8 Horror Remakes That Became Classics In Their Own Right
Remakes that aren't terrifyingly bad. Just terrifying.
Our cinemas are inundated with horror remakes, and most of them - it has to be said - are pretty bad. If a film had any commercial success, it’s likely it’s been a victim of a poor reimagining, or will be in the near future. These days it’s even happening whilst the corpse of the original is still warm, with the likes of Let Me In and We Are What We Are being released within five years of the original versions.
However, it’s not ALL doom and gloom. Occasionally, a rare remake pops up that defies the trend, and actually proves its worth as a solid horror offering regardless of its damning 'remake' status.
The following is not necessarily a list of films that are better than the originals, although in some cases that could certainly be said. Instead, this is a list of films that have stood on their own as a staple of the genre, and are an exception to the rule that remakes always suck.
8. Evil Dead (2013)
The first thing to understand about Evil Dead 2013 is that it really isn’t trying to be Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead. This is not the humorous, tongue-in-cheek spatter-fest that first introduced us to the Book of the Dead back in 1981. This is a different beast entirely; intense, brutal, unrelenting and at times genuinely uncomfortable. Evil Dead leaves you thinking a joke here or there wouldn’t have gone a miss in order to catch your breath.
The criticism that it takes itself too seriously, and ignores the humour of the original in favour of out-right intensity is fair one. However, regardless of whether you question its loyalty to the 'video nasty' version, one thing can’t be argued, horror films like this are rarely, if ever, seen in our cinemas these days.
It may be a bit too early to refer to the 2013 Evil Dead as a genre classic, and it certainly hasn’t established a similar cult status as the original, but it is one of the best horror films released in the past 10 years and one that is endlessly re-watchable. Even if at times it's hard to watch!