Well, theres nothing most of us hate quite as much as that, at least.
The fact of the matter is that there are just as many good remakes as there are bad ones, the same way that there are just as many bad original horror movies as there are good original ones. Its for this reason that its fairly ridiculous to write off all remakes simply because theyre based on movies from the past, as doing so excludes gems like The Fly and The Thing from the Top 10 lists that they most definitely belong high atop.
But what about remakes that have come out much more recently than those two shining examples of how good a remake can be, in the right hands? Thats what were here to discuss today on Shock, as a sort of follow-up to my recent piece on the 10 best horror sequels of the past decade.
As always, keep in mind that these choices merely represent my personal favorites, so if you disagree, drop the hate and lets have a healthy discussion in the comments section!Onto the list, in no particular order
10 Best Remakes of the Last 10 Years
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Maniac
When it was announced that William Lustig’s 1980 sleaze classic Maniac had found itself on the ole remake chopping black, the anger from fans wasn’t due to the fact that the original film was a masterpiece so much as it was that they didn’t think there was much point in remaking a movie that was so reliant on an utterly creepy performance – and that anger only grew when Elijah Wood was cast to fill out the late Joe Spinell’s highly unfillable shoes. Surprisingly, most of those haters were left eating their preconceived hate when Maniac 2012 ended up being a damn fine remake, with Wood proving himself more than capable of handling the role of Frank Zito. Franck Khalfoun’s take on Lustig’s film has a visual style all its own, a soundtrack to die for and several kills that match the sheer brutality of Tom Savini’s makeup effects work in the original, making it an impressive modern day re-telling of Zito’s film which paints more of a psychological portrait of the titular Maniac. -
Evil Dead
It’s always funny to me when people criticize last year’s remake of The Evil Dead for being a mindless gore-fest, because isn’t that precisely what we’ve all spent decades loving about Sam Raimi’s highly influential original? Yes, Evil Dead 2013 is indeed mindless and gory, and that’s what makes it such a perfect remake of the film that introduced us to the badass Bruce Campbell and his chin of steel. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from Fede Alvarez’ updated take on one of the most beloved classics in the genre’s history, as it delivered every single drop of blood and every bit of gruesome gore I was looking for it to deliver. The Evil Dead remake is hands-down the goriest wide-release big screen movie to come along in many years, with very little screen-time devoted to much else other than excessively disgusting and depraved shit. With several winks and nods to the original, and a fun post-credits cameo from Ash himself, Evil Dead ’13 is an absolute blast from start to finish, and I’m still to this day having a hard time figuring out how any fan of the original could possibly disagree with me on that. -
The Hills Have Eyes
Since bursting onto the scene in 2003 with the twisted French love story High Tension, Alexandre Aja has almost made a career of remaking movies that actually should be remade, starting in 2006 with a beefed up upgrade of Wes Craven’s 1977 film The Hills Have Eyes. Nearly 30 years old at the time, Craven’s original was no doubt a dated piece of horror cinema – as he himself realized – allowing for Aja’s remake to be one of the very few that’s actually superior to the original. By turning the human villains into badass mutants, ratcheting up the brutality and blowing the top off the proverbial gore meter, Aja infused new life into one of Craven’s earliest efforts, coming out the other end with one of the very best horror remakes of all time. In many ways, it’s the absolute perfect remake, due to the way it makes an old film feel new again – and isn’t that the whole idea? -
Piranha 3D
A few years after remaking The Hills Have Eyes, Alexandre Aja next set his sights on the 1978 film Piranha, which was directed by Joe Dante. Further solidifying himself as the king of the horror remake, Aja’s Piranha 3D once again blew the original out of the water, as the French filmmaker turned Dante’s Jaws spoof into the gleefully over the top creature feature that every Syfy original film only wishes it could be. Jam packed with naked women and some of the craziest cinematic brutality we’ve seen in several years, Piranha 3D is the absolute embodiment of fun B-movie entertainment, with Aja proving that he knows exactly what fans are looking for, from that type of movie. After sitting through hundreds of terrible Syfy movies, loaded with bad CGI and sorely lacking the sense of fun that those movies should be reveling in, Piranha 3D made all that torture well worth it, and it’s to date one of the most fun theatrical experiences I’ve ever had. THIS is what modern day Roger Corman looks like, not that nonsense like Sharknado and Sharktopus. -
Dawn of the Dead
The way I see it, the key to making a good remake is to take the general idea of the original film and use it as the blueprint for an entirely different movie. It’s what David Cronenberg did with The Fly and John Carpenter did with The Thing, which are of course two of the best remakes we’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. A similar approach was taken to 2004’s James Gunn-penned and Zack Snyder-directed re-imagining of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, which had a mall and a shitload of zombies, but was for the most part its own movie. Avoiding too many comparisons to the original by featuring different characters and changing up the story, Dawn of the Dead ’04 was a kickass zombie movie that felt fresh and new, winning me over right off the bat with one of the most memorable opening sequences of the past decade. It’s not only a remake done right but also a zombie movie done right, and one of the best of the modern crop of Romero-inspired features. -
Friday the 13th
I always have fun defending 2009’s Friday the 13th remake, and that’s something I’ll probably continue to do until the day I take my final breath. I’m not sure why so many fans of the originals had so much negative to say about the remake, because I found it to be very much in line with what we’ve all come to expect and love about the Friday the 13th movies. Jason, as portrayed by Derek Mears, is more badass and menacing than ever, the gory kills are as fun as the characters and a few new elements were even infused into the Voorhees mythos, most notably being Jason’s underground lair – which explains how he’s always been able to so quickly pop up in different places. Essentially a remake of the first three original films rolled into one, Friday the 13th ’09 at long last brought the stalking and slashing back to Camp Crystal Lake, feeling very much like a shiny new take on the movies we’ve all watched so many times. Sure, it’s not the best remake, and it doesn’t break much new ground, but it’s as fun as those original films were, and that’s really all it needed to be. -
Mother's Day
While it’s typically classic and beloved horror films that get the remake treatment, I wouldn’t exactly lump the 1980 Troma film Mother’s Day into either of those categories. Perhaps cult classic is a better classification for the whacky film about an evil mother and her crazy kids, which Darren Lynn Bousman remade back in 2010. Tossing aside the humorous and over the top antics that have made Troma famous, Bousman turned the original film into a genuinely intense and highly brutal home invasion thriller, highlighted by a memorable performance from Rebecca De Mornay. Mother’s Day is another one of those remakes that’s better than the original and in fact I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the biggest improvements over an original film out of any remake we’ve yet seen. Oddly enough, Bousman’s remake has been largely ignored and forgotten by fans, and I encourage you to seek it out, if you’ve been giving it the cold shoulder. -
The Last House on the Left
I was admittedly worried when I heard that The Last House on the Left was being remade, because I felt it was the kind of movie that really couldn’t be replicated, and didn’t need to be brought into modern times. What works so well about Craven’s original is how down and dirty it is, thanks to the low budget and the time period it was made in, and I feared that a slick new upgrade would take away everything that was so good about the movie. Going into the theater with those concerns, I found myself pleasantly surprised by how effective Dennis Iliadis’ remake was, doing a whole lot of justice to what Craven did back in the early '70s. The rape is fittingly brutal and the revenge raw and realistic, making the film both disturbing and utterly satisfying. Last House ’09 serves as a reminder that American-made theatrical horror has still got some bite left in it, and it’s one hell of a remake. Just don’t get me started on that silly microwave scene they felt the need to throw in at the end… -
It's a tie!
House of Wax & My Bloody Valentine: I always hate to have ties when I write up Top 10 lists, because doing so essentially belies the concept, but in the case of this one, I’m far too torn to make a decision. 2005’s House of Wax and 2009’s My Bloody Valentine 3D are both a whole lot more fun than most fans given them credit for, throwback slasher flicks that deliver all the gore and crazy kills you could possibly ask for. House of Wax kills off Paris Hilton in the most brutal fashion imaginable – which is reason enough to love it - and puts a fun 80s style spin on the Vincent Price original (capped off with a particularly spectacular finale), while My Bloody Valentine 3D adds both Tom Atkins and ample amounts of gruesome carnage to the 1981 Canadian classic. It’s hard not to love both movies, especially if you’re a fan of good old fashioned slasher mayhem. -
We Are What We Are
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I’ve never seen the original 2010 Mexican version of We Are What We Are, and it’s for that reason that I almost didn’t include the remake on this list. Ultimately, however, it’s just too good of a movie to exclude. Directed by Jim Mickle, who had previously impressed with the vampire film Stake Land, the American version of We Are What We Are takes an intelligent approach to the idea of a cannibalistic family, making some pretty powerful statements about family and the dangers of religious extremism. With great performances across the board and a focus on characters and story above all else, Mickle’s We Are What We Are was one of the very best genre films released last year, capped off with a visceral ending that most fans are likely to never forget. Whether you’ve seen the original or not, it’s impossible to not appreciate what Mickle did with his third feature film.
