The original is a cult classic from John Carpenter. That name alone should make you stay away from it and NOT remake it. It’s about a mysterious fog that covers a California town, bringing the ghosts of dead sailors that terrorize the residents. It could benefit from a remake so they could update the special effects, but as this 2005 effort shows, it’s all too easy to completely botch the plot. Carpenter did produce the remake, the film didn’t do well with critics. The film was never scary and the ghost didn’t come across as threatening or intimidating. Something that a horror movie should all have.
The 1998 remake of “Psycho” proved that it’s never easy to remake a classic horror film. The original, directed by master is suspense Alfred Hitchcock, was a groundbreaking film in the genre and in that time. Gus van Sant remade it but said himself that it was more a replica than a remake. Shot for shot her replicated the 1960s film. A remake that should’ve never been made.
In the 1991 film, Keanu Reeves plays an undercover agent infiltrating a group of bank robbers, who also happen to be surfers. It’s not your average crime thriller. The premise might seem cheesy, but what made it a cult favorite was the fact that nothing about the film should have worked together, yet somehow the ridiculous plot proved entertaining and it has been a favorite for many movie fans for years. Remaking an unexpected cult hit is impossible. And the 2015 version proved that. Although it has some visually good-looking action sequences, the film is flat and only leaning on those action scenes.
In the original film from 1953, a bitter and traumatized owner of a wax museum took vengeance by using real people for his art. In this version from 2005, a group of young adults strand in a little town, which has a wax museum. One by one the are killed and turned into wax figures. It didn’t feel like a horror film and was extremely predictable. Nothing wrong with a cheesy slasher, but compared to the 1953 version, it was a shallow retelling which relied on cheap scares.
In the 1973 British horror film, “The Wicker Man” explores intriguing religious themes. Police sergeant Neil Howie has to investigate an isolated island cult. He travels to the island of Summerisle to find a missing girl who believes has been taken to the island based on the contents of an anonymous letter. Howie is worried she is intended to be a human sacrifice, but the actual plans are even more disturbing. In 2006 there was the remake, starring Nicolas Cage. Moments that should be upsetting, turn out to be absurd and sometimes even unintentionally funny. And the unsettling atmosphere from the original was not present in the remake. When a horror movie feels like a bad comedy, you know it’s bad.
Flatliners (2017) – Original from 1990
Although the reviews for the 1990s “Flatliners” went up and down, some critics (and me) thought the story of medical students getting high from inducing near-death experiences was original and the film’s grim style was praised. A movie that nobody really loved or hated it perfect material for a remake. Right? Well, the 2017 film failed to improve and actualla managed to be less scary. Even with great actors like Ellen Page and Diego Luna.
In 2014 this movie had another remake, but that was actually a good film and paid homage to the original, since director Gareth Edwards is a fan of the film and treated the source material with respect. But the 1998 film directed by Ronald Emmerich is not the better ‘update’ of the monster. The lead creature looks weird and the script is messy. The best ting about this film was its soundtrack.
The 1968 film is a sci-fi classic with one of the biggest, memorable and most shocking twists in movie history. Tim Burton remade the film in 2001. Even though the costumes and make-up look pretty good, the film itself is awful. And they even changed the ending, which didn’t make it any better.
This remake was completely unnecessary. There is only one Freddy Krueger and that’s Robert Englund. He is what made the original franchise so creepy. The atmosphere from the 1984 version is not present in the remake from 2010. And it also lacks tension and surprise elements. This film was merely made because of the lack of inspiration, not because “A Nightmare on Elm Street” needed it.
