With the recent trailer release for Black Christmas, the second remake of the 1974 slasher classic, I started thinking about the many horror remakes that have appeared over the years.
As most of us know, the majority of remakes (of any genre) suck hard but when it comes to horror there are some particularly awful ones out there.
I’ve picked five of the worst horror remakes to make it to the big screen…
1. Psycho
Honestly I don’t even know where to start with this one. Firstly why the hell would you remake an Alfred Hitchcock film? Secondly if you were going to remake one, why would you cast Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates? Thirdly shot-for-shot save for an added masturbation scene? Really? Gus Van Sant’s version of Psycho was absolute garbage and obviously not a patch on the original.
2. Evil Dead
Fede Alvarez made his directorial debut with this poor remake (although it was described as a soft reboot and continuation) of 1981 classic Evil Dead starring Bruce Campbell. It stripped out the personality of the original film, removed all of the scares and instead opted for cheap scares and gore. I shake my head just thinking that Sam Raimi was in any way involved in this underwhelming mess.
3. Child’s Play
Filed pretty high at the top of ‘remakes no horror fan wanted’, Child’s Play took the original premise of a serial killer’s spirit inhabiting a child’s doll, threw it out the window and turned it into a killer doll (modified by a disgruntled factory worker) that can kill people via connected devices. The most baffling thing about this one is that Don Mancini’s original Chucky franchise is still going strong. Don’t even get me started on what Chucky looks like either…
4. The Omen
The Omen is as near perfect a horror film as you’re going to get so why John Moore decided to remake it is beyond me. The 2006 was a poor copy of the original that lacked the impact and had no real reason for being made. Damien looked like he’d gone goth and the cast gave anaemic performances (poor Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles). I wasn’t the only one that left the cinema asking ‘why?’ once the credits rolled.
5. The Ring
The Ring is a good case for why Hollywood should just leave Japanese horror alone. The original 1998 movie was a sensation, terrifying audiences across the globe and gaining popularity through word of mouth. The remake in 2002 was devoid of the same terror as the original, featured very bland characters and made pretty much no sense.
Will the second remake of Black Christmas fare any better? Find out on 13th December 2019 when it opens. Watch the trailer below:
