Let The Right One In: 10 Beloved Foreign Horror Films That Would Make Great TV Shows
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Let the Right One In
- Summary:
- Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
- Release Date:
- 2008-12-12
- Budget:
- $4 million
- Cast:
- Lina Leandersson, Karin Bergquist, Kåre Hedebrant, Henrik Dahl, Per Ragnar
- Director:
- Tomas Alfredson
- Genres:
- Romance, Fantasy, Drama, Horror, Crime
- Rating:
- R
- Runtime:
- 114 minutes
- Writers:
- John Ajvide Lindqvist
- Studio(s):
- Magnolia Pictures
- Distributor(s):
- Magnolia Pictures
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The Ring
- Summary:
- A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.
- Release Date:
- 2002-10-18
- Budget:
- $48 million
- Cast:
- Martin Henderson, Naomi Watts, Amber Tamblyn, David Dorfman, Brian Cox
- Director:
- Gore Verbinski
- Genres:
- Mystery, Horror
- Rating:
- PG-13
- Runtime:
- 115 minutes
- Writers:
- Ehren Kruger
- Studio(s):
- DreamWorks Distribution
- Distributor(s):
- DreamWorks Distribution
- Sequel(s):
- Rings, The Ring Two
- Franchise(s):
- The Ring
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Cannibal Holocaust
- Summary:
- Cannibal Holocaust is a controversial 1980 horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato. It follows anthropologist Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) and his rescue team as they venture into the Amazon jungle to investigate the disappearance of documentary crew that went missing while researching a cannibalistic tribe.
- Release Date:
- 1980-02-07
- Budget:
- $100 thousand
- Cast:
- Luca Barbareschi, Perry Pirkanen, Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Carl Gabriel Yorke
- Director:
- Ruggero Deodato
- Genres:
- Horror, Adventure
- Rating:
- r
- Runtime:
- 95 minutes
- Writers:
- Gianfranco Clerici
- Studio(s):
- United Artists
- Distributor(s):
- United Artists
Let The Right One In, the Swedish novel that inspired two acclaimed movies, is getting a new adaptation as a series on Showtime this fall. As great as the American version is, the original Swedish film is seen by many as one of the most influential foreign horror films ever made.
That puts it in the same caliber as some true winners, beloved chillers made outside English-speaking countries that all deserve television shows. If Let The Right One In does well, who knows? Maybe someday in the future, some of these esteemed movies will get TV shows of their own.
Black Sunday (1960)
Mario Bava is a legend in terms of horror directors and many see Black Sunday as quite possibly his magnum opus. The story of a witch that comes back to life to enact an act of terrible revenge upon her ancestors after her brother has her put to death, the critics from Bava's home country of Italy were repelled by the movie. Still, it received a more warm reception elsewhere.
Turning Black Sunday into a series could be tricky, with the movie having a pretty standalone plot, but there are ways it could be translated. Whether it be an anthology about the witch cursing various generations of her family, a singular miniseries that simply adapts the film, or otherwise, the creepy world the original film establishes is one that needs to be explored.
Cronus (1993)
There are many obscure vampire movies out there that need more love, but the Mexican horror masterpiece Cronos especially needs more attention as it's directed by none other than Guillermo del Toro, in fact, it was his debut film. Cronos tells the story of Jesús Gris, an elderly antique dealer who stumbles upon a device that grants eternal life, but he soon begins to develop vampiric tendencies.
It's hard to imagine the movie without del Toro involved, as his vision of vampirism informs the entirety of the movie, so if Cronos was turned into a series, it'd feel wrong if he wasn't brought in to expand on his concept. Nonetheless, a show could either readapt the story of Jesús Gris or could expand on the universe the movie set up.
Ringu (1998)
Based on the book of the same name, Ringu, the iconic J-Horror flick that created an iconic franchise, is easily better than the book that inspired it. Telling the story of a divorced couple who try to lift a curse from their son, who watched a cursed videotape, Ringu, better known as The Ring to western audiences, has a pervasive eeriness that helped establish its legacy.
A television series that adapts Ringu could go in a variety of different directions, as the lore and mythology the first movie establishes could be a potential goldmine for a talented creator. But no matter what direction the series would take, it's the degree of adherence to the source material that will make the series work.
Trollhunter (2010)
Trollhunter is a Norwegian mockumentary that details the story of a group of college students who accidentally find themselves documenting the life of a man who hunts trolls. The premise may sound ridiculous, but while the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, there is a palpable sense of dread in Trollhunter.
Though a remake was considered, as Slashfilm reports, it was canceled in 2016, which is terrible for those involved, but there aren't a lot of places a remake could go. A series based on the movie could have a lot of fun with its premise, as Trollhunter is a concept that could flourish if not constrained to a single narrative.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Cannibal Holocaust needs no introduction nowadays, as the Italian-found footage film was so grotesque and convincing that many people thought that it was real, at the time. So visceral was the violence on display in the movie that tells the story of a film crew that goes missing after encountering a tribe in The Amazon Rainforest that the director was brought up on obscenity charges.
Regardless of how one feels about the film, there is no denying that its subtext on the unethical nature of journalism and the sensationalism of similar events that happen in the real world is very relevant, even if the movie's execution sometimes causes those themes to ring hollow. Perhaps if adapted into a series, Cannibal Holocaust could comment on similar themes, as well as the sensationalist nature of reality TV.
Sweet Home (1989)
Sweet Home may not be a familiar name to most film buffs, but the Japanese horror film holds a special place in the hearts of gamers as it was somewhat the inspiration for Resident Evil. Though that was more to the credit of the Famicom RPG based on the movie, the story of a film crew that is attacked by the ghost of a grieving mother has its strengths divorced from the iconic game series.
The film has some utterly nightmarish visuals and like a lot of J-Horror films, a pervasive sense of doom blankets the movie, something a TV adaptation could work with. Like a lot of these examples, Sweet Home offers a lot of directions a talented showrunner could go down, the horrifying visuals need to be maintained, or the story will lose its appeal.
Nosferatu (1922)
Despite being sued into near-oblivion for its similarities to Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu ended up surviving and cementing itself as one of the best gothic monster movies ever made. The plot follows a similar story to that of Dracula, but what makes Nosferatu memorable are its iconic German expressionist visuals and a nightmarish depiction of the iconic vampire in the form of Count Orlok.
The film and the novel it's based on are both in the public domain, so if anyone wants to adapt the movie into a series, they can, with the source material offering a lot of material to work with. Whether he's Orlok or Dracula, a Nosferatu series could make people afraid of vampires once again.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Tetsuo: The Iron Man is an interesting Japanese horror film with a lot of punk-rock spirit. When a common salary worker accidently runs down a man with a metal fetish with his car, his life gets completely flipped upside down, as metal begins to form on his body.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man is proof that creative minds can overcome a small budget, as the insane visuals and bizarre tone will etch the film into the viewers' minds. While the film itself is fairly short, a serialized version of the movie would work if it was presented as a slow burn, with each episode slowly ratcheting up the insanity.
Ju-On: The Grudge (2002)
Ju-On: The Grudge, or simply The Grudge for non-Japanese audiences, is the story of a house haunted by two truly troubled spirits and the shattered lives of those unfortunate to venture into it. While its narrative structure may seem daunting to some, the film manages to blend terror with tragedy in an effective, deeply emotional way.
Whereas the direction for where most of these potential shows could go is somewhat ambiguous, Ju-On: The Grudge itself pretends the obvious direction to take the series, as it is presented in a non-linear fashion. If the creators want to follow the original film's structure, each would tell different stories with a unifying hook that would lead to the finale.
Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001)
Werewolf content isn't as common as it once was, so the idea of one of the most underrated werewolf movies getting a TV adaptation would be rather intriguing. Set during The French Revolution, Brotherhood of The Wolf is a French action-horror film that tells the story of a French knight and an Iroquois warrior sent to investigate werewolf activity in a French province.
Brotherhood of The Wolf could work as a TV show, even if it mostly would be adapting the concept instead of the pure narrative of the film. Nonetheless, if a hypothetical Brotherhood of The Wolf series doesn't maintain the movie's pure cool factor, it will have failed utterly.