Psycho
It's fair to say that the sixties, seventies and eighties really were the golden years for the horror movie giving us the likes of Psycho, The Exorcist and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Today, when studios are not making the gore pore such as Saw and Hostel that they try to pass off as horror, then it's remakes galore, why they can't come up with an original script is beyond me.
This week is no different as Jason is back in Friday 13th. So FemaleFirst took a look at some of the worst horror remakes that we have had the misfortune of watching.
- Psycho
You know I'm of the belief that when you have a great horror flick that's directed by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time then you leave it well alone, but it appears that Gus Van Sant doesn't share this opinion.
So with Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn on the cast list a remake of Hitchcock's classic was made, Vince Vaugh! I mean for crying our loud.
No matter how hard you try that shower scene is never going to have the same impact as the original so there is little point in trying to recreate it. Plus as funny as Vaughn is this is not Wedding Crasher's and he lacks the neurosis of Anthony Perkins that made Norman Bates such a horror icon.
- House of Wax
When House of Wax was released back in 1953 it was one of the first and best 3-D (stereoscopic) feature films, an alternative technology (like Cinemascope, Cinerama) used by 1950s directors.
But 2005 Hollywood deemed it time to give this movie the twenty first century made over, and by that I mean turning a classic of the horror genre into a sexy teen movie.
But they film had a trick up it's sleeve that would have us all flocking to the cinema it was the movie debut of Paris Hilton, flocking to see her die on the big screen is more like it!
- Halloween
John Carpenter brought horror fans a real treat in 1978 when he made Halloween that introduced use to the icon that is Michael Myers. It was one of the most profitable independent movies ever made and one of the greatest horror films.
But as you would expect someone had to come along and shit all over it as director Rob Zombie brought us more of Myers' psyche and the reasons why he butchers people.
Horror fans don't want psychology they want to be scared to death and Halloween lacked any sort of tension as Zombie tried too hard to be Sigmund blood Freud.
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The independent horror movie of 1974 brought us the chainsaw wielding Leatherface and his family of cannibals. The film became a horror film classic and Leatherface one of cinema's most iconic villains.
But naturally nothing can be left alone and a young sexy cast, including Jessica Biel, starred in the remake back in 2003.
Ok so it made money big deal but the violence that made the original such a classic could never be matched by Marcus Nispel and Michael Bay, he really is a hit and miss filmmaker although he only produced this time around, that it really leaves the question why remake something you were never going to better?
Plus Jessica Biel running around in as skimpy top as possible really isn't my sort of thing.
- The Fog
Poor John Carpenter he has given the horror movie so much only to be shafted as a second remake of his classic movies makes the list.
With a great cast that included Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh The Fog was released in 1980 and was a good old fashioned ghost story will plenty of tension that still stands up today.
What do we get in the remake Tom Welling from Smallville and that bird from Lost I mean there's really no comparison is there?
Other remakes that have fallen way short of the mark include The Amityville Horror, The Invasion, Nicole Kidman really isn't that good an actress, The Haunting, The Omen and The Wicker Man, I really could go on.
Friday 13th is released 13th February
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw