By Chris Courtney Martin · October 30, 2023
Some among us could happily go a whole lifetime without experiencing another movie remake — especially in the horror genre. While some do rest heavily on the laurels of their original predecessors, a goodly sum of them kick re-booty. Below are ten of the best horror movie remakes with scripts that you can find in our expansive screenplay library.
The original 1992 film (written and directed by Bernard Rose) is one of the most compelling horror films of the decade. Not only is the vehicle for which Scream King Tony Todd is most recognized, but it dared to center him as a charismatic and alluring villain with one of the most sympathetic backstories of any movie bogie. Nia DaCosta’s 2021 “spiritual sequel”/re-quel (penned by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfield, and DaCosta) reimagines the Candyman as we follow the baby who survived Candyman’s reign of terror at the Cabrini-Green projects. That baby, now an ambitious young man, finds himself turning into the tortured ghoul who wreaked havoc on his home. Both films center on the topic of gentrification and racial trauma.
The first film incarnation of the film was released in 1951 as The Thing from Another World. This adaptation of John W. Campbell’s novella Who Goes There? has been eclipsed by the wildly revered 1982 John Carpenter remake (screenplay written by Bill Lancaster). The Thing was then remade once more as a Norway-set prequel in 2011, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and written by Eric Heisserer. Though the most recent installment holds its own with a faster pace and more contemporary horror sensibilities, the 1982 version is one of the most celebrated Sci-Fi/Horror films of all time. This is due to its mastery of suspenseful misdirection and ability to externalize the concept of paranoia.
The first English language version of The Grudge marks a period of American horror history where much of our box office depended on remakes of East Asian films. It was one of the first in this pipeline and arguably one of the most iconic. The 2004 reboot bears the distinct privilege of having Takashi Shimizu– the original creator of the Japanese Ju-On franchise that inspired it– and is penned by American writer/producer Stephen Susco. A more recent 2020 installment critically pales in comparison to the older franchises but combines elements of both.
Read More: The Top 13 Masters of Horror
Scream 2 (directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson) is rightfully hailed as one of the best horror sequels of all time. So, it’s no small feat for Scream VI — the second installment of the rebooted franchise — to come close in terms of quality, especially as a horror movie remake. Like Scream 2, Scream VI follows the initial high school survivors as they attempt to start over in college. The latter revels in the themes of exploitation and macabre glorification that were teased in the original franchise. However, there’s a certain seriousness to the depiction of serial killer fandom that is a much more stoic interrogation of the harrowing impact we’ve noted in our real-life zeitgeist.
2010’s Let Me In (written/directed by Matt Reeves) is an immediate American remake of the acclaimed Swedish 2008 original, Let the Right One In (directed by Tomas Alfredson, written by John Ajvide Lindqvist). Both are based faithfully upon Lindqvist’s 2004 novel of the same (Swedish) title. The story follows a young boy who has been harshly bullied as he finds his first love with a fellow outcast — a girl of the same apparent age who happens to be a vampire. The usual tonal differences occur, with the American version expressing more violence and gore. But both films offer nostalgic sentimentality beneath their grim premises.
When it comes to horror movie remakes, this has to be one of the most terrifying. Fede Alvarez’s auteur-ish The Evil Dead (script co-written by Rodo Sayagues) forgoes most of the schlocky humor of the beloved original. Instead, Alvarez grips the viewer by the throat with nightmarish visuals and refuses them the relief of a laugh. Heroine Mia (played by Jane Levy) shoulders a heavy backstory as a recovering addict on a detox/intervention trip with her big brother and their friends. But Mia’s demons are more than just figurative and by the time the gang realizes this, bodies have already begun to drop. With its stoic tone and demonface SFX that both harken to and rival The Exorcist’s Regan, this remake chills to the bone.
This Dark Castle classic might be one of the most reinventive films on the list. It shares the same basic premise as the 1960 William Castle original of the same name. But the Steve Beck reboot (screenplay by Neal Marshall Stevens and Richard D’Ovidio) reimagines the main family as thoroughly modern and wholly sympathetic. The house itself is painted with so much character that it is almost the antithesis of the traditional old haunted mansion setting of the original film– and many others. Themes of love, redemption and sacrifice flesh out this remake far beyond the bones of its source material.
There’s something distinctly Millennial about Kimberly Peirce’s modern take on the ubiquitous 1976 Brian De Palma adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Lawrence D. Cohen’s screenplay collaboration with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa consolidates his and De Palma’s initial film with the beneficial female gaze of Peirce’s update.
It’s easier for an audience to feel like they might have gone to school with the anti-heroine and her bullies. This inspires introspection on what Carrie-making behavior might look like in the internet age. By that token, the 2002 made-for-TV adaptation of the same name begs for an honorable mention in the Carrie saga.
When a director like Francis Ford Coppola takes the helm of a horror movie, it’s bound to be hailed as more than just that in the cultural lexicon. Though loosely based on the classic novel, screenwriter James V. Hart takes few narrative liberties but the clever differences make the film its own animal. The star-studded cast still remains a Hollywood Who’s Who thirty years later. Collider dubs the movie “accurate, but not faithful” to distinguish the artistic interpretations of spirit, tone and theme.
When it comes to shock value, the 2006 Black Christmas (written and directed by Glen Morgan) just might have one up on the 1974 original (directed by Bob Clark, written by Roy Moore). It seems as though each iteration of the story seeks to question the ideal of the modern woman in its respective era. Clark’s original film sought to depict the realities of young adults and favorably features a heroine who has decided to have an abortion– something of a forward choice for 1974. The 2006 remake, for better or worse, has been hailed for deconstructing the perfect sorority girl stereotype. 2019’s same-name reboot from director Sophia Takal and writer April Wolfe is notably the most intentional in its goal of subversion. Sadly, the screenplay for the most recent remake has not been publicly released.
If you aren’t convinced by any of the horror movie remakes listed here, then I’d like to present to you a challenge. Consider what they’ve gotten right, what they’ve gotten wrong, and think of what might constitute the perfect reboot. With new works rolling into the public domain every year, you never know when that information might come in handy.
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