The Best Horror Reboots
Horror movies usually come in a series, and whether it’s a never-ending saga of Saw films or an attempt to reboot a cult classic franchise like Child’s Play sometimes the reboots just simply miss the mark. However, for every unnecessary reboot of a movie with hundreds of sequels, there are a few that land in equality with its predecessor.
Jigsaw
Another not-quite-a-sequel-not-quite-a-reboot, the 2017 film Jigsaw follows a detective as he discovers bodies dismembered in his area and evidence that points to the original Saw creator and mastermind John Kramer, who has been dead for years. Created with the similar Saw traps and twists, Jigsaw does a tremendous job at keeping the original feel in the reboot, while opening up the setting to start on a new pathway in the modern era.
This came at a perfect time, as a trailer has recently been released for the actual Saw reboot Spirals, starring and produced by comedian Chris Rock and also starring Samuel L Jackson as what appears to be a role he might actually die in. It is easily a reboot and a continuation of the Jigsaw and Saw franchise, and the move into reboot zone appears smooth and well constructed. Jigsaw was probably one of the most well-thought out reboot/sequels out there.
Evil Dead
It’s a big take to reboot the classic Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell horror series The Evil Dead, but the 2013 version filled the giant shoes with appropriate blessings from the creators and created a reboot that was not only gruesome and scary, it was extremely true to the horror experience viewers felt in 1981.
A group of teams go to an old cabin in the woods to help their friend Mia get clean following a drug overdose, only to discover a book bound in human flesh and inked in blood. Reading from the book in the same way Ash and his friends were compelled to in the 80’s results in a series of horrifying attacks and the dead take over the group one by one. Featuring epic versions of scenes from the classic films, such as the chainsaw hand, the peeking of the Deadites through the cellar door, and the blood rain, Evil Dead took what was already epic in the original version and turned it up to an eleven.
Blair Witch
Not-quite-sequels-not-quite-reboots have become extremely popular nowadays and the 2016 version of Blair Witch took firmly hold of that handle and created something that was almost on par with the 1999 original of The Blair Witch Project. Set years after the tapes detailing the missing Heather and her friends was found, Heather’s brother James decides to go into the woods to find out what happened to his sister. Recording the group’s adventures along the way, they soon become under attack by the Blair Witch’s spells, which create the symbolic reboot style by following the original’s spooky bits.
Blair Witch ends up terrifying as the characters try to escape the haunting presence of the witch herself, with the creepy twig icons appearing in the night, the shifts in time, and the final race through the witches house. It meets both reboot and sequel perfectly, and keeps you uncomfortable for way longer than when you left the cinema.
IT Chapter One and Chapter Two
The recent modern take on Stephen King’s incredibly popular novel has been met with outstanding applause, and it is very right to have done so! Rebooting the 1990 film that starred Tim Curry as the evil Pennywise the Dancing Clown, acting alum Bill Skarsgard takes the role in absolute style with his actual ability to move his eyes in two directions at once, and his menacing crazy persona.
The 2017 and 2019 reboots were highly anticipated and with good reason. The actors that were chosen to play both the adults and the kids in different time eras lined up so well you could easily mistake that you were watching the same people live different parts of their lives. With modern movie-making magic available, the evil clown got even more terrifying and dark and rightly cemented itself in history as a perfect remake.
