8 Horror Movie Re-Castings That Were TERRIBLE
Jack Nicholson's performance in The Shining is untouchable.
For whatever reason, horror filmmakers view actors as more expendable than in other genres.
Whether actors are playing the heroes or the villains, it's always likely that a performer you've come to be fond of will end up parting ways with a specific franchise, leaving someone else to come in and try and fill their boots.
Admittedly, the reasons for why this happens can vary wildly. Sometimes it's the studio being unwilling to pay talent to keep them around, other times break ups stem from creative differences with the script and sometimes actors simply use horror movies as a stepping stone to more "respected" productions, and are happy to cut and run when it best fits them.
Whatever the reason though, fans can be vocal when a replacement doesn't cut it, and we've had plenty of experience with botched recastings that have occasionally completely ruined characters.
Some of these actors tried their best, but ultimately they couldn't hold a candle to the originals.
8. Stephan Smith Collins - Pinhead (Hellraiser: Revelations)
The Hellraiser franchise has had a pretty bad run of things. Right now, there have easily been more bad instalments than good, with the gory series languishing in straight-to-DVD hell for the past few decades.
Still, the one thing that ensured fans would always stick with these sequels was everyone's favourite S&M accident gone wrong, Pinhead. It's a testament to actor Doug Bradley's performance that this creation became so iconic: in the original movie he didn't even have a name, and creator Clive Barker saw him as just another monster, but his striking look, sinister voice and Bradley's physicality made him stand out.
Like Freddy Krueger, Pinhead was a horror icon so tied with his actor, who stuck with the character for nearly two decades, retiring following the release of 2005's Hellraiser: Hellworld (the Internet one). After this the series went on a short hiatus, until studio Dimension Films realised they were about to lose the rights if they didn't produce a sequel, after which they quickly rushed together a shoddy production titled Hellraiser: Revelations.
Before filming, Bradley released a statement lamenting how unprofessional everything had been and announced he wasn't going to be involved, so the director snapped up Stephan Smith Collins to take his place.
The film itself was dreadful, but the recasting caused a particular stir, no doubt in part because of how poorly Bradley was treated despite being so integral to the series' success.