What Horror Movies NEED a Remake?
I know I’ve had a lot of discussions focused on Remakes: The best ones, worst ones, etc … But this topic is one that I’ve never really discussed with anyone. What horror movies do you think would actually benefit from being remade? Its a tough question. There are so many factors that need to be considered: The current slew of actors and actresses who might actually star in the remake; the new director; and if the original has enough of a “soul” that could carry through the remake and make it better while still retaining the spirit of what made the original so good.
And as always I will start the discussion with my picks. I thought of two movies that I really think could benefit from a remake. The first is 1987’s The Hidden (read my review of it here). The core of this movie is strong: A cop and an F.B.I. agent team up to hunt down a serial killer who has a little more “hidden” inside. The performances are great and the f/x are damn good for 1987. But The Hidden suffers from the year and decade it was made. It reeks of the 1980’s … BAD. The killer goes into a record store; all the cops are using typewriters; the police station’s “computer lab” consists of a few Commodore 64’s. All these elements really takes away from the experience of the flick. Plus I think in the hands of the right director I think there could be more “horror” injected into the final product. The original had more of a scifi-action feel to it. But by injecting more horror into it would really take this to the next level. I even thought of an actor to play the role of Kyle MacLachlan: Timothy Olyphant. And I think someone like Ben Rock (who directed 2008’s Alien Raiders) would be a good choice for the directing job. Rock is still young enough to have a voice of his own, but has a handful of movies under his belt. Hell ya people; The Hidden needs a remake!!
The second flick I think would benefit from a remake is 1986’s Night of the Creeps (read my review here).
This needs a remake for the same reasons as The Hidden. It has an outdated 1980’s feel to it that really pulls you outta the movie. Creeps would also benefit from some better f/x and with having more horror injected into it.
I’m rambling on enough; what horror movie(s) do you think would benefit from a remake? I wanna know!!
Stay Bloody!!!
Horror Movies, Horror News, Horror Reviews | AnythingHorror.com 
I agree with Night of the Creeps. Because “It’s Miller time!”
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Night of the Creeps is such a perfect movie to remake. Remember the shitty looking aliens in the beginning??? Hilarious. I love that movie, but a remake would make it better. Who do u think would because good director to redo Night of the Creeps?
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Also From Beyond would be great if they did it right. Maybe have Scarlett Johansson play the the lead female. Awesome… Or The Guyver. Imagine that.
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Ooooohhh…. The Guyver!!! Awesome pick. Imagine that movie being gorier & scarier….. kick ass!!
From Beyond; I don’t know. That’s one of my all time favs. Replacing Combs, Foree, and Crampton AND Stuart Gordon directing would be difficult. And I’d hate to see CGI take that flick over.
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Westworld. Such a great concept, but totally sloppy direction and script. Yes, Yul Brynner is iconic and will be hard to replace, but think of how much can be done with the idea of a living amusement park for cowboys, Romans, and jousters! The original skirted past the second two worlds and ultimately just gave us a showdown between the hero and Brynner. There’s some great potential there that I think could be made into a bloody good epic sci-fi.
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Westworld is a PERFECT flick for a remake Emily!!! If they make it less of a drama and more of a (as u suggest) action/scifi that would kick ass!!
Yul Brynner is iconic but he could by easily replaced. I think a bald Tim Olyphant could pull it off (but he’d need to bulk up a bit).
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The Curse. Sure, Sheriff Lobo’s Claude Akins is dead now, but this plot has the potential to go from so bad it’s good to …so good, period.
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Hell; Clu Gulager could easily play the sheriff role in The Curse!!! As long as they keep down the cheese and up the horror it’d be great (it is based on a Locecraft story afterall).
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You have made 2 excellent choices! I will have to say romeros movie Martin. A pretty good kinda vampire flick. But I like your picks better.
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No no Demian; Martin is a great candidate for a remake!! It has the structure of a great flick but I think ultimately there were huge problems in it’s execution. In the right hands I think a remake of Martin could be amazing!! Who would u wanna see direct the remake?
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Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” (1992), I would love to see what that movie would look like now with a LOTR CGI/Effects budget attached to it. All that blood would look even better along with the zombies. Could you imagine zombies with the extensive detail he used on just the Orcs alone in LOTR? WOW, I think this could be a monumental remake from Peter and WETA Workshop studios!
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It could be Bill, but would a remade Dead Alive still retain that spirit that made it so awesome? Sometimes you can only get that soul from a low budget. Just compare Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead flicks (very low budgets) with his recent Drag Me To Hell. I HATED Drag. It was soulless and had none of the “old school Raimi” in it.
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good point!
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I’m pretty sure Timothy Olyphant can do anything, so sign him for all the above.
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I agree completely Emily. Every time I see Olyphant in a new role I get more and more impressed with him as an actor. I’m gonna see The Crazies remake this Monday …. looking forward to seeing what they’ve done with the movie, and looking forward to seeing what Olyphant does with his role.
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How about a remake of “Salem’s Lot” (1979) (2002) (both only TV movies) with a real big movie budget, real director, and real actors. It was a great Stephen King novel that just got butchered by a low budget, bad screenplay, second rate actors, and poor direction.
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Must admit I never read the novel, Salem’s Lot. I really liked the 1st version of Salem’s Lot on the “little screen” (the one with David Soul). I can’t say if it’s faithful to the novel or not, but I remember being scared back in the day watching it!!
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I am 51 and love my horror and sci fi, I am a big 70s Dan Curtis fan who created the night stalker and night strangler starring Daren Mcgavin(Carl Kolchak) and would love to see a remake. I also loved Its Alive and would love to see a remake done with that.
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I also love Darren McGavin in THE NIGHT STALKER. That is a one of a kind show that I think is one of those “un-remakable” projects. McGavin is the reason that series was so damn good and trying to recapture the black humor and writing would, I think, fall flat on its face.
And see Emilyl’s comment above …. there is an IT’S ALIVE remake that should have been aborted before it ever saw the light of day. It’s truly a vomit-inducing remake (up there with the SISTERS and DAY OF THE DEAD remakes). Do not, I repeat, DO NOT see the remake!!!
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While we are at it , how about a remake of they live with Roddy piper ?
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Ron: There was a remake of It’s Alive, and trust me: you do NOT want to see it! I feel like the idea had potential (even though I already love Cohen’s original trilogy) but the remake (starring Bijou Philips) is seriously atrocious, probably the worst remake I’ve seen (that includes The Hitcher). It’s just a mess that clearly ran out of money or time. Avoid.
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Couldn’t put it any better myself Emilyl!!!!
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Funny you say this because THEY LIVE is at the top of my “Should be Remade” list. The original is damn fun but it is a severely flawed film that never really took full advantage of it’s set up. A remake could change all that!!!
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One of the best ghost horror flicks I think I ever found to actually put a chill in my spine was a movie with George C. Scott called The Changeling very good story and very unnerving for a movie that was made in the 70s and another movie i heard they were working on was a remake of the fury which i also enjoyed with Andrew Stevens and I think Amy Irving
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You have good tastes in ghost flicks Ron!! THE CHANGELING is one of my favorite ghost flicks too. It does a really good job of getting under your skin and un-nerving you!! I also really like THE FURY. I’m sure they’ll get around to remaking one if not both of these classics!!
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My son recently told me that they were thinking of making a Candyman remake (((((candyman)))) ((((candyman)))) ((((candyman))))
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Hhmmm …. a CANDYMAN remake would be a mistake. Barker’s original has so much atmosphere and is really “heavy” with the feeling of impending doom. Great flick that I think would be ruined as a remake.
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how about remakes of Cronenbergs work ie Scanners and videodrome …..with all the 3D and CGI now available and jusr as an aside I love the evil dead 2 as well as revenge of the living dead…love it when they can blend the humor with the horror
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I also love it, Ron, when a filmmaker successfully blends horror and humor!!! But I must say that the idea of remaking any of Cronenberg’s films makes me sick to my stomach. Just imagining the “exploding head” scene in SCANNERS being done in CG makes me nauseous. And thinking about VIDEODROME without the bad ass, practical effects makes me suicidal. There has been talks of remaking VIDEODROME and turning it into a action-scifi flick about nano-technology. Just typing that gave me a migraine!!
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Best time of year is right now Oct 30….best horror movie viewing….HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!
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Ya got that right Ron!!! October is my fav month of the year and this year my kids were really into Halloween. They are still too young to be into horror films (as much as I want them to be) but they are starting to really get into the halloween spirit. Did you catch THE WALKING DEAD??
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Hey man – sorry it took me so long to find this (you can thank the “Midnight Son” people for pointing me toward your website), but I just wanted to thank you for the endorsement on the remake of “The Hidden.” I fucking LOVE that film!
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THE HIDDEN is a prime candidate for a remake and would actually benefit from one. I watch THE HIDDEN like every 6 months (I freakin’ love it) and each time I see it I just can’t help but feel how “dated” it feels. It’s such a kick ass flick with great action set pieces that it would only be better as a remake … “better” as long as they kept the spirit of the original!!
I have to ask … are you the same Ben Rock who directed ALIEN RAIDERS? I love that film!!
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Yup. Thanks so much for the plug!
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My pleasure. And based on what I saw in ALIEN RAIDERS, you’d be a fantastic choice to helm THE HIDDEN remake!! Let me know if you’re working on any new projects your looking to promote. I’m actually finishing up my review of ALIEN RAIDERS & will be posting it in the next week.
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Thanks! You ‘da man! Let me know if I can do anything for you as well.
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And as you probably noticed, “The Hidden” was a huge influence on AR, so I take that as high praise!
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Hell ya I noticed!! I was really impressed with the energy and fast pace of ALIEN RAIDERS. AR & ALTERED are 2 of my favorite alien flicks from the last few years.
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Im ready for jeepers creepers 3 ? Is there one in production?
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Actually yes Ron. JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 is slated to be released this year. Here’s one plot summary about it from a few years ago:
“It’s tentatively titled JEEPERS CREEPERS 3: THE CREEPER WALKS AMONG US. It includes a prologue in the Old West and might bring back several characters from the first two films 20 years later. The script and story will be big on scares and give us plenty more of the traditional Creeper creepiness, with a few more bits thrown in about what it might be and where it came from.”
Recently I’ve heard it’s gonna be titled JEEPERS CREEPERS 3: CATHEDRAL. But as of 2009 they still haven’t even gone into post-production yet. I’ll try and track down more info on it and let you know.
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