Sometimes, it's a mistake to mess with an already good thing. But occasionally, a remake actually improves on the original material. Just look at these horror examples, which show both sides of the coin.
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00:00Sometimes it's a mistake to mess with an already good thing, but occasionally, a remake actually
00:05improves on the original material.
00:07Just look at these horror examples, which show both sides of the coin.
00:12A lot of different people have tried bringing the tale of Dracula to the silver screen since
00:16Bram Stoker's seminal novel was published in 1897.
00:19There are plenty of gems among the Universal Dracula films, in which the titular character
00:23was played by Bela Lugosi.
00:25Christopher Lee's Hammer Dracula films are also pretty fantastic.
00:29But Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation, which was released in 1992, is a masterpiece.
00:34"'Vampires do exist.'"
00:38Stoker's novel is a gothic romance, mixing lust, tragedy, and horror to great effect.
00:43Coppola's film breathes life into the text, making many of its most memorable moments
00:47into something even more stunning.
00:49Gary Oldman plays Dracula, who appears as both a ravishing warrior king with a killer
00:53sense of fashion and a bizarre old man with buns atop his head and a fetish for frills.
00:59He discovers the reincarnation of his lost love in the young Mina Harker, played by Winona
01:03Ryder, though her husband Jonathan, played by Keanu Reeves, will stop at nothing to try
01:07and save her from his supernatural clutches.
01:10Bram Stoker's Dracula features awe-inspiring tableaus, costume design by the imitable Aiko
01:15Ishioka, and Oldman's Dracula facing off against Anthony Hopkins as the vampire hunter Van Helsing.
01:21The 1992 adaptation is a sensuous visual feast that simply can't be topped.
01:26It's unlikely you've seen the 1960 version of Little Shop of Horrors, unless you were
01:30duped by the cover art pretending that Jack Nicholson is the star.
01:34As a result, 1986's musical, starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Green, and Steve Martin, remains
01:39the ultimate Little Shop of Horrors.
01:41Featuring music from Disney Renaissance legends Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, and directed
01:45by Miss Piggy and Yoda himself, Frank Oz, everything about 1986's Little Shop of Horrors
01:50is an absolute marvel.
01:52Ultimately, it's the masterful puppeteering work of Audrey 2 that makes the film truly
01:56untouchable.
01:57Thanks to Oz's background working with the Jim Henson Company, he was able to wrangle
02:00some of the best puppeteers in the business.
02:03Oz's film is a love letter to the B-movie roots of the original film that elevates absolutely
02:07every element to perfection.
02:09Moranis and Green are superb leading players, and it's impossible to hear Suddenly Seymour
02:14without wanting to sing to your heart's content.
02:17George A. Romero's 1973 horror flick about a town plunged into chaos when a military
02:22bioweapon is accidentally unleashed on its populace isn't a zombie film per se.
02:27Instead of dying, his characters are transformed into deranged, ungovernable nutjobs.
02:32The military attempts to restore order, but they only exacerbate the situation.
02:37Romero's notion of regular, seemingly reasonable Americans becoming suddenly unhinged has plenty
02:42of potential, but budgetary constraints, slack pacing, and poor performances undermine his
02:47film at every turn.
02:48Breck Eisner's 2010 remake of The Crazies is superior in every regard.
02:53The film hooks viewers with its all-too-believable opening scene, in which the town drunk wanders
02:58onto a baseball field with a shotgun, and it only gets creepier from there.
03:02Timothy Oliphant is hugely sympathetic as David, a small-town sheriff who escapes a
03:06military-imposed quarantine to rescue his pregnant wife.
03:10When the infected townspeople overwhelm their captors, our presumably immune heroes scramble
03:14to evade the growing number of Crazies and the remaining soldiers who've been ordered
03:18to execute all civilians.
03:19As it turns out, the child of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner is a more-than-proficient
03:24horror filmmaker.
03:25His spare, widescreen compositions conjure a slow-mounting sense of dread, making The
03:30Crazies unmissable.
03:32Stephen King has been one of the unquestioned kings of horror storytelling for decades,
03:36but many adaptations of his stories have failed to live up to the source material.
03:40The original It miniseries featured an incredible performance from Tim Curry as Pennywise, but
03:45was ultimately a compromised version of King's sprawling horror epic.
03:49Warner Bros. finally gave Pennywise his time to shine in 2017, when director Andy Muschietti's
03:54It arrived in theaters, shattering expectations and box office records.
03:58Now you're the one who's afraid.
04:01Muschietti opted to divide the huge novel into two parts, with the first film focusing
04:05on the Losers Club as kids in Derry, Maine in the 80s.
04:09As a result, 2017's It was able to tap into childhood nostalgia for the decade, offering
04:14a certain charm not unlike Stranger Things.
04:17The movie was also aided greatly by a stellar performance from Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise
04:21the Clown.
04:22While 2019's It Chapter Two was always going to have a near-impossible task, that takes
04:27nothing away from what the first film was able to accomplish.
04:30Not only does it rank as a better remake, but it's quickly become one of the greatest
04:34King adaptations ever made.
04:36John Carpenter's The Thing is technically a remake of the 1951 sci-fi film The Thing
04:41from Another World, but it has some major narrative differences that place it a step
04:45above its predecessor.
04:47Both films are based on the story Who Goes There? by John Wood Campbell Jr., but Carpenter's
04:51version is a more successful adaptation in terms of remaining true to the source material.
04:56For instance, Carpenter's The Thing includes the alien creature's ability to shapeshift,
04:59while the 1951 version does not.
05:02The Thing's ability to assume the shape of other lifeforms is a major source of tension
05:06in Carpenter's film, fueling the distrust and paranoia the crew members have for one
05:10another.
05:11Additionally, The Thing is simply just scarier than its black-and-white ancestor.
05:15The Thing from Another World has some unintentionally hilarious moments that were probably more
05:19terrifying when it was made, that don't hold up all these years later.
05:23For instance, the creature in the original film is just a guy in a goofy costume.
05:26Meanwhile, the creature in The Thing still looks absolutely disgusting and horrifying
05:3130 years after the film's debut.
05:341980's Friday the 13th is easily one of Sean S. Cunningham's worst directing efforts.
05:39The dialogue and characterizations are listless, the script repeatedly telegraphs its major
05:44plot twist, and the film often looks shockingly amateurish.
05:47The true star of the 1980 original is makeup effects legend Tom Savini, whose inventively
05:52bloody kills were the main reason the film was able to separate itself from its competition.
05:56The fact that the Michael Bay-produced 2009 remake of Friday the 13th outclassed its predecessor
06:01in terms of filmmaking is hardly surprising.
06:04If anything, it's a little too sleek for a slasher flick.
06:07Fortunately, the screenplay was written with tremendous affection by franchise fans Damian
06:11Shannon and Mark Swift, who turned Jason Voorhees into a more hulking, brute-force predator
06:16than he was in the previous movies.
06:18In fact, this might be the only time outside of the final chapter that Jason has been truly
06:22scary.
06:23While the remake was a box office success, it failed to spawn a single sequel.
06:28David Cronenberg is responsible for more than his fair share of genre classics, including
06:32Scanners and Videodrome.
06:34But the filmmaker arguably gave us his crowning achievement in 1986 with his remake of The
06:39Fly.
06:40It's entirely possible that, without this remake, the original 1958 film might have
06:44run the risk of being buried by the sands of time.
06:47Cronenberg took the concept to another level and pulled precisely no punches, leaning into
06:52the horrific nature of the premise and giving us some of the greatest body horror and creature
06:56effects of all time.
06:57This serves to make his version at once unrelentingly engaging, yet difficult to watch.
07:02Jeff Goldblum anchors the film as scientist Seth Brundle, who is building a teleportation
07:07device.
07:08Even though his creation seemingly works, the unexpected inclusion of a fly during his
07:11first successful human test turns his dream into a nightmare.
07:15What follows is a gripping, heartbreaking, and disgusting tale as Brundle is slowly taken
07:20over by the fly's DNA, turning into a gigantic, hideous man-beast.
07:25Goldblum's performance certainly goes a long way to help elevate this film.
07:28Regina Davis, who plays Brundle's girlfriend Veronica, also deserves a tremendous deal
07:32of credit, as she has to follow him down this horrifying rabbit hole.
07:36Along with their stellar performances, some impressively disturbing visuals make this
07:40version of The Fly leaps and bounds better than its predecessor.
07:44In his 1960 film 13 Ghosts, William Castle invented Illusion-O, a way for audiences to
07:49see moments with ghosts in 3D using cellophane filter glasses.
07:54This required audiences to look through either the red or blue lenses at the same time.
07:58The red filter intensified the ghosts, and the blue filter let the audiences watch without
08:02the scare.
08:03It was a clever gimmick, and the only real reason to revisit 1960's 13 Ghosts today,
08:08because, as a whole, the film isn't particularly scary or well-crafted.
08:12As a result, Steve Beck's 2001 remake of 13 Ghosts is a far superior film.
08:17How close is it?
08:18Close enough to hurt you.
08:19Go, go, go!
08:22Drawing on the gimmicky energy of a William Castle flick, the ghosts in the remake are
08:26visible only when the characters wear special glasses.
08:29The addition of the Black Zodiac provided 13 of the scariest and most inventive ghost
08:33designs in horror history.
08:34The stakes feel real for all of the characters, simply because the ghosts look so believably
08:39menacing.
08:4013 Ghosts was greatly misunderstood at the time of release and panned by critics, but
08:44it's since garnered a cult following of diehard fans.
08:47The original 1947 film adaptation of the novel Nightmare Alley is akin to an impressive semi-functional
08:53prototype.
08:54Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro's 2021 remake is the fully realized device with all the
08:59bells and whistles.
09:00Neither film is bad, but the 2021 rendition is much more faithful to the source material.
09:05It also greatly benefits from the strides in special effects and cinematic boundary
09:09pushing that have transpired since the original was released in 1947.
09:13That said, del Toro's Nightmare Alley still manages to capture the visual spirit of film
09:17noir, with muted tones that create a sleek, foreboding ambiance throughout.
09:23I know you're no good."
09:28Del Toro's Nightmare Alley also functions more effectively as a cautionary tale about
09:32greed and deception.
09:33Conversely, the original film omits several more controversial plot details from the novel,
09:38like the tragically botched abortion.
09:40It also leaves out Stan's willingness to forgo all decency and perform spook shows against
09:45his mentor's warnings, which leads to the murder-suicide of a grieving couple.
09:49The remake also allows Molly to escape a fully corrupt Stan, whereas the original has
09:53her reappear in his life at his lowest point.
09:56This severely undermines Stan's descent to the most inferior rung in the freak show ladder.
10:01As del Toro proves only too well, sometimes unhappy endings are better.
10:06Most American remakes of Southeast Asian horror just aren't very good, but Gore Verbinski's
10:11The Ring is one of the few exceptions.
10:13While 2002's The Ring is extremely similar to Hideo Nakata's 1998 film Ringu, Verbinski
10:18added his own unique visual flair, and brought along a big Hollywood budget to make his version
10:23shine.
10:24You will die in seven days.
10:27Praising Verbinski's accomplishment is made all the more difficult, because the original
10:31film is also really, really good.
10:332002's The Ring could have been a shot-for-shot remake of Ringu, and still been somewhat brilliant
10:38because of its killer concept and execution.
10:40Instead, Verbinski traded Tokyo for Seattle and made his remake distinctly American, while
10:45still maintaining the universal themes of the original.
10:48Naomi Watts anchors the film as journalist Rachel Keller, who begins investigating the
10:52mysterious death of her teenage niece following a trip to a remote cabin.
10:56There she discovers the now-infamous cursed videotape that dooms its watchers to a horrific
11:00death within seven days of viewing.
11:03It goes without saying that The Ring is a glossy Hollywood version of its predecessor.
11:07Watts' performance as a woman balancing motherhood, her job, and her own desires is among her
11:11best.
11:12The only downside to the success of 2002's The Ring is that a slew of American remakes
11:17and sequels came in its wake, such as The Grudge, The Eye, and Shudder.
11:21Unfortunately, none of them would ever come close to the success of The Ring.
11:25The gelatinous menace of 1958 B-movie favorite The Blob is a lot creepier in theory than
11:31in execution.
11:32When it's first extracted from a meteorite by a curious old man, the creature only poses
11:36a threat to those who handle it with their own flesh, or who find themselves cornered
11:40in a windowless room.
11:41The gliding and sliding extraterrestrial becomes more concerning as it gets larger, via each
11:46person it consumes, but it's simply too slow to really scare anyone.
11:50Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont remedied this with their spiffy 1988 remake.
11:55Their Blob is an agile pink amoeba capable of firing off slimy tentacles that yank victims
12:00into its corrosive core.
12:01Basically, their Blob means business.
12:041988's Blob is also a biological weapon created by the U.S. military, which was launched into
12:09space when it proved lethal to all of humanity.
12:12Unfortunately, what went up came back down, and started feasting on the inhabitants of
12:16idyllic Arborville, California.
12:18The film zips through the pseudoscientific exposition and keeps viewers on their toes
12:22by killing off some of the film's most likable characters early on.
12:26Strangely, Tony Gardner's monster is less memorable than its kills.
12:29Then again, there's only so much one can do with a murderous mass of jelly.
12:33As a result, it's probably best to showcase just how truly nasty it is to get caught in
12:37the Blob's skin-and-bone-dissolving clutches.
12:40While the movie leaves open the potential for a sequel, the Blob was, sadly, an unmitigated
12:44commercial disaster for TriStar.
12:47The 2005 slasher House of Wax has barely any similarities to the 1953 original, starring
12:53Vincent Price.
12:54And this is absolutely to the benefit of Jaume Collet-Serra's updated interpretation.
12:58The original, also a remake of 1933's Mystery of the Wax Museum, was a landmark film in
13:03horror history, as the very first color 3D feature film from a major American studio.
13:09But what makes 2005's House of Wax such a fantastic remake is that director Collet-Serra
13:14leaned into the tropes of the 2000 slasher boom, and wasn't afraid to revel in the ones
13:18that would define the era.
13:19The film was famous for its See Paris Die marketing campaign, a reference to the promised
13:24death of a character played by Paris Hilton.
13:26My mom was like, oh, that was really weird seeing my daughter, like, killed, but…
13:31A cast featuring popular teen stars of the time, such as Chad Michael Murray from One
13:35Tree Hill, also bolstered interest in the film.
13:38As a result, this solidified House of Wax as one of the strongest time capsule films
13:42to capture the decade.
13:44Compared to the original, the 2005 slasher is a lean, mean, face-ripping machine, and
13:49a grotesquely stunning presentation of how digital effects can be used to enhance the
13:53terror of practical creations.
13:56The 2020 remake of The Invisible Man is unlike the 1933 original in every way, aside from
14:01the fact that it features an invisible man.
14:04And he's a horrible person.
14:05The original is the classic tale of a scientist who gets more than he bargained for and is
14:09driven mad as a result.
14:11Meanwhile, the remake is a harrowing psychological thriller featuring a woman's efforts to escape
14:15an abusive ex.
14:17Although the original is good, the remake is better, as it's more relatable and compelling.
14:22Each movie requires a generous suspension of disbelief, but there's something a bit
14:25more believable about the 2020 version.
14:28For one, in 2020's The Invisible Man, the horror is not merely derived from the concept
14:32of an invisible madman.
14:34Instead, viewers are subjected to the intensely emotional and psychological torment inflicted
14:38upon Cecilia, played by Elizabeth Moss throughout the film.
14:42Director Lee Whannell's 2020 remake amps up the horror by having everyone doubt Cecilia's
14:46claims that she's being stalked by an invisible man.
14:49This in turn makes everyone question Cecilia's sanity, leaving her all alone to deal with
14:53an unseen and seemingly omnipresent threat.
14:56Moss' character is forced to face abuse, harassment, and accusations of crimes and misdeeds she
15:01didn't commit.
15:02The fact that no one believes her is pretty terrifying in its own right, so the invisibility
15:06aspect functions as an extra shot of espresso in an already terrifying movie.
15:11The 2020 remake ends with revenge, while the original does not contain any sort of meaningful
15:15or satisfying catharsis.
15:17Finally, the remake is more engaging because the viewers are pulled into an intimacy with
15:21the film's protagonist, as the audience is the only other party privy to her ex's sadistic
15:25games.
15:27Throughout The Invisible Man, viewers share in Cecilia's frustration, helplessness, and
15:31rage, and root for her to finally escape from the clutches of an invisible maniac.
15:36Which horror remakes completely ignored what made their originals special?
15:40Ever heard of A Nightmare on Elm Street or Day of the Dead?
15:43Keep watching to learn more about the worst horror remakes of all time.
15:48Robert Harmon's queasy 1986 thriller The Hitcher pitted Rutger Hauer against C. Thomas Howell,
15:55and it was surprisingly wonderful.
15:57This 2007 remake trades in the things that made the 1986 film unique, including some
16:02not-so-subtle queer subtext for a boring chase movie.
16:06Sean Bean is pretty good as the murderous Hitcher, but he can't hold a candle to Rutger
16:10Hauer's almost otherworldly performance.
16:13Do you like point-and-shoot movies where the director just sets up their camera, lets it
16:17roll, and then knocks off a bit for a nap while the actors do their thing?
16:21If so, you'll probably love The Hitcher.
16:23The film's director, Dave Myers, has never made another feature film after this, and
16:28that's not surprising at all.
16:30The 1979 When a Stranger Calls is another one of those films that isn't exactly great,
16:36but has a lot of charm.
16:37The film takes the urban legend about prank calls coming from inside the house and turns
16:42it into a concise little thriller.
16:44The 2006 remake from Con Air director Simon West is just an excuse to crank the soundtrack
16:49up with loud noises, with the hopes of making tweens squirm in their seats.
16:54The original film may be a bit tame in terms of gore, but it's also got some real frights
16:58to it.
16:59The remake, on the other hand, is completely toothless.
17:03There's nothing the 2006 version of When a Stranger Calls likes to do more than fake
17:07out its audience with unfocused shots and musical cues.
17:11There's nothing here that even approaches frightening or even tense, but the soundtrack
17:15insists on treating every mundane object like a monster in hiding.
17:19Editing like this is the easiest way to take all of the bite out of your horror movie.
17:25Wes Craven's original A Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror classic, and rightfully so.
17:29Freddy Krueger, the dream-stalking boogeyman with the iconic razor claw, is one of the
17:34most recognizable monsters in the horror world.
17:37The Freddy Krueger Craven created is an odious, unsympathetic monster who likes to toy with
17:41his victims.
17:43The 2010 remake, on the other hand, thought it would be a good idea to make it seem like
17:46Freddy was a sympathetic character to be pitied, only to change their mind at the last minute.
17:52Spoiler alert, it doesn't work at all.
17:55Try as he might, Jackie Earl Haley just can't make his version of Freddy scary.
18:00"...in your dream."
18:05Rooney Mara is a great actress, but it's easy to understand why she hated working on Nightmare
18:10so much that she considered leaving acting altogether.
18:13Her take on Ultimate Final Girl Nancy is an utter snooze.
18:17Maybe since the character is supposed to be sleep-deprived, Mara intentionally played
18:21her as if she's a zombie.
18:23Or maybe she was just so bored with the role, she didn't even bother to emote.
18:27Either way, it doesn't work.
18:28The end result lacks all the goofiness and charm that made the original franchise so
18:33popular.
18:35Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House was adapted into a sparse, super-creepy film
18:38by Robert Wise in 1963.
18:41It's subtle, psychological, and effective, and it continues to be an underappreciated
18:45horror classic.
18:46The 1999 remake from Speed director Jan de Bont is none of those things.
18:52De Bont's The Haunting thinks more is better, and overloads itself with big, loud special
18:57effects, including a skeleton that jumps out of a fireplace and a giant swinging pendulum
19:02that knocks Owen Wilson's head clean off.
19:05While Jackson's book and Wise's film were all about the psychological elements of horror,
19:09the remake just wants to scream boo as loud as it can.
19:13Even if de Bont hadn't been building off of the subtle original, this film simply fails
19:17on its own.
19:18There's nothing scary about a skeleton that jumps out of a fireplace.
19:21There just isn't.
19:23De Bont is an action filmmaker, and The Haunting is shot like an action movie rather than a
19:27horror film.
19:28Lily Taylor, who's normally a fantastic actress, was apparently ill-equipped to work in such
19:33a special effects-driven feature, having come from a primarily indie background, and
19:37it shows.
19:39She seems especially lost among all the bells and whistles of this junkie feature.
19:44John Carpenter's The Thing is a remake itself, but it's the perfect example of exactly what
19:48a remake should be.
19:50The remake of Carpenter's film, 2011's The Thing, is not.
19:55Some defenders of the 2011 version make the argument that it's technically a prequel,
20:00but it's hard to deny that it's pretty much a remake since they share the exact same name.
20:04While The Thing has some of the most mind-blowing special effects in horror history, the 2011
20:09version is chock-full of terrible CGI, none of which comes anywhere close to the original.
20:15What made the Carpenter film so disturbing was the fact that the practical effects really
20:19made it seem like it was all happening.
20:21Here, everything looks like a cartoon.
20:23A story like this which involves a team of isolated scientists trapped in a claustrophobic
20:28space with an alien life form should seem, well, claustrophobic.
20:33Instead, director Matthias von Heningen Jr. shoots everything wide, making the film feel
20:38like it was shot on a Hollywood backlot set rather than the remote Antarctic.
20:43There are some good actors in this film, like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but none of them
20:47seem to know what they're doing.
20:48Instead, these characters, who are supposed to have been isolated together for months,
20:52have zero chemistry together.
20:54Compared to Kurt Russell and his compatriots, the difference is night and day.
20:59John Carpenter's The Fog is a moody New England ghost story, a spooky tale dripping with atmosphere
21:04and charm.
21:06Carpenter himself wasn't thrilled with the final product when it came out in 1980, but
21:10it's since grown into one of his classics.
21:12Since all Carpenter films seem doomed to be remade, and since Carpenter himself loves
21:17getting those remake paychecks, a remake of The Fog hit theaters in 2005.
21:22This new take on The Fog trades Carpenter's simple, in-camera effects for dumb CGI.
21:27Also, there's a scene where a monster hand comes out of a drain and turns an old woman
21:32into a skeleton.
21:33How spooky!
21:34Wait, no, it's pretty dumb.
21:37Pirate ghosts who come out of an unearthly fog to seek bloody vengeance should be an
21:41easy home run, as far as storytelling goes.
21:44Unfortunately, this remake doesn't even get that right, and adds some nonsense about reincarnation
21:49to the plot instead.
21:51All of the actors here are dreadful, especially Tom Welling, who looks and acts like a plank
21:56of wood from Home Depot in a flannel shirt.
21:58Oh, I can't help that, can I?
22:01Oh boy, where to even start?
22:04Robin Hardy's 1973 feature The Wicker Man is an eerie, sun-dappled bad dream, equal
22:10parts ominous and surreal.
22:12Neil LaButte's 2006 remake is none of those things.
22:16LaButte takes Hardy's film and turns it into some sort of gonzo thriller, with Nicolas
22:21Cage running around the movie as if he's on a Coke binge.
22:24Moreover, he's just run out of Coke, and he can't find the car keys he needs to go drive
22:28somewhere to buy more Coke.
22:29Oh, there's something about bees, too, which is… whatever.
22:33It doesn't matter.
22:35While The Wicker Man certainly isn't a good movie, it's easy to admire just how goofy
22:39it is, and how committed Cage is to his freaky-deaky performance.
22:43That said, the film is a mess, and even though Cage and LaButte have tried to claim they
22:48were intentionally trying to make the movie funny, no one's actually buying it.
22:51The central mystery here, with Cage looking for a missing girl, never works.
22:56And as fun as it is to watch the actor behave like a loon, it just doesn't really make sense
23:00in the context of the film.
23:02Eli Roth's cabin fever has aged badly for a few reasons.
23:06Most of all, the humor.
23:08Oh, Lord, don't drop that, I tell you what.
23:10If you do, that's powerful stuff.
23:12All the foxes in this community will come down here.
23:15Still, Roth had a clear vision in mind, and worked hard to create a memorable gross-out
23:20horror flick.
23:21Then, for some strange reason, Roth's 2002 film was remade in 2016.
23:28Roth may not be that great of a filmmaker, but he's an auteur when compared to the 2016
23:33remake's director, Travis Zerouni.
23:35This film feels like Zerouni watched Roth's film and said,
23:38"'Let's remake that, but with no budget or skill.'"
23:41Even the gross-out gags, which are pretty much the only good parts of the original,
23:45are watered down and poorly put together.
23:47The cast, made up of actors you've never heard of and will likely never see again, seem ill-equipped
23:52to carry your luggage from a hotel front desk to the elevator, let alone star in a movie.
23:57Shot with all the grace of a local used car lot commercial, Zerouni's Cabin Fever is one
24:02of the ugliest-looking movies ever made.
24:05After the surprising success of the Dawn of the Dead remake in 2004, a Day of the Dead
24:09remake seemed inevitable.
24:11Unfortunately, when we got one in 2008, it was embarrassingly bad.
24:16As is the case with all of George Romero's zombie films, the original Day of the Dead
24:20was more of a reflection on humanity than a portrait of the undead.
24:24On the other hand, the remake just wants to throw a bunch of over-the-top ghouls in your
24:28face for 86 minutes, until you have a headache and want to take a nap.
24:32The original film featured Bub, a fascinating zombie character who's slowly learning to
24:36be human again.
24:38The remake gives us Bud instead, a character who keeps stressing he's a vegetarian, which
24:43leads to the predictable gag that he doesn't eat humans once he's zombified.
24:47There's nothing even remotely enjoyable about this.
24:50It's neither good nor so bad it's good.
24:53It exists solely to cash in on its famous title, which is the worst thing a remake can
24:57do.