Critically derided flop remakes of Psycho, Black Christmas, and Point Break were terrible across the board, but the scripts were particularly bad.
Remaking a beloved movie is always risky, as audiences inevitably compare the new version to the original. The bar is high. But even then, some remakes go way beyond being disappointing.
They totally misunderstand or undermine everything that made the original great. Very often, the screenplay is the first offender, providing a shaky foundation for everything else. With that in mind, this list looks at some movie remakes with terrible writing. They trade compelling characters and killer plots for thin dialogue and confused motivations. 10 'Point Break' "You don't understand.
It's not about the money.
" This bland, undercooked take on Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 cult film once again revolves around the character of Utah , an FBI agent who infiltrates a group of extreme athletes suspected of committing elaborate international crimes. Instead of robbing banks while wearing presidential masks, however, these criminals pursue increasingly absurd stunts around the globe, claiming to follow a philosophical path connected to nature and self-transcendence.
The original Point Break worked because it was never really about crimes or cheap genre thrills. Beneath the action lay a surprisingly compelling relationship between Utah and charismatic thrill-seeker and law-breaker Bodhi . That's missing here, in large part because the screenplay struggles to make the characters believable. 9 'Flatliners' "Death is just the beginning.
" The original Flatliners possessed a wonderfully simple premise. Medical students deliberately stop their hearts in order to experience death, only to discover that returning from the afterlife carries terrifying consequences. Joel Schumaher spun that setup into a compelling and surprisingly existential psychological horror. The remake somehow manages to make it feel strangely generic.
Rather than exploring the emotional or philosophical implications of confronting mortality, the 2017 version leans heavily on familiar jump scares and horror clichés. Similarly, the characters receive minimal development, making it difficult to become invested in their fates. The cast this time around is fine, with Elliott Page, Nina Dobrev, and Diego Luna turning in serviceable performances, but that's not enough to salvage things.
A dull and listless horror. 8 'Planet of the Apes' "Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn.
" Remaking Planet of the Apes was always going to be difficult. The 1968 original is a sci-fi classic, boasting sharp social commentary and an unforgettable ending. Tim Burton was hired for the 2001 movie, which was a somewhat odd choice but still an intriguing one. Unfortunately, the results were decidedly lackluster.
The setup mirrors the original closely enough, with Mark Wahlberg playing an astronaut who crash-lands on a world ruled by intelligent apes. The visuals are fantastic, but the writing is a huge step down from the Charlton Heston version. Several plot points are frustratingly ambiguous or hard to follow, with even Tim Roth himself saying he didn't understand the ending.
The script doesn't strive for anything beyond B-movie entertainment, and even at that it doesn't excel. 7 'Ben-Hur' "Your brother is dangerous.
" It takes a lot of chutzpah to remake one of the most respected epics of all time. The 2016 spin on Ben-Hur attempts to modernize the story but often feels strangely small despite its large budget . It reduces a sweeping historical drama to a rushed, shallow action movie.
Relationships feel abbreviated, emotional transformations occur too quickly, and major story beats lack the weight they require. The dialogue is heavy with exposition and the pacing drags . Big themes are simplified or simply lost in translation. Even looking just at the spectacle side of things, some of the action sequences are over-edited and oddly empty, like something out of a PG-13 movie.
All in all, this was one of the most unnecessary and unsuccessful remakes ever. 6 'Black Christmas' "Fearless girls are dangerous.
" This one might not be completely terrible, but it's still radically overshadowed by the 1974 original, which is a veritable slasher classic. This take on Black Christmas follows a group of college students who discover that a secretive fraternity is targeting women on campus.
That slasher premise gradually evolves into a supernatural conspiracy involving toxic masculinity and institutional power, giving the movie a political edge that some viewers will appreciate and others will see as a distraction from the pulpy thrills. Even if we accept the movie's own terms, a big problem is the lack of subtlety. The story explores themes of sexism, misogyny, and campus culture, all of which could potentially make for compelling horror.
However, the screenplay often presents these ideas in an extremely direct and simplistic way. Characters frequently state the film's messages outright, for instance. 5 'Martyrs' "Keep doubting.
" The original Martyrs is a disturbing and impressively challenging film, one of the defining works of the New French Extremity movement. The same cannot be said for the English-language remake. In the 2015 version, a young woman escapes horrific abuse as a child and later seeks revenge against the people she believes were responsible. As the story progresses, she uncovers a secret organization with disturbing goals tied to human suffering and the possibility of an afterlife.
The original was a provocative Molotov cocktail of a film, forcing audiences into uncomfortable moral and philosophical territory. Whether viewers loved it or hated it, it had a clear artistic vision. The remake smooths over many of those rough edges while simplifying the ideas. Character motivations become less compelling, and the mystery loses much of its ambiguity.
As a result, the story's whole reason for being falls away. 4 'The Wicker Man' "How'd it get burned? How'd it get burned?!
" 1973's The Wicker Man is one of the greatest horror movies ever, the Platonic ideal of folk horror. The 2006 remake is an absurd, unintentionally comical disasterpiece. It sees Nicolas Cage taking on the lead role of a police officer investigating a disappearance on a remote island that still practices paganism. It's one of his most over-the-top performances, and not in a good way, frequently chewing the scenery and creating tonal whiplash.
The most infamous example of this is the much-parodied scene about the bees, though that's only scratching the surface of the movie's problems. Even ignoring these completely ludicrous moments, the protagonist is simply far less compelling than the original's Sergeant Howie . Howie is defined by his convictions, which set up a clash with those of the villagers, something that's lacking from Cage's character. 3 'The Fog' "People disappear every day.
" John Carpenter's original The Fog is a flawed but charmingly creepy horror that crams an impressive number of atmospheric frights into its lean 90-minute runtime. Unfortunately, the 2005 remake boasts almost no solid scares at all, all while failing to add anything new or interesting. Most of the characters are little more than plot devices, without any real backstory or traits to connect with. The dialogue was another common target of criticism.
Many scenes exist solely to dump information on the audience. Rather than letting viewers gradually piece together the mystery, characters constantly explain the history of the town, the curse, and the ghosts. It's the kind of ham-fisted storytelling that makes Goosebumps look like it was written by Aaron Sorkin. In short, this movie is a complete waste of time. 2 'Psycho' "A boy's best friend is his mother.
" Another remake that made no sense. Why would you even attempt to replicate one of the most iconic horrors of all time? Even stranger still, director Gus Van Sant opted not to radically reinvent Hitchcock's masterpieces, but rather recreate it almost shot for shot. The plot remains largely identical: Marion Crane steals money, checks into the Bates Motel, and encounters the deeply troubled Norman Bates .
But if a great screenplay is copied almost exactly, shouldn't the result still work? The answer turns out to be more complicated. Movies are more than scripts, after all. Hitchcock's original relied on precise performances, pacing, editing, camera placement, and cultural context.
In 1960, viewers had no idea that Marion Crane would disappear halfway through or that Norman was hiding a horrifying secret. But in 1998, those twists didn't land because everyone saw them coming. 1 'Rollerball' "Play hard. Play to win.
" 1975's Rollerball was a dystopian sports sci-fi action flick loaded with dark social commentary and a solid James Caan performance at the helm. The 2002 remake is mostly just a mess of noisy action sequences and chaotic plotting. The story takes place in a future where a brutal sport called Rollerball has become massively popular. Players compete in violent matches involving motorcycles, roller skates, and frequent injuries.
But one talented athlete begins questioning the forces controlling the league. Possibly the biggest issue comes in the protagonist himself. The original hero, Jonathan E., is a thoughtful and increasingly rebellious figure. The remake's lead character is far more generic.
He spends much of the movie reacting to events rather than driving them, and the screenplay gives him little depth beyond being an athletic underdog. Yawn. COLLIDER Collider · Quiz Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky Five killers.
Five completely different ways to die — if you're not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one. 🏕️Jason 🔪Michael 💤Freddy 🎈Pennywise 🪆Chucky TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → QUESTION 1 / 8INSTINCT 01 Something feels wrong.
You can't explain it — you just know. What do you do?
First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty. ALeave immediately. I don't need to understand a threat to respect it. BStay quiet and observe.
If I can see it, I can understand it. If I can understand it, I can avoid it. CStay awake. Whatever this is, I am not going to sleep until I feel safe again.
DConfront it directly. Fear grows in the dark — I'd rather know what I'm dealing with. ECheck everything, trust nothing. The threat might be closer than I think — and smaller.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 8ENVIRONMENT 02 Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply. ASomewhere remote — a cabin, a campsite, off the grid and away from people.
BA quiet suburban neighbourhood where nothing ever happens. Except tonight. CIn my own head — the most dangerous place of all, depending on what's already in there. DWherever children are — because something about this place attracts the worst things.
ESomewhere ordinary — a house, a toy store, a place where the last thing you'd expect is a threat. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 8STRENGTH 03 What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn't account for. What's yours?
APhysical fitness — I can run, I can swim, I can outlast something that relies on brute persistence. BSpatial awareness — I always know the exits, the hiding spots, the fastest route out. CPsychological resilience — I've faced my worst fears before. They don't have the same power over me.
DEmotional steadiness — I don't panic. Panic is what gets you caught. EScepticism — I don't underestimate threats because of how they look. Size is irrelevant.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 8FEAR 04 What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it. AThe unstoppable — something that will not stop, cannot be reasoned with, and is always getting closer. BThe invisible — a threat I can feel but can't locate, watching from somewhere I can't see.
CThe psychological — something that uses my own mind and memories against me. DThe unknowable — something ancient, shapeless, that feeds on the fear itself. EThe mundane — a threat so ordinary-looking that no one will believe me until it's too late.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 8GROUP 05 You're with a group when things start going wrong. What's your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn't. AThe one who says"we need to leave" first — and means it, even when no one listens.
BThe one who stays quiet, watches the others, and figures out the pattern before anyone else does. CThe one who holds the group together when panic sets in — because someone has to. DThe one who asks the questions nobody wants to ask — because ignoring them gets people killed. EThe one who takes the threat seriously when everyone else is laughing it off.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 8MISTAKE 06 What's the horror movie mistake you're most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not. AGoing back for someone — I know I shouldn't, but I can't leave them behind.
BAssuming I'm safe once I've found a hiding spot. That's when it finds me. CFalling asleep when I absolutely cannot afford to. Exhaustion is its own enemy.
DLetting my curiosity override my instincts — I always need to understand what I'm dealing with. EDismissing the threat because of how it looks. That's exactly what it wants.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 8ADVANTAGE 07 What's your best weapon against something that can't be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it. AThe environment itself — I use the terrain, the water, the geography against it.
BPatience — I wait, I watch, and I strike at the one moment it doesn't expect. CLucidity — if I can stay in control of my own mind, it loses its primary weapon. DCourage — facing it directly, refusing to run, taking away the fear it feeds on. EImprovisation — I use whatever's at hand, however unconventional.
Creativity over brute force. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 8FINAL SCENE 08 It's the final scene. You're the last one standing. How did you make it?
The final survivor always has a reason. What's yours? AI kept moving. I never stopped, never hid for too long, never let it corner me.
BI figured out the pattern before anyone else did — and I used it against the thing following it. CI stayed awake, stayed lucid, and refused to give it the one thing it needed most. DI stopped being afraid of it. And the moment I did, everything changed.
EI took it seriously from the start — and I never once made the mistake of underestimating it. REVEAL MY VILLAIN → Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against… Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit. Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween Michael Myers Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it's too late for anyone who isn't paying close enough attention.
Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised. Derry, Maine · It Pennywise Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
Chicago · Child's Play Chucky Chucky's greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it's already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Like Follow Followed Rollerball PG-13 Action Sci-Fi Sport Release Date February 8, 2002 Runtime 98 Minutes Director John McTiernan Writers William Harrison, Larry Ferguson, John Pogue Cast See All Powered by Expand Collapse
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