9. Remakes and Prequels
Remakes in general are almost always a bad idea. Im not the first to say this and I certainly wont be the last. I admit there is some room for remakes that are actually reinterpretations, like Scarface. But most often, remakes are just lame attempts to make some money without expending much thought or creative energy. And prequels are just as bad. I cant think of a prequel I enjoyed. The exceptions are where the movie prequel is actually the first book in a series, like The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Or when the prequel is only loosely so, as in Prometheus. Telling the back-story is satisfying for fan-boys and makes for good novel spinoffs, but rarely leads to a good movie. And sometimes the best part of a good story is the bits it leaves unexplained. Modern horror, unfortunately, is full of both of these. Rob Zombie took Halloween and turned it into, well, a movie made my Rob Zombie. Psycho became a film featuring an awkward Vince Vaughn trying to seem evil. The Hills Have Eyes lost its satirical tone and became a kind of soft torture porn. And then we have had some really unnecessary prequels, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and the two prequels to the Exorcist, neither of which were watchable. These prequels/remakes not only ruin contemporary horror, they also corrupt their great source material.