About horror movie remakes.

[harrycanyon]

Not all suck, you have to know that some are great/good or decent/fair or some are terrible like that Psycho remake. The upcoming remakes of The Crazies with Wolfman and Pirahna 3D look all promising and Elm Street i have mixed feelings about.

What do you all think of the following remakes of the genre?

The Thing.
The Fly.
The Blob.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Dawn of the Dead.
Night of the Living Dead 1990.
Cat People.
The Hills Have Eyes.
Toolbox Murders.
2001 Maniacs.
Last House on The Left.
The Ring.
King Kong.
Little Shop of Horrors.
The Mummy.
Wizard of Gore.
2001 Maniacs.
Halloween.
Friday The 13th.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The Amityville Horror.
Willard.

[joike]

Here's my brief opinions on what I've seen:
I have to say I like the remake of The Thing better than the original. Just watched that again a couple weeks ago and everyone in the room agreed the effects still stand up today.
I like both versions of The Fly for different reasons. The original was pretty creepy but the remake had a more interesting story to me. Jeff Goldblum being nearly naked didn't hurt it for me either ;D.
I've only seen part of The Blob and not the remake so can't comment there. I enjoyed what I saw though.
Body Snatchers is about the same feelings as The Fly (although Jeff Goldblum wasn't naked). Body Snatchers was a good creepy movie with an ending that I wasn't expecting. Donald Sutherland was great.
I prefer the original Dawn of the Dead to the remake. The remake is too much like most modern horror movies, going more for the scare that makes you jump or gross you out over plot. The original is much more re-watchable.
Haven't seen the Living Dead remake. The original is perfect so I never felt the urge to see a remake.
Cat People I've only seen the remake. Didn't make much of an impression.
The original Hills Have Eyes is a lot better than the remake. Didn't like the remake for same reasons as Dawn of the Dead. However, the remake was a bit scarier as far as makeup effects go!
I refuse to see the remake of Last House on the Left. I love the original and it was done perfectly. I've heard how the remake goes and just have no interest in it.
Another case where I like both for different reasons- The Ring and Ringu. Ringu is great as a creepy, suspenseful movie. The Ring went a bit more for effects-related scares. So both were scary for different reasons. That seems to happen with most foreign movies that get remade for an American audience (like Dark Water and The Grudge).
I was never a fan of the original Halloween. I appreciate it for what it was and enjoy parts of it but it just bores me. The remake didn't really have boring parts but just came off as a typical modern slasher movie.
I also adore the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I've seen it a few times. I watched the remake once and hated it. The acting was horrible and again it was going for the cheap scare.
The original Amityville Horror was a lot creepier. The remake relied too much on CGI and the ending was just awful. The book scared me a lot more than the movie as a kid.
Friday the 13th I've only seen the original. Not sure I want to see the remake.
2000 Maniacs only seen the original and I liked it (might have seen that the same night I saw The Crazies).
Willard I've only seen the remake because I'm a Crispin Glover fan. It wasn't as bad as everyone said. Crispin Glover was perfect for that role.
Mummy & King Kong I've only seen the remakes. I've seen bits of the original King Kong though. They weren't bad movies.
Little Shop of Horrors I only saw the remake. I own the original (and the Rifftrax) so I'll get around to watching it eventually!
I also have mixed feelings on the Elm Street remake. I love the originals. I might check it out on Netflix or if a group of my friends goes to the theater.
Whew!

[Torgo]

The Thing. - Mediocre
The Fly. - Terrible
The Blob. - Lame
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. - Didn't see
Dawn of the Dead. - Overrated
Night of the Living Dead 1990. - Sucked
Cat People. - Didn't see
The Hills Have Eyes. - Just plain tasteless
Toolbox Murders. - Never heard of
2001 Maniacs. - Never heard of
Last House on The Left. - Didn't see
The Ring. - The original was terrible, but this was worse
King Kong. - Decent, but not a horror film
Little Shop of Horrors. - I adore this one
The Mummy. - Lots of fun
Wizard of Gore. - Didn't see
2001 Maniacs. - You already listed this one
Halloween. - I thought it was good, the original is better
Friday The 13th. - Better than the original. Not hard considering the original is one of the worst movies ever made
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. - Better than the original
The Amityville Horror. - I don't really remember a thing about it
Willard. - Didn't see

[MonsterX]

I think that remakes should only be made when the people involved really think they can improve the film they are remaking, or if they have an idea to approach the original concept in a cool and unique way. (I feel the same way about remakes of songs too.) That being said sometimes horror remakes can be surprisingly good, but more often that not they suck ass.

The Thing. – Good movie, I prefer the original but I like how they did something different with it.
The Fly. – Kind of meh. This is a movie I feel like I should like but I cant get into. The original is ok.
The Blob. – I actually like this remake.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. – I’ve seen a couple remakes in bits and pieces but never all the way through. I know it’s a sci/fi classic but Invasion was never one of my favorite to begin with.
Dawn of the Dead – You can’t improve on perfection. Didn’t bother with it.
Night of the Living Dead 1990. – The original is my all time favorite movie. The remake is just meh.
Cat People. – I’m kind of indifferent on this one.
The Hills Have Eyes. – Never saw it.
Toolbox Murders. – Never saw the original but I liked the remake in a “fun, stupid monster movie” sort of way.
2001 Maniacs. – Never seen.
Last House on The Left. Didn’t see the remake. The original is interesting as a product of its time, but I wouldn’t call it a good movie be any means.
The Ring. – Didn’t see the original, really liked the remake.
King Kong. – The original is one of the best movies ever. The remake was too long and it went over the top at every opportunity. I was disappointed.
Little Shop of Horrors. – Not my cup of tea, but a fun movie. Check out the alternate ending on youtube where the plants destroy the world.
The Mummy. – Crap.
Wizard of Gore. – I need to see this.
2001 Maniacs. – Didn’t see.
Halloween. – The original is brilliant. I don’t hate myself so I’m not going to see the remake.
Friday The 13th. – I heard bad things from the reviewers I trust so I didn’t waste my time with the remake.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. – Not interested.
The Amityville Horror. – All I remember is the super hot baby sitter.
Willard. – I really dug the remake. Crispin Glover rocks.

[GProopdog]

The Thing: John Carpenter + Kurt Russell + The Special Effects = Win
The Fly: Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis were pretty darn good, and again, special effects were cool.
The Blob: the 80's version had some good scary moments, but to me, nothing beats the campy thrill of the original
Dawn of the Dead: 1978 version wins out over the remake every day of the week.
Night of the Living Dead 1990: Like DotD, original wins out over remake.
King Kong: Original.....nuff said.
Little Shop of Horrors: I liked the 80's remake. Rick Moranis *was* Seymour, Bill Murray stole the show with a hilarious cameo, Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II was about 20 different kinds of win, and the music (albeit from the musical of course) was spectacular.
Halloween: Original, nuff said. Rob Zombie has nothing on John Carpenter.
Friday The 13th: Original, the remake got a little too much like a softcore porn film at times.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Original by a mile.

[Crowfan]

As an avid watcher of horror films, I'll chime in. First of all, I'd like to say that if a movie(and this goes for any movie, not just horror), can be re-made and done better then I'm all for it. If you're simply going to re-make the same crap, and not give any new stuff, ie Prom Night, don't bother.

The Thing--I enjoyed the remake more. Very claustrophobic and great special effects.

The Fly--I liked the original, although the remake had some very good moments

The Blob---the original by a mile

Dawn Of The Dead-- I prefer the original

King Kong--original

Little Shop Of Horrors---the remake was great

Halloween---original by a mile. Rob Zombie making Michael a typical serial killer didn't make it scary at all.

Hills Have Eyes---I liked the remake a bit more than the original

Last House On The Left---I HATED the original, so I didn't bother with the remake

2001 Maniacs--I preferred the original about a Southern town wiped out by the Union Army coming back for revenge every 100 years. The remake was a group of bratty college kids getting killed and really you wanted them to die.

Toolbox Murders--have only seen the original which was pretty gory and violent.

Friday The 13th---I'm copping out cause I liked them both

My Bloody Valentine---also liked both. The 3-D in the remake was AWESOME

Willard--have only seen the original and that was creepy.