Comments on: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Horror Movie Remakes

By: RNL

RNL — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

Evil Dead 2 is not a remake, it's a sequel that picks up immediately where the first film ends. The first 7 minutes of the film is a recap of the events of the first film that retcons several details. This is both confirmed by the filmmakers and obvious to anyone who's paying attention when watching. Army of Darkness also opens with a short retcon recap of the events of the first two films, but nobody calls that a remake.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

Glad you at least mentioned in, but in my opinion Let Me In is a modern horror masterpiece, and ever so slightly better than the original.

And yeah although the original Dawn of the Dead is one of my absolute favorite films, Snyder did a good job with the remake. It's an entirely different kind of movie, but still well worth it.

By: tristan eldritch

tristan eldritch — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

Although probably both too sci-fi-y, The Fly and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are absolutely the only horror remakes worth a damn. The Evil Dead II feels like a bit of a cheat, because the line between sequel and glorified, more expensive remake is often a very fine one.

By: AJ Wiley

AJ Wiley — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

The tree rape occurred in the first Evil Dead.

By: Jacque DeMolay

Jacque DeMolay — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

Okay, so I still haven't forgiven him for Sucker Punch, and probably never will, but… credit where credit is due, and all, so… yeah, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake is definitely better than Zombie's Halloween films, and probably House of Wax too. Fie on you all for leaving that out. Not even an honorable mention? Inexcusable.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

I can't believe someone just called the "Halloween" remakes "psychologically adroit." If you have a Kindergarten understanding of psychology, I guess. Jesus.

By: Joao Paulo Rodrigues

Joao Paulo Rodrigues — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

Mirrors is not japanese, is korean …
But amazing list!

By: El Hanso

El Hanso — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:18 +0000

Okay, you made the rules and excluded "The Thing", but any list on Horror Remakes missing out on "The Thing", "The Fly", and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" seems a little weird. Especially when you count the mediocre "House of Wax" and Rob Zombie's horrible "Halloween" films among the good remakes.
Completely agree on the "worst" selection, though.

By: Flu-Bird

Flu-Bird — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

They remake a classic horror film and add the usial Blood and Gore Whats with these fools?

By: Shane

Shane — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

If you leave The Thing and The Fly off of the "best" list then it seems to me that you have no idea what you're talking about. Piranha 3-D and House of Wax? Really?

By: huffy

huffy — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

" is largely considered the "Citizen Kane" of horror films"

Bullshit, by who? Universally accepted classic sure, one of the most singular horror films ever made, but I have never, ever heard anyone refer to The Wicker Man in that kind of context. The "Citizen Kane of-" label (which is ridiculous to begin with) implies that a work was a massive leap forward in terms of innovation, style and technique and that it was imitated by everything after it. So how exactly is The Wicker Man anywhere near as influential as things like Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Nosferatu?

By: John

John — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

The Thing (1982) was in no way or form a remake of 1951's The Thing from Another World, they have little in common except for alien and snow, there are a couple of homages to the 1951 movie in Carpenter's movie like circle of men and the opening titles but the locations, the nature/methods/discovery of the alien (one being a vegetable vampire that reproduced itself and the other was a shapeshifting parasitic creature that would imitate any animal or human), the characters etc. are all very different, they share a name but they have different stories/plots. Both movies are adaptations of John W. Campbell's Who Goes There, the 1951 movie was very good but a terrible terrible adaptation of the story where Carpenter's movie is an excellent and very faithful adaptation that did the story justice.

Remakes and re-adaptations are 2 very different things. Remake means if the previous film was based on a screenplay that is an original for film story not based on a book/novella/comic then it's a remake like say The Blob or Hills have Eyes, 2 TRUE remakes. Re-adaptation means another adaptation of a book like say Dracula, Frankenstein, John Carpenter's The Thing etc.

By: Larry Underwood

Larry Underwood — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

Absolute worst remake is Gus Van Sant Psycho, hands down. Complete garbage. And House of Wax on the best remake list? Seriously? Someone is doing crack.

By: Arch

Arch — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

Not-goods were obvious. Don't have much to say (except: The Fog not a crown jewel? c'mon).

But E.D.2 proves you had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for good-ones. Worth the list, but I'd agree it's not a remake (The Thing still makes more sense). No offense but I feel a classic "lowering standards" vibe somehow: House of Wax, TCM 2003 (then overpraised by a burgeoning blogosphere) and others (enough with Piranha's pseudo-subversiveness it's just a terrible flick). Herzog's Nosferatu is still better for me and I'll take J. Hayashi's iconic harsh cinematography over The Ring's slick remake anytime (among other things).

Still I'll be the one to give credits for avoiding the blueprint of 2000s remakes (Snyder's Dawn: dull characters, American shots and poor use of settings) and for your inclusion of Halloween; the 1st was contrived but the 2nd was a great dive into Myers' and Laurie's minds (master-shots, new mythology, grainy image etc.). Kudos for Willard and Savini's NotLD too.

Anyway the TCM reboot (reremake?) was a hit, Evil dead will probably be #1 at the BO (ridiculously ingenious and huge promo) and Carrie will probably be a critic favorite (for wrong reasons like Piranha ?). I guess then we'll have the landscape of mainstream horror after torture porn for the next 10 years or so. Yay ?

By: Richard Schitz

Richard Schitz — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

I Spit On Your Grave remake is a big omission

– Dick Schitz

By: Olli

Olli — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:17:17 +0000

While I would have never put the just ok "House of wax" on the best list, your selection of Rob Zombies "Halloween"-misfires really baffled me. Those movies are just bad (my IMBD ratings were 3 for Part 1 and 1 for Part 2) in just every category from acting, cinematography to the writing. Worst of all they donÂ´t include a single bit of suspense.
But I agree that Wainwrights "Fog"-Remake was even lousier.