In our most recent poll, we asked you which Horror movie remake is the ghastliest revival of its original. While each contender had the misfortune of being brought back to life, three stood out as the gravest of them all.
According to your votes, these shaky horror remakes are so shameful they make Frankenstein’s monster look lively.
3. Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007)
Coming in at number three is the illustriously crusty Halloween, engineered by the notoriously spooky heavy metal musician Rob Zombie. This unnecessary re-hash of the 1978 American slasher film attempts to delve into the childhood backstory of iconic serial killer Michael Myers. However, this does nothing but soften the impact of the savage spree of killings he is notorious for in the original. The remake butters up the murders: they just aren’t scary. Zombie’s “re-imagining” tries hard to flaunt artistic license, but falls as flat as the forced character development.
2. Carrie (2013)
Second on our list is the 2013 remake of Carrie, starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Based on the novel by Stephen King, Carrie is a grotesque coming-of-age story that addresses themes of rejection and self- discovery during early teen adolescence. This spiritless shell of a remake steals the visually stimulating skin of the celebrated 1976 release, without filling in the necessary flesh of authenticity. The visuals don’t compensate for the cast’s lazy acting: it lacks the raw emotion and sincerity that were the life-blood of the original. Unfortunately, Carrie fails to carry the legacy of its predecessor.
1. Psycho (1998)
We’ve reached the end of the line. Your number one pick for worst horror film remake is a shamelessly shot-for-shot replica of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece. The entire production was doomed from the start. Not only does the casting entirely upheave the original cast’s character dynamics and personalities, the acting is cold and lifeless. Gus Van Sant somehow fails to re-create a single compelling scene from the original Psycho. The end result is like a cloning experiment gone wrong. We can tell what this remake was supposed to be, but we are definitely not convinced.
Taleen Gomez is a senior Interdisciplinary Studies major, specializing in rhetoric and technical writing. She is currently the Vice President of Sigma Tau Delta (The English Honor Society), and an editor for the FIU Film Studies Program.