To commemorate our Grimmfest 2022 screening of FINAL CUT, a remake of ONE CUT OF THE DEAD, The Reaper is here to list 10 of the best horror remakes out there!
This is 10 of the best, not THE 10 best – I’m a cocky Reaper but I’d never deem my own opinion to be the absolute truth.
THE THING (1982) – this has to be here! John Carpenter’s superlative, chilly sci-fi horror remains one of the single greatest movies ever made.
THE RING (2002) – who remembers Gore Verbinski as the director of MOUSEHUNT? This guy doing the US remake of J-horror classic RINGU? Come on! Well we ate our words with his atmospheric version full of creepy visuals.
THE CRAZIES (2010) – full of bloody carnage, this underseen gem is considered by many to be superior to Romero’s version.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) – Sutherland! Nimoy! Goldblum! That ending!
THE FLY (1986) – Goldblum again! Cronenberg brings us a truly disgusting and utterly heartbreaking take on a classic 50’s sci-fi.
THE BLOB (1988) – another 50’s sci-fi turned into a gruesome, visually astounding version – this time courtesy of Chuck Russell and SFX guru Tony Gardner.
MANIAC (2012) – Elijah Wood continued his impressive post-LOTR choices by taking one of his most sinister roles ever as a serial killer who collects women’s scalps.
LET ME IN (2010) – just like THE RING, another US remake that had no hope behind it – but director Matt Reeves proved himself with this long before he hooked up with Caesar and Batman.
THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020) – modern horror master Leigh Whannell makes us question every lingering shot, wondering whether the eponymous villain is lurking and putting us right in the shoes of his tortured heroine.
CAPE FEAR (1991) – Scorsese and De Niro reunite again for the tale of Max Cady, torturing his own attorney Nick Nolte. This is a film where De Niro plays the psycho and Nick Nolte plays the buttoned-down surbuban man and it pulls it off!
Special mentions: BLACK CHRISTMAS ’06, DAWN OF THE DEAD ’04, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE ’03, MY BLOODY VALENTINE ’09, PIRANHA ’10.