Upcoming Horror Movie Remakes in the Works



Chopping Mall

The original 1986 movie version was about eight teenagers who sneak and stay in the high-tech mall overnight to be chased by three robotic guards who are out-of-control killers. 

The new remake is in development now and the plot hasn't been released, other than to say it's the same concept. 

This movie was such a cult market, that I'm surprised they would decide to remake it, but the concept was rather original for the 80s when most killers were immortal dudes with masks. I don't have any real issues with a remake, but I do hope it's straight to DVD, because I don't think even the original was a big dazzler at the theater in the 80s and the height of movies about malls and slashers. 




Flatliners

This 1990 movie had a nice star lineup and was well done and a bit disturbing. What would happen if med studies took one of their group to the dead state and removed him to bring him back to tell what he experienced? Well, this group finds out one by one that some lines should not be crossed.

The new remake has the same concept and is in development. No talk yet of the stars in it or more details on the plot variations. It has brought on a director who has another piece of work under his belt that shows promise this should at least be quality, as he did "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

I liked the original but I found it a bit depressing and disturbing. Some movies you just don't watch a second time and for me this was one of them. I don't expect light and happy on this kind of subject matter, but it seemed more of a psychological thriller than a true horror. I'm not sure what I'd like to see in a remake except perhaps more horror, less characters with dark histories.




Hell Night

I loved this 1981 movie. It's in my collection and one of my 80s favs. A group of pledges for a sorority and a fraternity are forced to spend a night in a haunted evil mansion, locked down to stay until dawn. It had a great cast and, although it was in the slasher genre, it was also dark and creepy. I just loved the house, candles, being locked into the spooky gardens, and crawlspaces....

The remake is in talks now, not in production yet. 

I am excited actually about some 80s remakes, but then part of the charm of the 80s films is the time period they were filmed in. Doing a remake now would involve a different kind of young adult, cell phones, and technology. It just wouldn't have that same "easy to be stranded" feel. I might give it a watch if reviews come in that sound favorable, but I find it hard to believe you could beat the original unless they make the house super badass scary and twisting, dark and spooky and the teens not too annoying and stupid. 




It

This 1990s Stephen King miniseries was a hit. It brought Pennywise, our childhood worst fear (clown) and gave him teeth. It had a great cast, had that nostalgic childhood friends reunite feel that King is so good at portraying, and gave them a common goal to kill the evil beast a second time!

The remake of this series is in pre-production now with basically the same plot.

Some things just shouldn't be remade, at least movies with a nostalgic feel in a certain time period. I would not remake this one, nor would I remake movies like Salem's Lot.




Poltergeist

This 1982 film had to do with a family that had the misfortune of moving into a tract home in a new development that was hastily built over a cemetery (without removing the bodies). The haunting takes on a dark turn and the ghosts take their daughter to the other side.

The remake of this one is awaiting release. This version is said to be an updated revision that is takes on its own style. Sam Raimi has his name on this one, so I suspect he will give it a good shot at being individual. 

I liked the original a lot. Who doesn't? But, I could see a remake if it were a little less tongue-in-cheek. The original's humor fell flat on me in a lot of ways and the daughter caught in the other world was a bit maudlin. I wouldn't mind just seeing a hardcore holy-hell-my-house-is-haunted feel. 





The Changeling

This 1980 film is one of my all-time favs in the ghost category. A widower who lost his wife and child in an accident moves to a remote historic home that has not had any happy occupants for some time. He teaches music at the university and grieves alone. But is he alone? The house has a ghost and an unsolved mystery to be revealed.

The remake of this one is in development. British director, Jeremy Lovering said of redoing this film, “There was a screenplay in existence that they had already commissioned. They sent me that draft and it’s very well-written, but it’s not the film I want to make. THE CHANGELING is one of the few movies that genuinely scared me, and it still does, so I didn’t want to touch it at first. But then I started conversations with them, and told them I didn’t feel the script. I want to re-engage with it in a different way, and they told me to go write my own screenplay. I was like, ‘I’ll just write a treatment, because I don’t know if it’s gonna work for me,’ and I literally delivered it the other day."

I have actually hoped they would remake this, even though it's a favorite. Some movies "The Haunting" need the time period they were made in to have a creepy feel, but this one was almost an ideal story, except it seemed as if there was too much mystery solving and not enough hardcore haunting for me. I do admit that the EVP scene from the seance is one of my favorites of all times in a ghost movie. I hope they can get the feel of the creepy place and the brooding man. I always dreamed of Adrian Brody doing the part. I am curious to see who is cast.

Other remakes to come (some of these are going to make you shake your head) - 

"Maximum Overdrive," "Near Dark," "Pet Sematary," "Race With the Devil," "Rosemary's Baby," "Scanners," "Sleepaway Camp," "Suspiria," "The Birds," "The Creature From the Black Lagoon," "The Orphanage," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." 


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