Not all remakes are equal, especially horror films

Chloe Grace Moretz stars in 2013 remake of Carrie.
Chloe Grace Moretz stars in 2013 remake of Carrie.

Carrie is the latest attempt to remake a classic horror movie, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. There are plans to remake everything from Rosemary’s Baby to the campy Little Shop of Horrors.

Remaking horror films has been going on for years, which means when you decide to pick up a DVD to watch for Halloween you’ll need to be careful. In many cases, the original and remake don’t have the same quality.

Here’s a look at 13 horror films and their remakes to help you make a DVD pick that’s more of a treat than trick.

House of Wax

1953: Vincent Price turned this 3-D film into a horror film classic. (There is also the 1933 version called Mystery of the Wax Museum in 2-strip Technicolor.)

2005: Paris Hilton made this remake very plastic.

The Fly

1958: Audiences screamed at the sight of a man’s head on a fly’s body.

1986: Audiences groaned at seeing Jeff Goldblum’s body parts fall off.

The Blob

1958: Showed us a huge blob of goo could be quite scary.

1988: Showed us a film could be a huge glob of goofiness.

House on Haunted Hill

1959: Vincent Price produced rushes of adrenalin with the scares in a creepy mansion.

1999: Geoffrey Rush caused ticket buyers to fear they wouldn’t get their money back at the box office.

Psycho

1960: Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece made us afraid of showers.

1998: Director Gus Van Sant’s step-by-step remake made us feel like we needed a shower.

Night of the Living Dead

1968: George A. Romero’s tale of zombies attacking a farmhouse defined the walking dead genre.

1990: Tom Savini’s tale of zombies was dead on arrival.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

1974: Director Tobe Hooper created a classic horror character with the chain saw-welding Leatherface.

2013: Director John Luessenhop created another reason to hate 3-D.

The Shining

1980: Jack Nicholson gave this creepy tale of a haunted hotel a chilling edge.

1997: Steven Weber gave the TV tale of a haunted hotel a dull edge.

Friday the 13th

1980: Betsy Palmer film that created a blueprint for a genre about teens being systematically killed.

2009: Danielle Panabaker film that created a blueprint for how to kill the genre about teens being systematically killed.

My Bloody Valentine

1981: Love means having to say, “I’m sorry I didn’t see that killer behind you.”

2009: Love means having to say, “I’m sorry but this film is better because the violence reaches an absurd level.”

The Evil Dead

1981: Director Sam Raimi’s tale of teens being killed in the woods gets a million scares from a few bucks.

2013: Director Fede Alvarez’s tale of teens being killed in the woods gets a few scares from millions of bucks.

The House On Sorority Row

1983: College girls end up pledging De Cappa Tation.

2009: College girls end up pledging the sequel is better.

Fright Night

1985: Roddy McDowall makes this tale of a neighborhood vampire campy fun.

2011: Colin Farrell makes this tale of a neighborhood vampire scary fun.

Style, Pages 29 on 10/31/2013

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