Horror movie remakes are common, but sometimes they manage to be even scarier than the film they’re remaking. Horror has been around since the earliest days of cinema, and the nightmarish genre has helped push boundaries onscreen in each successive generation. The best filmmakers are experts at finding out what scares an audience, and exploiting that fear.

Though original horrors arrive yearly, classic stories are irresistible, and remakes bring those tales to new audiences. Other times, a classic horror film could use some modern updating in a remake that makes it more applicable to the current era. Finally, a lot of horror remakes offer filmmakers a chance to improve upon older movies that were almost great.

Whatever the reason, horror is the genre that has seen the most remakes, and that will continue forever. Though the quality can often vary, almost all horror remakes aim to make their stories scarier to appeal to current audiences. Most haven’t succeeded, but some not only matched the frightening qualities of their successors, but actually went far beyond the original.

The Blob (1988)

The original 1950s version of The Blob was intentionally tongue-in-cheek, and was only supposed to be sort of scary. However, the 1988 remake dropped the cheeky act and turned the gelatinous monster into a bona fide terror, complete with stomach-churning effects. By showing how the blob kills people, it made it doubly terrifying.

Though a story about a giant pink gloop can only be so scary, The Blob‘s remake deserves credit for transforming its original silly concept into an effective chiller. The remake wasn’t perfect, but was a nice companion to the original, and illustrated how far horror had come in 30 years.

The Crazies (2010)

George Romero made the original version of The Crazies right on the heels of Night of the Living ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, so the pseudo-zombie story is often overlooked. The 2010 remake kept the basic concept of a rage virus infecting a small town, but fleshed it out by adding compelling characters. That motivation gives the horror more weight as the story unfolds.

While the original film certainly has its creepy moments, the 2010 version evokes modern conspiracy theories and stark imagery to more effectively tell its story. Its faster pace and bigger budget allow for even sharper thrills, and the monsters are just more frightening in general. If the original is a rough first draft, the remake is the final cut.

Dawn Of The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (2004)

Zack Snyder’s bombastic version of Dawn of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ is a perfect example of a remake that is scarier than the original, but not necessarily better. Both movies concern flesh-eating zombies and human survivors who seek shelter in a mall, but the remake adds a heaping helping of action and more characters too. The biggest change was the zombies themselves.

Instead of pale-faced, shuffling unᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Snyder’s zombies are faster and meaner, and the movie dreams up new and terrifying ways for people to fall victim to the creatures. The pace keeps things tense from the very first frame, which helps make the remake so anxiety-inducing. However, it lacks the social commentary of the original, and is generally inferior.

Nosferatu (2024)

The original silent version of Nosferatu helped blaze a trail for vampire cinema, and its public domain status meant anyone could remake it. Robert Eggers’ 2024 reimagining of Nosferatu paid loving homage to the original, but added even more gothic horror and touches of Sєx as well. The vampire himself was wholly new, and is arguably the movie’s strongest aspect.

The exaggerated style doesn’t lessen any of the movie’s nightmarish imagery. In fact, it gives Nosferatu a weird dreamlike quality that is endlessly unsettling. The story has been remade several times, but Eggers’ version is the first that actually pᴀsses the classic film in terms of creepiness. It isn’t just the vampire who is scary, but the entire fictional universe.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

At the height of the Red Scare, Invasion of the Body Snatchers played upon the audience’s fear of communism. That sentiment had cooled significantly when the 1978 remake arrived, so the new version switched to an urban paranoia theme that was all the more chilling. The Donald Sutherland vehicle also showed even more of the gruesome body duplication process.

Without the ’50s Hollywood gloss, the story really shines as a lesson in effective tension. The ’78 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers builds to a shocking climax, and there is a dour hopelessness that’s inescapable. Neither version has mile-a-minute thrills, but the first remake sticks with the viewer for a lot longer.

It (2017)

Stephen King’s stories have been remade several times, but the remake of It is one of the most notable examples. Jumping from the small screen to the large, the 2017 remake split the story in half, with the first film focusing on the children battling the creature in the 1980s. Though some changes happened, it stuck closely to the source.

While the TV movie certainly has an important and nostalgic place in history, the 2017 version finally allowed Pennywise to be as creepy as his book counterpart. Bill Skarsgård’s performance made the creature otherworldly, and film technology caught up with King’s lofty ideas. Things fell apart in the second movie, but it was still significantly scarier than the 1990 version.

Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (2013)

The 2013 version of Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ is not quite a stock-standard remake, and it toes the line between reboot and sequel. It borrows the cabin-in-the-woods setting, and even copies major moments from the original, but implies that it takes place in the same universe as the classic Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ films. Regardless, it surpᴀsses the Sam Raimi classic in sheer terror.

The 1981 cult classic stretched every penny of its ultra-low budget to craft creepy monsters and excellent atmosphere, but its scares haven’t aged as well as the rest of the film. Meanwhile, the remake upped the ante with even more gruesome scenes, and made the ᴅᴇᴀᴅites scarier than ever before. It accomplished this without betraying the franchise’s over-the-top style.

The Fly (1986)

The 1980s saw a ton of remakes of classic 1950s sci-fi B-movies, and David Cronenberg put his own spin on The Fly. Eschewing the cheesiness of the original, Cronenberg’s The Fly is a body horror nightmare, complete with disgusting effects and a climax the pushes things to the absolute limit.

Instead of merely swapping body parts with a fly, the ’80s version sees Jeff Goldblum slowly devolve into a human/fly monstrosity. As his body disintegrates, he gains the powers of the insect, with stomach-churning repercussions. The remake doesn’t just dazzle with gross effects, it manages to squeeze every possible scare out of its concept, going leagues beyond the ’50s version.

The Thing (1982)

John W. Campbell’s short story, “Who Goes There”, was first adapted into 1951’s The Thing from Outer Space, but it took 30 years for a true adaptation to arrive. John Carpenter’s The Thing, stuck closer to the short story about an alien creature that ᴀssimilates humans. As if that wasn’t scary enough, Rob Bottin provided groundbreaking effects.

The Thing isn’t scarier than its predecessor because of its effects alone, and the use of tension and paranoia is where the movie really shines. Every scene is a claustrophobic thrill ride, and the downbeat ending fits Carpenter’s larger themes. Few horror movie remakes are as good as The Thing, and none are as frightening.