10 Remakes That Should Never Have Happened

Hollywood is in the middle of a remake spree, and it doesn't look in any mood to stop, no matter how many horrendous reviews they receive. With dozens of reboots and remakes in the pipeline, including American Psycho, The Birds, and Scarface, audiences can be assured that classic films will be continuously ruined for as long as writers don't have any real inspiration to go on.

Whether they were unnecessary, unwanted, or simply bad films, most remakes go on to live in infamy. Often shedding everything that made the originals good in favour of flashy CGI and better technology, remakes tend to be critical bombs, particularly when compared with their older counterparts.

That's not to say that there aren't good remakes, quite the opposite. Many directors relish the chance to reimagine some of history's greatest films, fixing the problems that hampered the originals. Remakes often attract bigger budgets, allowing for more realistic violence, and better writers and actors that can improve on their predecessors.

Dredd, for example, produced one of the finest comic book adaptions to date, immeasurably improving in every way on the God-awful thing that Sylvester Stallone created. But for every True Grit or The Fly, that utilises new technology or simply a different perspective or directorial vision, there's a counterpart trying to simply cash in on the name of a classic film with a sloppy scene-for-scene recreation.

The original Carrie, released in 1976, was a horror classic that earned a spot on the AFI 100 Thrills list. It told the story of a young girl that discovered her supernatural powers after being bullied at school for having her period. The film displayed issues of teenage angst and high school cruelty, finishing in the memorably gore-splattered prom scene.

Regarded as one of the best films of 1976, alongside other classics like Rocky, Taxi Driver, and All The President's Men, Carrie received widespread critical acclaim, currently holding a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans of the book would have been disappointed, however, as it didn't stick as close to the Stephen King novel as some would have liked.

Recognising this issue, the 2013 remake had intentions to draw the script closer to the novel, but this was abandoned due to studio interference. Changes were subsequently made in order for the remake to cash in on the success of the original film, and the end result was simply a scene-for-scene remake of the 1976 film with a handful of references to the film's updated setting.

One of the more questionable aspects of the film was the choice of Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie. Sissy Spacek, who played the 1976 film's title character, famously didn't wash her face at all during filming, and rubbed vaseline in her hair to make the character look like a complete outsider. Chloe Grace Moretz never achieved the same look, and looks more like one of the girls bullying her than the object of their ridicule.