10th: The Amityville Horror (2005)
Andrew Douglas’ 2005 version of The Amityville Horror follows the same story as the first movie of the original franchise.
The Lutz family, George (Ryan Reynolds), Kathy (Melissa George) and Kathy’s children from her previous marriage Billy, Michael and Chelsea (Chloe Grace Moretz) move into the infamous Amityville house where they want to start a new life. But once the little Chelsea befriends the apparently imaginary Jodie, things just become stranger and stranger.
Anyone Willing to Exchange Some Originality for Dullness?
While George becomes influenced by the house and its dark spirits, the rest are just blind, annoying and whiny. Melissa George’s character seems like a carbon copy of Shelley Duvall’s in The Shining, be it bad acting or the bad script.
The story is quite boring, extremely repetitive and brings nothing new to the franchise and to the horror genre, remaining just a redundant remake of a not-so-spectacular-either movie.
It Might Work?
No matter how uninspired is the movie for the 21th century, opinions on the original one are also not exactly positive even though it’s a cult-classic; so, one can watch it out of curiosity and boredom . Also, this version has in its cast Ryan Reynolds and his abs and the adorable sexy Chloe Grace Moretz when she was just adorable. And not to mention that the jump-scares are not that bad, just not impressive.
9th: Halloween II (2009)
The second part of Rob Zombie’s revived Halloween franchise continues the story of Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) one year later after the events of the first movie, as she is trying to cope with the idea that she is the sister of a maniac serial killer and that he murdered both her biological and adopted family and her friends. 
After the events from the first movie, things do not get easier for the girl as the psychopath Mike Meyers has not died yet and he is still chasing Laurie.
Rooting for the Killer
While this remake is quite different from the 1981 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis, the most notable distinction is Laurie’s character.
If in the first Halloween movie you felt sorry for her and rooted for her, in this one you can’t help it rooting for Michael Meyers or anyone who might kill Laurie. From the sweet typical teenager, Laurie turned into an annoying disrespectful brat.
While it is understandable due to the traumatic events she went through, whining like a spoiled 9 year old and hurting the people who did nothing but help you make Laurie completely unsympathetic to the audience.
Her attitude and the unnecessary explosions of violence turn this slasher horror into a failure and into the black sheep of the franchise.
The Yang to this Yin
Despite the terrible portrayal of Laurie’s character, other actors such as Sheri Moon Zombie and Malcom McDowell do a great job.
Also, Rob Zombie’s vision gives a real-nightmare feeling to the audience that might make everyone jump out of its seat. Though, let’s just hope that this is the last Halloween movie for a while.
8th: Psycho (1998)
Yes. There is an actual remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece. This version is produced and directed by Gus Van Sant and stars Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates, Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen.
Just as the original, the movie follows Marion Crane (Anne Heche) as she ends up in the Bates Motel and becomes the victim of the Bates’ and later her sister Lila (Moore) as she tries to uncover Marion’s disappearance and the Bates’ secrets.
Was it Really Necessary?
No. But they really wanted a colored version. And even though this 1998 remake is a carbon copy, it lacks the playfulness of the original movie.
Also, with a difference of almost 40 years between the movies, one can’t assume that everything can remain the same, but the clothes. In short, if you remake a movie 40 years later, at least don’t copy-paste the script and every single detail. A few changes never hurt anybody.
A Watch for the Effort
If Van Sant bothered to remake Psycho as a homage and to bring it to the younger audience who might not be exactly a fan of black and white classics, one can at least watch it. In fact, let’s just thank him that he didn’t butcher it like other producers did with their own versions of classic horror movies.
7th: One Missed Call (2008)
One Missed Call is an American remake of the 2003 eponymous Japanese horror movie. The film is centered on Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) as she is trying to solve the mystery behind the death of four people. Despite the police is not being of much help, Beth manages to connect their deaths to some strange phone calls and to trace them back.
How About One Missed Movie?
Just like the call in the title, you might want to miss this movie. It is rather puerile and not as scary as the original, with the theme being too close to the one from The Ring/Ringu. But what is really bad about this movie is the acting and the poor script.
If the actors are not exactly spectacular and the script itself is rather poor, it is no wonder that the characters lack appeal and are one of the leading factors to the movie’s downfall.
To Give or Not to Give a Chance
Japan has made itself a good name in the horror genre and the American remakes are not bad either, in fact some are really popular and very praised.
So, while this movie is exactly the opposite, it does have a few hair-rising moments and it could be entertaining for a boring afternoon. Besides, it is not the worst horror. There are more to come.