The remake is a contentious type of movie these days. Whenever a new one is announced, there is inevitably a collective groan. It's true we as a culture decry anything new, and would rather stick to tradition or what feels familiar. Yet we can't evolve if we don't allow others to improve upon or reimagine something.
Remakes are nothing new either. They didn't start in the 2000s like people tend to think. No, remakes have actually been a common practice since the days of Old Hollywood. Horror is one particular genre that has more than its fair share of remakes, too. So, let's look at ten of the best horror remakes according to IMDb.
The Amityville Horror (2005) — 6.0
The Lutzes find what seems likes the perfect home in Amityville, New York. That is until they learn about their house's disturbing history: the last tenant killed his family because he was supposedly possessed by a malevolent entity. A priest is called in to cleanse the home, but evil doesn't go away that easily.
The 1979 movie The Amityville Horror is considered a pioneer in the haunted house sub-genre. In spite of that fact, people find it boring. The 2005 remake actually holds your attention. Also doesn't hurt that Ryan Reynolds' taut physique is put on display for half the movie.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) — 6.2
Driving through Texas, a group of friends picks up a traumatized hitchhiker. An immediate, shocking event then urges the group to seek help from a nearby house. Unfortunately, there are no good Samaritans here. For inside this house of evil is a clan of cannibals.
The announcement of the 2003 remake of Tobe Hooper's classic proto-slasher was met with pushback, to say the least. It didn't help that Michael Bay was a producer, too. Though after watching this modern update, audiences were more or less begrudgingly pleased. To boot, Jessica Biel delivers one of her best performances.
The Uninvited (2009) — 6.3
After losing her ill-stricken mother in a fire, Anna attempts suicide. She survives and is sent to a mental health facility for ten months. Now back at home, Anna finds that her father has remarried her mother's nurse. She also sees that her sister Alex isn't coping well either. The journey to recovery for Anna won't be easy. Especially when her ghosts still haunt her.
Audiences were and still are divisive about this remake of the South Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters. In spite of its flaws, people enjoy the cast and performances.
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) — 6.4
A family — celebrating its patriarchs' fiftieth wedding anniversary — caravans across the New Mexico desert. When they have car troubles, the family members are hunted by a group of cannibalistic mutants living in the area.
Alexandre Aja's remake of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes is all across the board beloved. It's a non-stop survivalist horror flick that doesn't let you catch your breath at any point. Aja keeps the tone strictly serious to get across his brand of violence à la the New French Extremity. This is one remake that doesn't mess around.
Evil Dead (2013) — 6.5
To help his sister with her substance withdrawal, a man and his friends visit a remote cabin. The eventual discovery of a strange tome called "The Book of the Dead", however, triggers a horrifying series of events. With the reading aloud of a passage in the book, an unspeakable evil is released.
Fans of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult splatter film The Evil Dead are aggressively protective. The movie means a lot to them in various ways. So news of a remake made them wary, to put it nicely. Thankfully for director Fede Alvarez, audiences welcomed his Evil Dead with open arms. It's a familiar interpretation, but with some interesting changes that make the movie its own beast.
Night of the Living Dead (1990) — 6.9
While visiting her mother's grave with her brother, Barbara is attacked by a legion of the undead. She escapes harm, but now she has to seek refuge from this onslaught of flesh-eating monsters. Soon, Barbara joins a group of other survivors at a nearby farmhouse. And for what seems like an eternity, they hole up as the living dead wait outside.
Tom Savini is known as an actor and a visual effects wizard, but he tried his hand at film directing in 1990. His first project was a daunting choice, though. One would think you can't remake a horror classic like George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Yet Savini pulled it off with flying colors. His grim remake didn't impress critics back then, but fans have always enjoyed this version.
The Ring (2002) — 7.1
After a relative dies under mysterious circumstances, a reporter investigates the death. She comes across a videotape that curses anyone who watches it. After viewing, you're doomed to die in seven days. Living on borrowed time, the reporter — a single mother, too — looks for a way to remove the curse from both her and her son, who mistakenly watched the tape.
Gore Verbinski's take on Hideo Nakata's Ring is a seminal cause of the remake fever that struck Hollywood in the aughts. Not many of those remakes, however, lived up to Samara's first outing. The Ring understandably loses some things in translation, but it's a thoroughly entertaining, sleek-looking localization.
Dawn of the Dead (2004) — 7.3
A sudden outbreak causes a zombie pandemic. No matter where you are in the United States, you can't escape these famished flesh-eaters. Along with other people from different walks of life, a woman hides out inside a mall as the zombies roam freely outside.
However one feels about Zack Snyder as a superhero director, they can't deny he rebranded zombies in a way that made them even more terrifying. Yes, 28 Days Later already showed us zombies can run, but viewers can also argue those aren't actual zombies. Nevertheless, the 2004 Dawn of the Dead is an exciting remake that holds up very well.
The Fly (1986) — 7.5
A scientist named Seth Brundle is making waves in the field of matter transportation, but when he tries to teleport himself, things go awry. A fly flew into the one of the transmission booths during the experiment. Now, Brundle is changing into something that defies the laws of science.
David Cronenberg is a master of body horror and creeping dread. He expertly shifts from insidious to ghastly in this heralded reimagining of the 1958 cult film The Fly. There have been numerous "science gone wrong" movies since then, but few leave you as rattled as Cronenberg's The Fly.
The Thing (1982) — 8.1
At a base camp in Antarctica, a team of scientists encounters an aggressive alien lifeform. This creature can assimilate as well as take the form of any living organism it chooses. Which includes humans. Whatever this thing is, it is now hiding among the scientists, waiting to make its move.
Critics were not a fan of John Carpenter's The Thing when it first came out in 1982. Nowadays, they have most definitely changed their tune. It just goes to show how time can play a major factor in how a movie is seen and appreciated.