Forget the 13th...
...29 is an unlucky number. That's roughly how many years later horror flicks seem to return in revamped form... give or take. Maybe the horror movie fans (Hi, Katie!) have noticed the wave of remakes over the last few years?
(Note: I meant to post this on Friday the 13th the first time around, but my computer had a bout of really bad luck, and then I even missed it the second go round this year.)
The Body Snatchers (1945) remade 11 years later: The Body Snatchers (1956)
And remade again 21 years later: The Body Snatchers (1978)
And remade again 19 years later: The Body Snatchers (1993)
And remade again 14 years later: The Invasion (2007)
The Thing from Another World (1951) remade 31 years later: The Thing (1982)
Then remade again 29 years later: The Thing (2011)
The Blob (1958) remade 30 years later: The Blob (1988)
And then remade again 23 years later: The Blob (2011)
House on Haunted Hill (1959) remade 40 years later: House on Haunted Hill (1999)
13 Ghosts (1960) remade 41 years later: Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
Night of the Living Dead (1968) remade 22 years later: Night of the Living Dead (1990)
The Last House on the Left (1972) remade 37 years later: The Last House on the Left (2009)
The Crazies (1973) remade 27 years later: The Crazies (2010)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) remade 29 years later: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
The Stepford Wives (1975) remade 29 years later: The Stepford Wives (2004)
The Omen (1976) remade 30 years later: The Omen (2006)
Carrie (1976) remade 30 years later: Carrie (2002) (TV)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) remade 29 years later: The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Dawn of the Dead (1978) remade 26 years later: Dawn of the Dead (2004)
I Spit on Your Grave (1978) remade 32 years later: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
Halloween (1978) remade 29 years later: Halloween (2007)
When a Stranger Calls (1979) remade 27 years later: When a Stranger Calls (2006)
The Amityville Horror (1979) remade 26 years later: The Amityville Horror (2005)
Friday the 13th (1980) remade 29 years later: Friday the 13th (2009)
Prom Night (1980) remade 28 years later: Prom Night (2008)
My Bloody Valentine (1981) remade 26 years later: My Bloody Valentine (2007)
The Howling (1981) remade (rebooted really) 30 years later: The Howling: Reborn (2011)
Children of the Corn (1984) remade 27 years later: Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011)
The Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) remade 26 years later: The Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
The Hitcher (1986) remade 21 years later: The Hitcher (2007)
The Gate (1987) remade 25 years later: The Gate 3D (2012)
They Live (1988) remade 24 years later: They Live (2012)
The Crow (1994) remade 19 years later: The Crow (2013)
The Classics
Interestingly, the solid classics from way back took upwards of six decades to receive a true, faithful, big-budget remake (if any at all). Most of these had previous remakes as well which are noted. In fact, it should be pointed out that both Dracula and Frankenstein both were remakes themselves (in addition to having been based on an existing novel), having been preceded by Nosferatu (1922) and Frankenstein (1910).
Dracula (1931) remade 61 years later: Dracula (1992). Of the Universal monsters, Dracula has been more faithfully remade/adapted than the rest. See also Horror of Dracula (1958) and Count Dracula (1970), both of which feature Christopher Lee as the title character.
Frankenstein (1931) remade 63 years later: Frankenstein (1994). Additionally, there was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) as well as loads of sequels and cross-overs with Dracula.
The Mummy (1932) remade 67 years later: The Mummy (1999). See also: The Mummy's Hand (1940) and The Mummy (1959).
The Wolf Man (1941) remade 69 years later: The Wolfman (2010). No direct remakes were attempted between these two, although obviously many, many movies incorporated elements such as the full moon, silver bullet, etc. that were introduced in the first film.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) has supposedly had a remake in the works for years, but the IMDb currently lists no one connected to the project. If the pattern for the other Universal Monsters above holds, expect the remake between 2014 and 2023.
And there's more on the way...
Suspiria
(1977) has my vote
for the most over-rated movie in the genre. Looks good, but it
doesn't
have enough of a plot to sustain it, so it resorts to over-playing the
same musical motif and adding noisy sound effects to keep you
awake.
There's talk of a remake, which would be 35 years later if it arrives
in 2012.
Poltergeist (1982) looks to be remade around 31 years later if the producers can pull something together by the proposed release date in 2013.
Not a remake, but rather a sequel doubling as a re-boot (i.e., the original crew gets a new team together). Ghostbusters (1984) next movie looks to emerge 29 years after the original if they do it by 2013.
The series spawned by Hellraiser (1987) never commanded serious box office, and the later sequels were incredibly weak straight-to-video offerings with only a Pinhead cameo and nominal connection to tie them to the originals, but the first couple films were awesome. There's been talk of a remake for some time now, although that has never gotten off the ground. And the true fans (i.e., Kristin and I) are fine with that. It's too early. We could stand to wait until 2016 for them to do it right. Because that would be 29 years later.
Child's Play (1988) may be remade as soon as 25 years later if it's out by 2013. But, really, does anyone care?
Poltergeist (1982) looks to be remade around 31 years later if the producers can pull something together by the proposed release date in 2013.
Not a remake, but rather a sequel doubling as a re-boot (i.e., the original crew gets a new team together). Ghostbusters (1984) next movie looks to emerge 29 years after the original if they do it by 2013.
The series spawned by Hellraiser (1987) never commanded serious box office, and the later sequels were incredibly weak straight-to-video offerings with only a Pinhead cameo and nominal connection to tie them to the originals, but the first couple films were awesome. There's been talk of a remake for some time now, although that has never gotten off the ground. And the true fans (i.e., Kristin and I) are fine with that. It's too early. We could stand to wait until 2016 for them to do it right. Because that would be 29 years later.
Child's Play (1988) may be remade as soon as 25 years later if it's out by 2013. But, really, does anyone care?
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