With the tepid response to the recently released remake of Firestarter, it is worth wondering whether the film's future response will match the contemporary one. This is because horror remakes tend to get a lot of negative responses, with that backlash sometimes proving to be very much deserved.
That being said, while horror remakes tend to have a hot or cold reputation, there are those who don't have any reputation at all. There are some horror remakes that aren't as well-remembered as the likes of John Carpenter's glorious take on The Thing or Gus Van Sant's pointless remake of Psycho.
House On Haunted Hill (1999)
William Castle is a B-movie legend, but his reputation for prioritizing gimmicks to storytelling narrative makes his works difficult to readapt. House on Haunted Hill is about as gimmicky as the original but in a much more aggressively 90s way, removing a lot of the subtlety and ramping up the gore.
Not to mention that the movie overutilizes late 1990s CGI, which leads to the movie having some of the worst visual effects in film history. Thirteen Ghosts, an infamous remake of another William Castle movie from the same company Dark Castle, is similarly handled, but it has a so-bad-it's-good quality to it, something House on Haunted Hill doesn't have.
House Of Wax (2005)
Yet another Dark Castle joint, House of Wax is a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price classic, but the horror icon likely wouldn't have seen the film as a loving tribute if he ever got to see it. Instead of a classic macabre period story, the remake of House of Wax is a bog-standard slasher in the most mid-2000s fashion.
The film doesn't even attempt to follow the plot of the original movie, with the new take being a modern day-set ghost town story with a serious mean streak, featuring a main villain that has none of the screen presence as the iconic Merchant of Menace. While it has a pretty decent atmosphere, House of Wax just doesn't hold a candle to the original.
The Fog (2005)
John Carpenter's work isn't known for having great remakes, but the remake of The Fog fails on a gobsmacking level. The new The Fog just doesn't have anything new to add to the story of a ghostly fog picking off the residents of Antonio Island one by one, nor does it have anything interesting to say about the original's narrative.
What's annoying is that what made the original movie work, its slow pace and creepy atmosphere, is tossed out with extreme prejudice in the remake. The movie tries to be more flashy and gory than the first, but that ends up failing to help it stand out amongst a glut of similar movies that came out around the same time.
The Omen (2006)
There isn't a whole lot to say about the remake of the late Richard Donner's The Omen, as it's just the original movie... again. Instead of doing something interesting with the story of a couple who realize that their son may be The Antichrist, the remake of The Omen follows the original's story beat for beat, only it isn't as innovative.
All the originally shocking deaths lack weight, the new cast doesn't have the same chemistry, the new additions to the film's score are forgettable, and the cinematography is far less stunning. The one thing the movie had going for it was that the decision to release it on June 6th, 2006 was pretty clever.
Black Christmas (2006)
A cult classic in the truest sense, 1974's Black Christmas truly put the slasher genre on the map and left a lasting impression through both its dark humor and subtlety. While the 2006 remake isn't the only remake of the film, it's the one that's more faithful to the original... kind of.
The remake of Black Christmas is a far more mean-spirited affair with the blood and gore dial cranked up to eleven, not to mention it does a massive disservice to the original killer by both overexplaining him and giving him a face. The remake added way too many unneeded elements to the original, with all of those elements failing to help it last longer in the memory.
The Wolfman (2010)
Remakes of Universal Monster movies are a mixed bag, as there are either cinematic masterpieces like 2020's The Invisible Man or misfires like 2017's The Mummy. Somewhere in the middle is the remake of The Wolfman, though unlike a lot of these remakes, it does have its merits.
The film is well-cast, Joe Johnson's direction is strong, it's complemented by Shelley Johnson's cinematography, and Rick Baker's take on the iconic werewolf is a nice update to the original. However, the movie's script lets it down and the CGI transformation sequences don't hold up.
Leprechaun: Origins (2014)
What made the Leprechaun movies, as trashy as they sometimes got, was their goofy St. Patrick's Day-tinged horror, but Vince McMahon and co. didn't get that memo. Leprechaun: Origins was produced by none other than WWE and starred one of their wrestlers, Dylan "Hornswaggle" Postl, as the titular Leprechaun.
Unfortunately, the film's ties to the wrestling world is the most interesting detail about it, as the movie takes the dark and gritty approach, turning the Leprechaun himself from a wisecracking magician to a gangly Xenomorph knockoff. As bad as the Leprechaun movies got, they still have an enjoyable quality to them, but Origins just doesn't have that same magic.
Jacob's Ladder (2019)
There are a couple of horror movies that, quite frankly, should just be left alone, with Jacob's Ladder being among them. Nonetheless, Jacob's Ladder got a remake, and just like with most leftovers, the story of Jacob Singer just isn't as good the second time around.
The remake follows a similar plot, but it chose not to translate the themes and imagery, with its low budget being apparent on the screen. Overall, the remake is vastly inferior to the original, which makes one wonder why the decision was made to remake in the first place.
The Grudge (2020)
J-horror films are tough to make work for audiences outside of Japan, but the original remake of The Grudge was one of the more successful ones. When the trailers for the new take on the series made the rounds, many expected 2020's The Grudge to do something unique with the franchise... those people were left disappointed.
Outside of a few unique visuals, the film doesn't do anything different with Kayako, with the plot feeling like a carbon copy of the previous films. The worst crime the film commits is that it isn't scary, something inexcusable for a Grudge movie.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Released just this year on Netflix, many people were unaware that a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie even came out, with those who did watch it getting an experience they almost immediately forgot. Ignoring all the sequels, the movie picks up almost 50 years after the original movie, but compared to the first film, the new movie doesn't stack up.
The movie has a lot of gore, a disservice to the first, as that film was still effective without it, but its biggest crime is that it that there's nothing special about it. While the movie is trying to copy the recent Halloween movies in its approach, it doesn't do anything interesting with the idea of bringing Leatherface into the modern day.