Remakes in horror have been a thing since the 1920s and ’30s. It’s strange when casual horror fans complain about remakes when they’ve always had a place in horror. Remakes didn’t quite hit their stride until the 1980s, when the advent of gooey practical effects (as we know them today) gave way to fresher perspectives and outlooks on great source material.
In Blood & Listicles, I trace through some of horror’s best and most frightening remakes. You’ll find the grossness of the ’80s alongside the thorny timeliness of modern retellings. In between, there’s plenty that fills the gap of just plain popcorn fun. Did your favorite make the chopping block? Sound off in the comments!
Faces of Death (2026)
Directed by Daniel Goldhaber
Director Daniel Goldhaber and his co-writer Isa Mazzei deliver a knock-out punch with their Faces of Death “remake.” It’s not a remake (more of a reimagining), but it’s worthy of making this list. Dacre Montgomery offers a career-best performance as the menacing Arthur Spevak, and his co-lead Barbie Ferreira matches him savage emotional beat for savage emotional beat. Goldhaber and Mazzei give the 1978 original a remarkable upgrade with actual characters and a storyline that dissects modern culture, our obsession with real-life tragedy, and how we’re all constantly chasing online validation.
Suspiria (2018)
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Dario Argento’s foundational 1977 film Suspiria hypnotically floods the senses. In true Italian Horror fashion, its focus on hyper-realized color schemes and murderous style makes it a vital piece of visual storytelling at its finest. But Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake is a better movie overall. When you have a cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, Mia Goth, and Chloë Grace Moretz, you’d better have a story worth telling. And by god, Guadagnino and scriptwriter David Kajganich do what all great remakes do: they take the source material, rearrange its parts, and erect a fresh perspective. While tipping their hat to the past, they forge a wonderfully witchy and provocative way forward. That third act remains seared onto my brain!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Directed by Marcus Nispel
With a script written by Scott Kosar, Marcus Nispel’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre hits a home run in every possible way. From Jessica Biel’s commanding lead performance as Erin, a riff on Sally Hardesty from the 1974 original, to the polished yet gritty visual aesthetic, the 2003 remake excels at adapting the story with a bloody coat of paint. While it’s still set in ’70s Texas, it reconfigures the viewpoint to make it even more accessible, but it never sacrifices the thematic thunder for Hollywood’s sanitation machine. Much of the story remains the same, but it gives Erin far more agency and instinctual rage than Sally ever had. Sally only ever ran around and screamed the entire time. Whereas here, Erin confronts Leatherface in the finale for some good old-fashioned Final Girl action.
The Fly (1986)
Directed by David Cronenberg
1958’s The Fly is actually really good! In the wave of 1980s remakes, David Cronenberg’s The Fly leans into the ickiness of a human being transforming into a fly and treats the audience with gooey, nauseating practical effects that remain unrivaled to this day. Seth Brundle’s (Jeff Goldblum) experiment leads to his DNA being fused with that of a fly, and his soon-to-be girlfriend and newspaper reporter Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis) soon gets the story of her career. The Fly is so perfectly gross that I’m just queasy thinking about it. Relatedly: it’d make a disgusting double feature with The Substance.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Directed by Frank Oz
We really do need far more horror musicals. Frank Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors, a film adaptation of the 1982 off-Broadway musical, which is a remake of the 1960 film, makes the story feel much bigger and more absurd. What’s better than a singing killer plant? NOTHING! Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene star, along with cameos from Steve Martin, John Candy, Bill Murray, and Christopher Guest. It’s a smorgasbord of the best in show business. The music! The script! The performances! The puppeteering! It’s all so wonderfully charming.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Directed by Philip Kaufman
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is another case where the original is pretty good! In Philip Kaufman’s 1978 remake, the rough edges of the 1956 original get sanded down and polished (complementary). Donald Sutherland, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy lead the cast into this dangerously depressing version that’s perhaps quite prescient for humanity today. We know aliens are real, and who’s to say that they’re not already walking amongst us? It’s very likely. The last shot, goodness, lives inside my head rent-free.
Nosferatu (2024)
Directed by Robert Eggers
I never expected we’d get a remake of the 1922 unauthorized Dracula classic. Robert Eggers is quite simply the only modern filmmaker worth his salt to tackle the material. Nosferatu takes place in 1830s Germany and features all the Gothic imagery you could possibly want. It’s rather scrumptious. Nicholas Hoult stars as Thomas Hutter, a reworking of the Jonathan Harker character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel, and Lily Rose-Depp plays his wife, Ellen. Eggers brings out the sensuality that was altogether missing from the 1922 film and makes carnal lust equally vital to Count Orlok’s (Bill Skarsgård) blood hunger. Nosferatu is like a newly collected jar of honey, honeycomb and buzzing bees included. You’ll surely get stung, but it’s damn delicious.
The Invisible Man (2020)
Directed by Leigh Whannell
The Invisible Man, as written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious, Upgrade), starring Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) in a powerhouse performance, cuts to the core of who I am. There are moments, like when Moss’ character Cecilia is terrified of even leaving the house, that elicited actual tears. They were uncontrollable. It was like I was gazing into a looking glass, and I’m right back to that mousey 13-year-old kid hunkering down amidst the coats, hats, and boots. Whannell builds such dread in every frame, panning away from Cecilia or other characters, and sitting statically on a corner of the room, or a sofa, or panning down a seemingly empty corridor. It’s a manifestation of paranoia that gets me the most; the slow-burning crackle of camera work drags you along for two hours, and even in the hyper-explosive violence, there is purpose to every second of it. [Full Review & Essay]
The Ring (2002)
Directed by Gore Verbinski
If you grew up in the early 2000s, you’ll know the fear Gore Verbinski’s The Ring ignited inside you about VHS tapes. You never looked at another one the same way again. The reworking of the 1998 Japanese film of the same name remains one of the best Americanized remakes ever. There’s just something about Naomi Watts in her turn as Rachel Keller that mesmerizes you, and David Dorfman’s performance as an eerily wide-eyed Aidan makes my skin crawl still to this day. The intricate story surrounding Samara, a being that kills you seven days after you watch the cursed VHS tape, continues to turn my stomach into knots. So many twists! So many turns! And I still look sideways at any TV set that plays static. *shivers*
House of Wax (2005)
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
A remake of a remake (1953’s House of Wax) of 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum, Jaume Collet-Serra’s House of Wax also unwittingly riffs on 1979’s Tourist Trap. A group of 20-somethings, which includes Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, and Paris Hilton among its cast, head to a football game when they end up in the middle of nowhere (worthy of Wrong Turn) and encounter a creepy priest/gas station attendant who has murder on his mind. The film arrived during the wave of mid-00s remakes, so it often gets overlooked. But it’s a banger. We didn’t deserve it at the time, but it’s exciting to see it grow in popularity these days. Paris Hilton deserves her roses for this.
Maniac (2012)
Directed by Franck Khalfoun
It’s a genius move for scriptwriters Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur to turn the 1980’s exploitation flick Maniac into an impulsive first-person POV narrative. Elijah Wood stars as Frank Zito, the owner of his family’s mannequin restoration business. Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac focuses in on Frank’s severe mommy issues, manifested through his weird sexual relationship with the mannequins and his obsession over women. When he strikes up a romance with photographer Anna (Nora Arnezeder), there’s the possibility he might have turned a psychological corner, but not really. Wood’s Frank Zito is far more complex than Joe Spinell’s original performance, and that’s not a knock. I rather like both for different reasons. Elijah Wood freaks me out, and I can’t see him any other way.
The Blob (1988)
Directed by Chuck Russell
In the decade of practical effects, Chuck Russell’s The Blob gives you a reason to squirm in your seat. Taking the great things the 1958 original did, it morphs into a bloated and sticky story (complementary) about the implications of biological warfare and governmental authority. The cast, which includes such names as Shawnee Smith and Kevin Dillon, perfectly captures the uncertainty of a future marred by ill-intended scientific research and the roles of those in power over our lives. The Blob is still as timely today, nearly 40 years later. Funny how that happens, huh?
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025)
Directed by Mike P. Nelson
1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night is exactly the slasher trash that’s needed a more modern, fresh update. While there’ll always be room for Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s original, it hasn’t aged well—particularly for its treatment of women. Mike P. Nelson, the man behind a V/H/S/85 segment (“No Wake/Ambrosia”), the long-awaited Jason Voorhees return (Sweet Revenge), and the criminally underrated Wrong Turn (2021), turns in a thematically timely script with obvious references to a certain political corner that thrives on hate. In his hands, the film yanks the source material into 2025 with a focus on pushing the genre forward. It leaves behind misogynistic tropes (such as a young topless woman answering her front door), cringy gay jokes, and the general ickiness of many 1980s slashers for something far more progressive. [Full Review]
The Thing (1982)
Directed by John Carpenter
John Carpenter’s Halloween features a scene in which characters are watching 1951’s The Thing from Another World. His affinity for the standout ’50s sci-fi horror comes full circle when he remade the film four years after breaking horror down with Michael Myers. A remake of The Thing benefits most from, once again, the era of practical effects. There are some sequences here that still just blow anything made today out of the water. Even though I haven’t watched it in a minute, I can’t get those toothy, spider-like heads out. of. my. head.
sink. your. teeth.
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