Halloween isn’t the only thing lurking just around the corner. Just like unrelenting hordes of zombies, film reboots and remakes just keep coming back to haunt us. Fortunately, some of them actually look quite terrifying and will be interesting to see how they hold up to their original counterparts. Keep the lights on as you discover every horror reboot you need to know about!
1. Blair Witch
About the Original: The Blair Witch Project initially came out in 1999 and tells the story of three student filmmakers who hike in the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about the local legend of the Blair Witch. The film was famous for marketing the story as true events, going so far as listing the actors as “missing” or “presumed dead” on the film’s IMDb page during the movie’s first year.
What’s New?: The reboot takes place twenty-two years after the events of the first film and follows a group of college students who search for clues about the Blair Witch and the disappearance of the last group that ventured into the Black Hills. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11th, 2016 and will hit theaters on September 16th, 2016.
2. It
About the Original: The 1986 horror novel It by Stephen King was first adapted into a TV miniseries in 1990 starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown. The story focuses on an inter-dimensional predatory life-form, which possesses the ability to transform itself into its prey’s worst fears. The series takes over two different time periods. The first is when a group of kids called the Losers Club discover It as children and the second is when they return as adults to defeat It when it resurfaces.
What’s New? Bill Skarsgård will star as the demonic clown and Finn Wolfhard (who you may know as Mike Wheeler from Stranger Things) will play a member of the Losers Club named Richie Tozier. The film is set to be released next year on September 8, 2017.
3. Rings
About the Original: The Ring initially came out Japan in 1998 and spawned a trend of Western remakes beginning with The Ring in 2002. The film focuses on a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it.
What’s New?: The reboot takes place 13 years later when a mysterious group called The Sevens revive the curse of Samara by passing the videotape between one another. The plot description hints that there will be a terrible discovery of a “movie within a movie” that no one has ever seen before… The film will be released on October 28th, 2016.
4. Poltergeist
About the Original: Poltergeist first came out in 1982 and became a classic within the horror genre. The film also appeared at #84 on American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Thrills list of America’s scariest movies. The plot focuses on a family in a California suburb that is haunted by evil ghosts that abduct their daughter. It features the iconic horror scene of the daughter sitting in front of a TV whispering, “They’re here.”
What’s New? Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris and Jane Adams star in the reboot which came out on May 22nd, 2015.
5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
About the Original: The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a British musical comedy horror film that first came out in 1975. The story revolves around a young engaged couple whose car breaks down in the rain near a castle. When they go to the castle to seek help, they find that the castle is occupied by strangers in elaborate costumes celebrating an annual convention. Dr. Frank N. Furter, the head of the house, is a mad scientist who is also played by Tim Curry.
What’s New?: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again will be a live musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega who is also known for directing Hocus Pocus, the High School Musical trilogy, and Michael Jackson’s This Is It concerts. The film will star Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank N. Furter and will premiere on the Fox Network on October 20th, 2016.
