10 Reshoots That Actually Improved Horror Movies

Two years after the triumph of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven put out a new movie called Deadly Friend which, at first, was more of a sci-fi thriller than a true horror.

Paul (Matthew Labyorteaux) is a gifted teenager and computer whizz. After a neighbourhood girl is pronounced brain-dead, he decides to experiment on her by placing a powerful robotic processor into her head. This goes about as well as you'd expect.

The girl, Samantha (Kristy Swanson), does come back to life, but she is now imbued with a murderous rage that Paul must bring to an end.

Craven wanted to show his range with this movie, to prove that he could direct something family-orientated. Unfortunately, his fanbase were not happy that he'd "sold out" and demanded the picture be made more gory. Powerless to stop them, Wes caved.

Almost all of Deadly Friend was reshot, with an emphasis on tension and scares instead of teen-friendly antics. As a result, the film is much scarier, although some people see this as a bad thing and lament what could have been a fun, low stakes romp.

Ah well, at least there's more blood in this version.