20 Horror Movies That Should Be Remade

A remake of the Japanese film 2LDK (and a few others on this list) would give America a much-needed peek into non-supernatural Asian horror and suspense. While remakes of Asian horror have so far focused on ghost stories (The Ring, The Grudge, Shutter, One Missed Call, The Uninvited), 2LDK is very much grounded in the living world, playing as a deliciously demented battle of wills between two young actresses who are living together in an apartment and trying out for the same role. Fists fly, as do knives, eggs and chainsaws in a darkly comedic thriller with juicy roles that actresses in real life would kill for.

From Thailand comes this thriller about a mild-mannered office worker who receives a mysterious phone call that promises him millions of dollars if he completes 13 tasks. While the assignments begin innocently enough -- killing a fly and eating it -- they become increasingly violent and sinister. The movie is great as it is, but a remake would expose it to more people and could draw in a big crowd, seeing as it plays a bit like Eagle Eye crossed with The Game.

UPDATE: Looks like this is being remade by Dimension! Yay!

This Australian film has an intriguing concept -- teens who see a man burying a dead body blackmail him into killing a bully who's tormenting them -- but it degrades into overly quirky, artsy directions with unnecessary twists that don't take advantage of what could've been a neat cat-and-mouse game. A remake could fix that.

The 1999 Japanese film The Black House has already been remade for the better as the 2007 Korean movie Black House, and I think the twisty, dark storyline -- about an insurance agent who investigates a customer who might've killed his own son for insurance money -- could work again in the US. It should, however, use the Korean film as the template, since the Japanese original infused an out-of-place comedic touch.

I know, I know, a lot of people love this one. Although it's gained cult status, this Italian production about a man who serves as the live-in guardian of a cemetery whose residents won't stay dead doesn't take full advantage of its horror elements -- or its comedic elements, for that matter. Its slow pace, melodramatic tone and metaphysical content could be tweaked to make it more fun, along the lines of Shaun of the Dead or Dead Alive.

One of the coolest titles of the '80s (C.H.U.D. standing for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller) goes for naught, as the humanoid creatures barely get any air time. Most of the movie is taken up by figuring out what's feeding on the citizens of the city and dealing with a cover-up by authorities. The monster design is good, but the makeup effects are cheap -- all things that could be remedied in a remake.

The story of military men trekking through a post-apocalyptic landscape, Damnation Alley is a sci fi/action film with elements of horror, but a remake could boost up the horror and survival portions of the story -- particularly the giant mutated insects and roving bands of savages -- and give the cheesy special effects (rubber cockroaches) a serious upgrade.

Though often lumped in with the glut of corny sci fi invasion movies of the era, Day of the Triffids can be seen as a precursor to serious modern fare like 28 Days Later and Blindness. Like 28 Days Later, a man awakes in a hospital to find society crumbling, and like Blindness, the population has been struck blind except for a select few. There just also happen to be maneating plants roaming around. The plot is rife with big-scale action that Michael Bay would love (a plane struck by blindness in mid-air), but the major roadblock would be making killer plants scary.

I love the original Italian gorefest, but it seems like a remake could have wide appeal, with its fast pace and over-the-top action. Like Dawn of the Dead, it could be repackaged for mainstream exposure as a tooth-and-nail battle for survival within an enclosed environment (in this case, a movie theater) in the midst of a potential apocalypse (at the hands of demons rather than zombies).

We haven't had a good giant animal movie in a while, and this one has great potential, with a multitude of different animals -- from wasps to rats -- that eat the experimental "food," growing to enormous size. Plus, the title is just plain awesome. The original never got past the campiness of the cheap effects (i.e., real animals walking through miniature sets) and failed to take full advantage of the wildlife available. Imagine the stench from a 50-foot skunk or the bite of a gargantuan chipmunk!