10 Horror Films That Tried Something Different (And Failed)

What makes Gus Van Sant's Psycho different from other remakes, is the fact it's not different at all. Rather than putting his own stamp on Alfred Hitchcock's masterful slasher, the Good Will Hunting director decided to make the exact same film. Though there were some diversions from the original, 1998's Psycho is effectively a shot-for-shot reskin.

As a result, it's baffling to understand why this do-over was made in the first place. Overall, it feels stilted and mechanical, since every shot is designed to match its 1960 counterpart. The acting isn't organic, since the cast are imitating the performances of the original ensemble.

Above all else, viewers are constantly taken out of the story because they can't help comparing it to its precursor. If Van Sant's Psycho keeps reminding viewers of Hitchcock's vastly superior version, they'll just want to watch that instead. And if a movie urges viewers to switch it off to watch another movie, that's not a great sign.

In hindsight, the only positive thing to come from this bewildering experiment is it proved that making a literal shot-for-shot remake of a classic film is dumb.