Remakes today aren’t as hated as they once were. In fact, movies have been going through remakes since the dawn of cinema. They usually went for an artist’s revision and eventual adaptation of the previous work. Even Hitchcock did it withThe Man Who Knew Too Muchand ended up making a far better film. It provedhis films can be remade, as blasphemous as that sounds.
However, as we entered the ’90s, Hollywood’s fascination with modern adaptations seemed to take a step forward. Scorsese’sCape Fearwas a good example of modernizing something that perhaps needed to be readapted, and even then, the film — by one of cinema’s most important directors — was divisive.
Perhaps the key was adapting a film that was more obscure. After all, how many young viewers in the ’90s knew thatFather of the Bridewas a remake? The problem was when the movie was a revision of a classic. That’s when the trend started to be seen as a stain. Films likeThe HauntingorDiaboliqueweren’t hits, and Hollywood started to get the message — though it’staking a long time to sink in.
While the remake craze hasn’t exactly stopped andsome studios are trying to readapt classics(with horrendous results), some reboots and remakes are especially bad, because they lost sight of the point of the original work. Here are 15 film and TV show remakes that absolutely missed the point.
15Bel-Air (TV Show, 2022 — Ongoing)
In 2019, Morgan Cooper uploaded a video on YouTube that would change his life. It was a trailer for a more dramatic and definitely darker version of the sitcomThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the ’90s show starring Will Smith, about a young man who moves with his family from Los Angeles, where cultures collide. Cooper’s video was so well received that NBC has made a dramatic version of the show.
Here is Morgan Coopers trailer that inspired the show:
Too Distant From the Original
Bel-Airis great proof that some products need to remain untouched. Whileit hasn’t exactly been pannedby critics and audiences, the remake isn’t exactly a remake, given how it gets rid of the comedy element to observe more relevant themes like culture shock and racism.
The problem is that the drama and seriousness is both the show’s strength and it’s weakness. It is so far removed from the original that it might as well be an unconnected show. Trying to bridge the large gap between the new serious characters and their old comedy counterparts is too much of a stretch in most cases, leaving audiences wondering why the show is connected to the originalThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Airat all.
Stream Bel-Air on Peacock Premium
14The Fog (2005)
The Fogis a remake of John Carpenter’s 1980 ghost film, and it tells the story of the residents of Antonio Island as they prepare for annual festivities, when a lurking fog arrives at the shore and brings some violent entities with it. It seems that the founders of America weren’t exactly good people, and the ghosts of their victims are back for revenge. The film starred notable 2000s actors like Tom Welling, Selma Blair, and Maggie Grace.
Surprisingly Boring and Generic
The film belongs to a slew of horror remakes from the 2000s that everyone preferred to forget in a matter of days. While the special effects are good, the film is just a boring iteration of bad acting, jump scares that aren’t very frightening, and a story that hardly makes sense. It’s a horrible example ofa horror remakethat feels like a waste of money today.
Rent The Fog on Prime Video
13Amazing Stories (TV Show, 2020)
Amazing Stories
In the slew of original programming that Apple TV+ released during its first year,Amazing Storieswas their only adaptation. After spending some time in development hell, the return of the series created by Steven Spielberg in the ’80s was a fact. The anthology show consisted of short features that revolved around horror and sci-fi stories inspired by the 1920s magazine of the same name.
It was produced by Spielberg, andhis touch was felt throughout the entire run. Those who remembered the classic show were eagerly waiting to see what would happen with the reboot.
A Generic Sci-Fi Show
The result was a mess that was canceled pretty quickly. It only brought back the musical theme by John Williams, and not much more. The stories felt intricate and too convoluted, and people weren’t engaged with the generic aspect of the show. This time, Spielberg’s nostalgic touch was out of the picture, and instead, audiences were delivered an inconsistent disaster that felt extremely experimental and has since been forgotten by most.
Stream on Apple TV+
12Carrie (2013)
Carrie, a shy and bullied girl, discovers she may be different from other people. Her excessively religious mother does not help her and simply implies that Carrie is a product of sin. When her classmates design the perfect plan to attack Carrie during the prom dance, she reacts, and her telekinetic powers become the ultimate weapon against those who have always attacked her.
Related:15 Dated Stephen King Movies That Need a Modern Remake
Misunderstanding an Icon
With 2013 seeing some incredible remakes come out,Carriewas, in a way, inevitable. And if you’re going to remake a classic film, what better than to be inspired by what worked in the past? While de Palma’s original film feels grounded and organic (except for that terrible scene in the store), the film by Kimberly Peirce feels like a re-imagining of the concept itself.
Stephen King’s novel is short, and there aren’t many things to take from it, but this modern adaptation simply feels like an overexposed version of the character of Carrie. In the past, she was a victim of her own power, an uncontrolled power that she was finally able to grasp when targeting those who hurt her. In the 2013 remake, Carrie feels like an X-Men mutant throwing rays at everyone.
Stream Carrie on Max
11Charlie’s Angels (TV Show, 2011)
Charlie’s Angelswas inspired by the ’70s show of the same name, and it told the story of three female criminals who are offered a chance at redemption: they can be free to fight crime if they start working for a mysterious entity that will assign them missions while staying in the dark. Kate, Eve, and Abby accept, and the rest is anything but history.
Uninspired Buddy Cop TV Show
The 2011 version ofCharlie’s Angelswas a horrible endeavor by ABC to bring back a concept that simply isn’t feasible today. It was so poorly received that it was canceled after four episodes aired, and the last one wasn’t even broadcast on television. It was badly written, and it seemed to take itself seriously where it shouldn’t have.
Stream Charlie’s Angels on The Roku Channel
10Black Christmas (2019)
Black Christmas
2019’s version ofBlack Christmasis pretty different from Bob Clark’s classic ’70s film. In this modern version, female college students are being stalked and hunted by a masked killer on campus. When a group starts investigating, they realize it may have something to do with theiralma materand decide to do something about it. The film wasn’t well received by audiences and critics, and was considered a generic adaptation at best.
A Modified Version of an Underrated Classic
The1974 classic horror filmhad already been remade once in 2006 with terrible results. For some reason, Jason Blum decided, through Blumhouse Productions, to remake the film again, but with another premise that’s loosely based on Clark’s classic. People didn’t exactly understand this, and with horrible prejudice, they hated the film before it even premiered.
Black Christmasisn’t exactly a terrible film, but it feels like it should have had a different title. Ironically, if it hadn’t been marketed as a remake and had gone straight to a streaming platform, it probably would have been more successful.
Stream Black Christmas on Netflix
9The Twilight Zone (TV Show, 2019 — 2020)
The Twilight Zone
In 2019, CBS released the revival of the classic TV showThe Twilight Zoneon their streaming service, CBS All Access. With modern horror visionaryJordan Peele behind the production, nothing could go wrong — right?
The result was inconsistent, and far from scary. With only a couple of notable episodes, the modern version ofThe Twilight Zonewas canceled after two seasons. This was the third attempt to modernize the ’50s show.
Related:Should Star Wars Be Rebooted?
Missing the Essence of Rod Serling’s Television Classic
The Twilight Zonehas some high-concept episodes that are genuinely good. But in general, it has inconsistent screenwriting, something that Rod Serling would never have permitted. The 1950s show was thoroughly supervised by its producer, writer, and narrator, and while he accepted collaborations, Serling made sure it all fit under his creative umbrella.
The 2019 version feels like an experiment with varied results that audiences were supposed to like because it was a revival of a genre show that everyone loves. With more of a creative force behind it (perhaps if Peele had had more involvement), it might have worked, but sadly, it didn’t.
Stream The Twilight Zone on Freevee
8Oldboy (2013)
Oldboyis the story of Joe Doucett, a man who, after passing out from a drinking rampage, gets kidnapped and put in a hotel room. Strange men start feeding him and providing everything he needs. After 20 years of imprisonment, Doucett gets released, and he must find out why it all happened.
Readapting a Modern Classic
Not many people know that it was actually Spike Lee who directed the modern remake of the South Korean classic thrillerOldboy. While the film isn’t exactlyone of Lee’s best, it’s actually not a bad movie. It’s just… unnecessary.
The original Asian thriller is just extraordinary. Lee’s film feels he needed to knock down some cultural elements and justify a story for Western audiences. This one shows thatParasite’sdirector, Bong Joon-ho, was actually right when he said Americans shouldn’t be afraid of subtitles.
Rent Oldboy on Prime Video
7Poltergeist (2015)
Poltergeisttells the story of the Bowens, a family who move to a new home in the suburbs. Eric and Amy, and their children Kendra, Griffin, and Madison, are shocked when they start hearing strange noises during their first night in the house.
Eventually, Madison starts talking to people in the TV, and she gets snatched and taken to another realm. The Bowens seek the help of scientists and other paranormal investigators to get Madison back, but the ones holding the child captive won’t let go easily.
It Doesn’t Even Try to Replicate What Worked
The remake ofPoltergeistactually took a long time to arrive, but this doesn’t mean it didn’t spend time in development hell. It seems that everyone took it as a bad idea to reboot a film that was so iconic and so popular. And when it eventually arrived, it suffered absolute hatred from critics and audiences.
The 2015 film is a blatant collection of jump scares that simply don’t work for modern audiences. The use of technology as a plot device, the exposure of a world that was better left unrevealed, and the complete misunderstanding of the essence of the first film made it a movie that not many people remember today.
Would it have been better as a shot-for-shot remake of the first film (an idea that was actually discussed at some point)? Who knows. But thisdidn’t stop MGM from planning a TV seriesthat is currently being produced.
Rent Poltergeist on Prime Video
6Psycho (1998)
And speaking of shot-for-shot remakes, Gus Van Sant’s much-maligned remake of Hitchcock’sPsychohad to be included on this list. In the film, Marion Crane steals a large amount of cash and, while on the run, attempts to rest for the night at a roadside motel.
The problem is the hotel is managed by Norman Bates with the help of his mother, and Marion gets murdered while taking a shower. When her sister and her lover start investigating Marion’s disappearance, they arrive at the Bates Motel and discover a horrible reality.
Art for Some, Blasphemy for Others
Psychofeels like a tribute. And that isn’t actually a bad thing. The problem is that some tributes are anything but necessary. In the case of Van Sant’s film, people didn’t exactly associate it with an homage. It was shot using the same script by Joseph Stefano, and the score by Bernard Herrmann is used all throughout the film.
Nevertheless, the movie missed the texture and organic sense of Hitchcock’s slasher. Van Sant’sPsychofeels like an attemptat arthouse horrorthat was sadly misunderstood by everyone back in the day. What’s undeniable is that the performances are terrible, which is a shame, considering it starred such famous actors as William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Anne Heche, and Viggo Mortensen.
