[Editorial] Refreshing Perspectives and Voices With Horror Remakes

A Head Full of Ghouls

There was a time in my life when the word ‘remake’ sent me into an angry frenzy and one that I couldn’t back down from. I was adamant that remaking anything was the worst idea known to humankind, and felt like an atrocious crime had been committed.

But my main bug bear was in regards to the slew of American remakes of Asian horror films. It didn’t seem comprehensible to take a masterpiece like Hideo Nakata’s Ringu (1998) and turn it into an English language version. So much so that it led me to write a passionate and somewhat angry article about my dislike of the American remake, and to some extent an argument which I still stand by, because remaking world cinema just so audiences don’t have to read subtitles feels like lazy filmmaking to me.

But back then, this soured my taste so much that even remakes that didn’t  revolve around language really irked me. When the 2013 Evil Dead was released, I absolutely lost my mind. I was convinced that this film was the destruction of— and some form of blasphemy against— the original film that meant so much to me when it was released because it was the horror film that ignited my love for the genre. But things began to change at some point, and my perspective on remakes started to shift towards understanding that a remake didn’t take away the original from existence, and instead could provide  an addition to something that I already loved so much. 

That’s when I started to actively seek out remakes and find the ones that felt just as prominent and important in the history of horror as the original films. Now, some of my favourite films happen to be remakes of films: Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria (2018), Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac (2012), Dennis Iliadis’ The Last House on the Left (2009) and even the recent Hellraiser from 2022. It was this realisation that whilst maybe some remakes didn’t feel necessary, they could provide a new and fresh take on a film that needed something different to bring to the story. Which is why this month at Ghouls Magazine, it felt appropriate to dissect the relationship between original horror films and their remakes. 

Join us throughout June as we look at Remakes vs. Originals – diving deep into the topic and looking at the good remakes and the bad ones too. Got a favourite remake? Tweet us to let us know what your favourite remakes are and why.

What’s happening at Ghouls?

In case you missed it: Last month we were looking at ‘Nature’ horror films and what a fun month it was! With the spring in full effect (I’d say summer but let’s be honest, the UK isn't quite at that level yet) so what better time is there than now to look at how nature can be the most terrifying thing ever. 

I got to chat with Playstation Access presenter, influencer, model and all round cool horror chick, Ash Millman about eco-horror film The Ruins (2008). Ariel Powers-Schaub and Amber T caught up to discuss found footage horror film The Bay (2012), a member-only podcast just for your listening pleasure. And finally I hung out with some of the ghouls – Rebecca McCallum, Kat Hughes and Meg Kenny – as we shared some horror films we’ve watched, TV shows we binged and books we read for the monthly Ghouls Watch episode.

We screened an absolute classic for our monthly London-based horror film club, which was The Blair Witch Project (1999). We completely sold out (THANK YOU!) the night, and had a stellar panel discussion afterwards hosted by Rebecca McCallum with guests Jed Shepherd, Hannah Ogilvie, Sarah Miles and Iona Smith. If you didn’t manage to come along to the evening, you can watch the panel discussion now. For our members we are filming all of the panel discussions so you can catch up with them afterwards.

This month we have two VERY exciting movie nights coming up and hope you can join us for them too. First up we are heading up to Birmingham to host an overnight horror movie marathon in partnership with Mockingbird Cinema. Well done to Liz Bishop and Rebecca McCallum for putting this event together, and thanks to the good folks at Mockingbird for letting us take over for the night. We are raising money for Cruse Charity — a bereavement charity that is close to our hearts. 

We will be starting at 10pm and finishing at 10am so grab your PJs and get ready to join us for a night of horror! The films that will be showing are: Hellraiser (1987), Ring (1998), The Thing (1982), REC (2007) and Heathers (1988). Plus, we’re hosting The Big Horror Quiz with prizes from Arrow Video and Ghouls Magazine. You can still get your tickets now!

We’ll also be back at True Romance for our next monthly horror night, and this time we’re showing some J-Horror with Kairo (2001). Doors open at 6.30pm on Friday 23rd June, so you can get some pizza & cocktails in before the film starts at 7.30pm. Fancy coming along? Of course you do! Then you can get yourself a ticket for just £11. 

So what do we have in store for members this month? We’ve got some good stuff coming, with all that original vs. remake goodness:

• [Podcast episode] 6 Original vs. Remake Horror Films with Rebecca McCallum and Kim morrison

• [Podcast episode] Ghouls Watch with Ariel Powers-Schaub and Kim Morrison

• [Podcast bonus ep] The Last House on the Left remake with Zoë Rose Smith and Jerry Sampson

• [Article] 9 Amazing Horror Movies with Equally Amazing Remakes by Kim Morrison

• [Article] Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 vs. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 by Candy Allison

• [Article] Night of the Living Dead 1968 vs. Night of the Living Dead 1990 by Candy Allison

• [Article] List of short horror films to watch on YouTube by Melissa Cox

We love hearing from you, so if you have any suggestions please shoot them our way: editor@ghoulsmagazine.com

Last month we welcomed some new members so I just want to say a big thank you to you all! And a big thankssss to our existing members :) Shoutout to:
Michelle, Toral, Ann, Christopher, Michael, Janine, Neil, Nichole, Liz and Joe!

Whilst writing this I am settling in for some horror movie watching after taking a bit of a hiatus due to personal reasons. The line-up is an exceptionally bleak one… August Underground’s Mordum, August Underground’s Penance and The Profane Exhibit. Wish me luck!

Love & guts,

Zoë xx

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