Horror remakes often get a bad rap. For fans, nothing draws ire as fast as a remake announcement of a highly regarded original. But while there have been plenty of maligned horror remakes over the years, there’s also been a significant number of fantastic movies that reworked genre favorites. Some of which even managed to eclipse the original, like 1986’s The Fly or 1982’s The Thing.
This week’s streaming picks highlight worthwhile remakes; some you may not have even realized are remakes.
As always, here’s where you can stream them right now…
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
House on Haunted Hill – Hoopla, Tubi
Dark Castle Entertainment launched with a remake of William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill. Penned by Dick Beebe from Robb White’s original 1959 story and directed by William Malone, the 1999 remake relocated to a foreboding psychiatric hospital for its haunted setting. This time the ghosts were very real and very vengeful. Look for Jeffrey Combs as the institute’s head ghost, and a very inspired performance by Geoffrey Rush, taking over for Vincent Price. The sprawling, impressive set pieces, eerie ghost designs, and a lot of blood set the bar high for Dark Castle.
The Call – Netflix
The Call is a South Korean remake of 2011’s The Caller. In 2019, Kim Seo-yeon lost her phone while visiting her sick mom. In her attempts to find it, she uses an old cordless phone found at her childhood home and winds up receiving a call from a distressed young woman, Oh Young-sook, being tortured by her mother. The more the pair talk, Seo-yeon realizes that Young-sook has been living in the same house, but from 1999. The women use the bizarre gap in time to their advantage until Seo-yeon realizes far too late how dangerous her new friend is. The Call is a twisty time-bending thriller full of heart and suspense. And blood, of course.
We Are What We Are – Pluto TV, Tubi, Vudu
From the director of Stake Land, Jim Mickle, and co-written with its star Nick Damici, this remake tackles the 2010 Mexican film. It follows the reclusive Parker family, a religious bunch that follows ancient customs, including ritual fasting and feasting. Their mother’s unexpected death forces Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner) to assume responsibilities no normal has to endure. This remake is a slow build of unsettling horrors and gives a unique approach to cannibalism. It also stars Bill Sage, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis, and Michael Parks. Parks’ performance as a man suspicious of the family after his daughter’s disappearance would be worth the watch alone, but the gruesome climax more than pays off the meditative depiction of religious fervor.
Satan’s Slaves – AMC+, Shudder
A loose remake/prequel of the 1980 Indonesian horror film, writer/director Joko Anwar brings the unrelenting scares. Set in a remote home, a family struggles to survive after mom Mawarni Suwono’s long battle with illness dried up all the royalties from her once-lucrative music career. Her death triggers a series of supernatural occurrences suggesting that perhaps mom made a deal with the Devil, and he’s come to collect. The isolated setting, the atmosphere, and the endless barrage of frights make this a compelling haunted house tale that’ll deliver the chills.
Maniac – Tubi
This remake of the 1980 film dials up the sympathy for Frank Zito, thanks to a far meeker rendition by Elijah Wood. Frank is a troubled individual with a traumatic past and tends to scalp women to keep his one happy childhood memory alive. Enter Anna, a photographer with whom Frank is so smitten that he attempts to get his act together. Too bad this is a horror movie, and a happily ever after isn’t on the menu for these surprisingly sweet characters. Frank Zito commits heinous acts, yet you desperately want him to find the help he needs. This remake also takes the killer’s perspective literally, framing everything from Frank’s point of view.
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