10 Films To Repeatedly Remake
For some reason, remakes are a four letter word to many people. Clearly audiences shouldn’t just be bombarded with the same stories and films over and over, recycling what worked and was beloved until it’s a ghost of its former brilliance. But some movies can benefit from updating with different times, technology, and approaches. Also, the original version (or whichever version you like) still exists; the remake doesn’t replace it. Spike Lee’s OLDBOY didn’t supplant or erase Park Chan-wook’s far superior movie.
In no particular order, below are ten films that should be remade frequently (for various reasons). Revisiting and refreshing these titles act as a great mirror to various eras, filmmakers’ styles, and technique.
Note: Not every story with multiple iterations is a string of remakes. Branagh’s HAMLET is not a “remake” of the 1990 movie. However, some adaptations are also remakes of the previous filmed version—Reeves’ LET ME IN is certainly based on Lindqvist’s novel, but it also has multiple shots and moments taken directly from Alfredson’s 2008 adaptation. So it’s a bunch of blurred lines while also avoiding perennial titles like Dracula, Frankenstein, Robin Hood, and other public domain tales.
THE FLY
Technically there’s only been one remake of THE FLY (Cronenberg’s impeccable 1986 movie), with the other installments being sequels. But the fact is that the story of hubris paired with science run amok is a timeless tale that has existed in some form or another for centuries. Themes of disease, identity, biology, bodily autonomy, and more are also present and transform over time.
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
Certainly a literary adaptation, but CYRANO DE BERGERAC’s many versions have echoes of those that came before in the blocking of the fight or the specific jokes utilized. The reason why the story is so predisposed to remakes (besides that the French really love telling it over and over) is that it’s a pretty universal tale of unrequited love, othering, and feeling like an outsider. The mix of romance, adventure, and comedy also allow for a variety of takes that reflect the sensibilities of the times in which they are made. It’s also a good way of seeing how people view those that look different via how Cyrano’s striking appearance is portrayed.
THE THING
The versions are all loose adaptations of John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella WHO GOES THERE?, but the key word is “loose.” Similar to another title further down on this list, THE THING works based on fear of the unknown and a terrifying feeling of complete isolation. Combining a siege movie with a spy infiltrating the group tale, the results are certainly uneven but can be altered depending on the filmmakers’ visions. Maybe it’s an outside threat that simply wants to live like in Howard Hawks’ version. Or it’s the ultimate feeling of paranoia (and possibly the best make-up/special f/x in cinematic history) that Carpenter brought. Or it can be an awkward retread/prequel/remake that is a rough beast trying to combine this external threat with the internal fears. Having a group of people absolutely isolated in a confined space, facing against an enemy never before seen or understood, leads to great dramatic possibilities and explorations.
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has been adapted and remade and re-envisioned a ridiculous number of times in pop culture. Why though? People don’t even like opera that much. Mostly it’s the gothic romance aspect of a person wronged striking out against a society that refused and expunged him. Add into that the love story and the opportunities for ornate set pieces at whatever entertainment complex it’s set (or a mall) and filmmakers get to make a lush, sweeping film that is very, well, operatic.
A STAR IS BORN
A tale as old as time isn’t just for bibliophiles with a Furries fetish. A STAR IS BORN is instantly relatable as people have been ascendant in aspects of their lives and also slowly approaching the nadir in other ways. The opposing trajectories of the doomed romance at the center makes for a heartbreaking symmetry that immediately engages viewers. It’s also malleable to cover all sorts of arts and other industries; as long as the world in which it takes place has people on the rise and people on the way out, it’s applicable to this tragic story.
THE BLOB
Honestly, this doesn’t involve social commentary or rich themes, but it does offer new chances for F/X masters to go hog wild with all sorts of different methods and approaches. Whether it’s advances in practical techniques or CG technology, figuring out ways to depict a lump of slime that smothers and dissolves and crushes and more in fun visual ways that will freak out audiences. Also the original THE BLOB is boring as all get out, so you can only improve on it.
THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
Similar to THE BLOB, iterations of MOREAU benefit from innovations in F/X to depict the manimals (ISLAND OF LOST SOULS was miles ahead in make-up and prosthetics). But there is also some deeper themes woven into the fabric of the story, questions about what makes someone human, how societies crumble, and again the oft-used hubris of man tampering in God’s domain.
PLANET OF THE APES
This one also has a weird ass sequence of films where it’s technically an adaptation, one remake, lots of sequels but time travel made it weird, and then there’s the revised versions of 21st century that were technically prequels but also clearly diverged from the timeline of the sequels…it’s a lot. And yet, to me, it still remains pound-for-pound the best film franchise ever. So why mess with the best? Because there are so many issues explored in this goofy-ass series of ape v man tales: autonomy, nuclear deterrence, societal structures, abortion (yes, really), servant classes, independence, war, power, incarceration, celebrity, and much more.
There exists a whole world (or planet, if you will) of possibilities to explore while also delivering pulp sci-fi action. Revisiting the premise allows for variants to better explore the ever-changing perspectives and points on these classic themes.
THE PARENT TRAP
Essentially a touch of The Prince & The Pauper with a pinch of family comedy (or a very loose and lighthearted adaptation of Dostoevsky’s THE DOUBLE), THE PARENT TRAP works because you have the inherent conflict of two different personalities but with the same outer appearance (it’s really just a big argument for nurture over nature). But add to that clear goals and arcs for the characters and it’s a simple but rewarding premise that allows for precocious young actors to shine.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is easily the most remakeable movie on this list. Mostly because it has been remade multiple times and each is very different from the other in tone and theme and messaging, as to better demonstrate the cultural zeitgeist when it was made. From a thinly veiled Red Scare film, to an indictment of the New Age movement (and the burgeoning “Me Decade”), to a bizarre takedown of the military industrial complex, into a pharmaceutical thriller that suggests the aliens may not be the bad guys in all this.
Whatever paranoia is fueling the world can be represented by these doppelgängers replacing people. Maybe it’s about technology, or capitalism, or white supremacy, or whatever—they all can work in the very real fear that you don’t know the people around you and that everyone is in on some secret…except you.
