Why Some Horror Remakes Work and Some Fail

In today’s world, it’s not uncommon for every other movie to be a remake or rehashing of a previously told story. Sad to say that it’s widely accepted as well. We horror fans are a rare bunch who knows exactly what to expect in a movie. But what about a remake?

Talking around everywhere, so many people have different opinions on certain remakes. Whether they didn’t like the original story, the actors, or just the lack of imagination, people pan remakes and are considering them taboo. Let’s take a moment to talk about the SUCCESSES of remakes.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Night of the Living Dead (1990) are two remakes that are considered two of the best remakes ever. They worked mainly because Zack Snyder and Tom Savini are fans of the original. Tom, of course, did the makeup for Dawn original, but made the Night of the Living Dead remake because he knew that if he didn’t jump on it and do it the way a fan would, someone from Hollywood would grab it and ruin it.

The way those remakes are done are not to do a frame by frame remake like Gus Van Sant did in the late 90s with his Psycho remake, but because they accept that times are different so they are making the movie the way it would have been done if the original directors waited 20 or so years.

That brings up my next movie, Psycho (1998). Gus Van Sant decided that his remake of this absolute classic movie would be not only frame by frame, but also in color. That was his mistake there. Putting Vince Vaughan in Anthony Perkins role is a big enough crime…trying to copy the success is crime number 2. This remake failed miserably and horror fans were vocal about it.

CGI can both help a remake succeed and fail. Let’s take a look at some examples.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) was one of the first remakes to use the terms reboot. I don’t buy into that word, it was a remake. They had a bigger budget than Tobe Hooper had in the 70s for the original and they showed that on screen. For what the original was missing in with violence and gore, the remake made up for with the help of technology. People thought this one wasn’t too bad and is accepted by most in the horror community.

Now in a failing attempt, we have The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. CGI ruined this movie from the pointless birthing scene at the beginning all the way to the corny amputation at the end. This was an example of trying too hard. Now the movie itself wasn’t too horrible, however, justifying cannibalism isn’t something that is easily done.

Another I will make is the use of pop culture to help the movie. Enter Halloween. In the late 70s, John Carpenter scared the shit out of babysitters nationwide with his harrowing tale of a vengeful Michael Myers and the ill fated people of Haddonfield. In 2007, Rob Zombie decided to remake the movie, or reboot if you will.

In style right now are all things grungy and retro. Rob’s remake was Juno with violence. Now I’m not taking anything away from Rob’s talents as a director or the fact that the movie was one of my favorite remakes, but it was clearly not the movie for him. Somewhere inside of Rob Zombie’s mind is the idea that everything needs to be grungy and just not normal and EVERY character has that in this film. He sacrificed story for style. It was unfocused and played towards 12 year old horror fans.

Last but not least, horrible casting. Ju-On was a very dark, eerie and scary movie. In a wave of remakes, director Takashi Shimizu brought his Ju-On to American and titled it The Grudge. Wanting to promote his movie to a new audience, brought in a familiar face with Sarah Michelle Geller. She is a pretty girl and a talented actress, but in this movie, obviously didn’t have an audition process. Taking an already dry dialogue and taking away any expressions or emotions, Sarah Michelle Geller ruined the movie and most future Asian remake movies. Because of her terrible acting, the movie missed the mark and was not scary, was not eerie and most people in theaters were cracking up to how terrible it came across.

So to all of you future film makers out there, to succeed, have an imagination. Guillermo Del Toro decides to use his imagination instead of capitalizing and riding the back of successful movies and he’s rich because of it.

Don’t be afraid of horror stereotypes like having sex in the woods or doing drugs; just put being a fan above making money. That’s all I have to say about that. Peace.

Editors Note: This is a guest editorial written by a long time member of our boards. We hope you enjoy it and will leave feedback in the comments!