu, I am curious to see if any of the films on this list will get the remake treatment again.
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