15 Things Horror Remakes Did Better Than The Original

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is a great horror movie and possibly one of the scariest films of all time, but it does have one glaring flaw that brings it down a little: the characters are very underdeveloped.

The performances are fine, but only one of the five main characters - the wheelchair-bound brother of the film's Final Girl, named Franklin - is given much characterisation. Unfortunately, the whiny, obnoxious personality he's given makes him Extremely annoying. Still, in fairness, the villains are great.

With this 2003 remake, it's the opposite case pretty much. The film is an uninteresting and unscary two-star film that has a terrible set of villains, but the protagonists are all pretty good. They're well-played, likeable, feel like real people and none of them are any near as irritating as the original's Franklin. Erin (Jessica Biel) is a good Final Girl too.

Essentially, this remake sorted out the original's biggest flaw but then failed miserably at capturing the brilliant atmosphere, directing and nightmarish antagonistic forces that made the original so unbearably frightening.