Top 10 Best Horror Movie Remakes

Script written by Melissa Kusiolek

Top 10 Best Horror Movie Remakes

Who says you can’t mess with the original? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 best horror movie remakes.

For this list, we’ve chosen films that showed us that the reinvention of an older horror flick can be just as spine-tingling as the original, while it can also generate its own unique take on the source material. We’ll be focusing on full remakes of older films, so pseudo remakes like “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn” don’t qualify.

#10: “Night of the Living Dead” (1990)

A practically shot-by-shot color remake of the iconic 1968 indie flick that gave us the modern-day zombie, Tom Savini’s “Night of the Living Dead” featured much of same crew from the original and even featured some production work by George A. Romero himself. One big difference was that this un-dead fest amped up the violence and gore, as opposed to the more subtle approach of the black and white film. As both an homage and strong example of horror in its own right, this 1990 remake took audiences on a bloodbath of zombie carnage with the support and encouragement of its source’s creators and left a trail of terrifying blood-splattered remains in its wake.

#9: “I Am Legend” (2007)

Previously adapted to film as the horror classics “The Last Man on Earth” and “The Omega Man,” this early 21st century take on Richard Matheson’s novel gave the vampire-zombie genre a whole new look. After escaping a virus that turned all of humanity into mutated monsters, Dr. Robert Neville finds himself alone in a post-apocalyptic world where he has to fight the undead on a nightly basis. With action-packed twists and turns, as well as subtle commentary surrounding our views on both society and monsters alike, the commercially successful “I Am Legend” and its powerful performance by Will Smith left critics and audiences enthralled and impressed.

#8: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978)

This remake of the 1956 sci-fi flick of the same name took paranoia to a whole new level. An extra-terrestrial race attempts to conquer Earth by cloning residents in a San Francisco neighborhood, turning them into emotionless replicas of their hosts. When some of the doomed Earthlings catch on to their plot, it is a battle of wits and minds as they attempt to not only discover who has already been replaced, but how to stop the impending invasion. While going deeper into themes explored in the original film and offering haunting special effects, this apocalyptic horror remains a potent example of a remake done right.

#7: “The Blob” (1988)

Here’s another sci-fi horror flick that had audiences running from the theater all the way back in 1958 before it was remade decades later. In “The Blob,” a jelly-like substance engulfs everything it encounters, gaining strength and size along the way and leaving a town in panic as the residents frantically attempt to defeat its approach. While the original film had the mysterious extra-terrestrial substance function as a lumbering ball of goo, this version had the creature invade the body of its victims and gave it the ability to split and attack in multiple locations at once, leaving no place safe from its grasp.

#6: “The Hills Have Eyes” (2006)

This reimagining of Wes Craven’s 1977 film left audiences just as terrified with its tale of mutant sadists living in the New Mexico desert. After being led into a trap by local townsfolk, a family is terrorized by the gang of murderers in various examples of brutal violence, earning the film an NC-17 rating upon its initial release. Featuring massive amounts of gore and bloodshed, along with the monstrous appearances of the mutants, this remake made us all think twice before accepting help from strangers and taking short cuts on our next road trip.

#5: “Dawn of the Dead” (2004)

Zack Snyder’s remake of the 1978 horror classic had a lot to live up to, but proved to be anything but lazy in its recreation of the film that helped make the zombie genre infamous. With the shopping mall setting as its link to the source film, “Dawn of the Dead” offered an all-new cast of zombie bait, a fresh take on the creatures and subtle nods to its predecessor, all while creating a rich re-telling of George A. Romero’s original. This innovative and well thought-out flick gave die-hard fans the gore and scares they craved and introduced a new crop of zombie fanatics to a film they couldn’t wait to sink their teeth into.

#4: “Let Me In” (2010)

This tale of a bullied pre-teen and his supernatural neighbor began production before the original film it was based on was even released. An American version of the Swedish film “Let the Right One In,” this remake traded its Stockholm setting for a small New Mexican town in an attempt to make the source material appeal to a wider audience. While the original still holds up, “Let Me In” preserved its tale of friendship, love and violence without neglecting the horror and emotional connections between the characters that made “Let the Right One In” so rich and compelling. It was also widely praised by critics.

#3: “The Ring” (2002)

This chilling adaptation of the Japanese film of the same name made audiences everywhere want to look away from their television screens because of a vengeful spirit trapped on a morbid videotape that promises death within one week to all who view it. While many are skeptical at first, the creep factor goes up whenever one of the marked victims sees one of the videotaped images in their daily lives leading up to their demise. “The Ring” proved that horror can translate beyond cultures, languages and different sets of media, and that no one is safe from the grasp of death, making western moviegoers everywhere tremble in their seats.

#2: “The Thing” (1982)

This remake of the 1951 horror-sci-fi film “The Thing from Another World” follows even more closely the John W. Campbell, Jr. novella “Who Goes There?” upon which they’re both based. It tells the story of a group of scientists in Antarctica that encounters a shape-shifting alien that can assume the identity of anyone it encounters. Filled with chilling suspense and horrific special effects, “The Thing” consistently leaves you on the edge of your seat, wondering which character to trust and who will reveal themselves as the alien next. Injected with just enough jump scares and mystery to keep you both watching and squirming, John Carpenter’s take also outshines the campy special effects of the original.

Before we reveal our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions:
- “Halloween” (2007)
- “Funny Games” (2007)
- “Piranha 3D” (2010)
- “My Bloody Valentine 3D” (2009)
- “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003)

#1: “The Fly” (1986)

Director David Cronenberg is famous for his gory body horror special effects and this film is no exception. On the verge of creating a successful teleport device, scientist Seth Brundle experiments with transporting himself; however, a fly has come along for the ride. This results in him not only combining his DNA with the fly, but also to suffer a slow decent into madness as his body begins to change form into a grotesque and monstrous creature. The slow and heartbreaking deterioration of both mind and flesh make this Jekyll and Hyde-type tale a terrifying horror remake you don’t want to miss.

Do you agree with our list? Which horror remakes keep you up at night? For more movie countdowns published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.