8 ‘80s Horror Movies That Should Never Be Remade

Most times when a remake is announced, there is an uproar from moviegoers lamenting the lack of fresh ideas and how remakes “ruin” the original. While new takes on a story can’t take away from the ones that came before, there is a long list of remakes proving that trying to mold an old story into a new tale is very difficult. Not only are filmmakers potentially up against a large fanbase pushing against the remake (meaning they have more to prove), but the modern version doesn’t end up impressing viewers in many cases. Truth be told, not every remake is a terrible idea. They can offer interesting iterations of a story, attract interest to the original that audiences may have missed, and sometimes, remakes can even improve upon the original.

A recent example of a remake that landed well with audiences was 2024’s Speak No Evil, starring James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis. Filmmaker James Watkins certainly did not improve upon the 2022 Danish-Dutch original co-written and directed by Christian Tafdrup. Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil is a unique and darkly satirical condemnation of people-pleasing and social interaction. The psychological horror examines politeness at the sake of one’s own peril, confronting everyday life and forcing viewers to sit with intense unease and discomfort. Plus, who could forget such a bold and shocking ending that intentionally leaves you feeling enraged at the main couple?

However, the different angle in the remake restructures the plot and tone into a horror-thriller. In that vein, it delivers the story successfully with strong performances by McAvoy and Davis. Yes, it becomes formulaic and predictable, removing the distinctive components that make the original a standout. On its own, though, the new Speak No Evil is a thrilling popcorn ride and a rare example of a remake that can be done well.

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Still, many movies out there, especially in the horror genre, feel like they should remain untouchable. The ’80s, in particular, is an ostensibly special decade in pop culture that holds profound nostalgia for many, as was evidenced when Netflix’s Stranger Things first began streaming. The eight 1980s horror classics below are all examples of titles that should remain in the past as records of a truly memorable era.

The Shining (1980)

Considering The Shining’s permanently established place in horror and cinematic history, Stanley Kubrick’s highly regarded classic is the most obvious title from the 1980s that movie fans would hate to see updated. Though Kubrick’s take on Stephen King’s novel is not necessarily a good adaptation of the source material (King’s decades-long dislike for the 1980 film is justified in that the characterizations are so wildly different that the book and movie do arguably feel like completely separate entities), it is an undeniable masterpiece in haunted isolation horror and creeping paranoid madness.

Besides, horror maestro Mike Flanagan already had the final say on a modern take of King’s story in his adaptation of The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep. While telling the story of a grown-up Danny Torrance (played by Ewan McGregor), Flanagan inexplicably found a way to marry King’s novel with Kubrick’s adaptation within the sequel. His efforts were so effective that King even told Entertainment Weekly that after carefully reading the script, “Everything that I ever disliked about the Kubrick version of The Shining is redeemed for me here.” No further cinematic word is needed on The Shining (or Doctor Sleep, for that matter).

The Shining is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

Basket Case (1982)

Horror in the 1980s dug deep into experimenting with the bizarre, body horror, and creature designs (with mixed results). Writer/director Frank Henenlotter — who prefers being known as an exploitation filmmaker — thrived in including all three elements in much of his work, never shying away from the truly strange. One of his big swings came in 1982 with Basket Case, starring Kevin VanHentenryck as Duane Bradley, a young man helping his twin brother get revenge against people who wronged them when they were children. Only his brother happens to be a bloodthirsty monstrosity Duane carries around in a locked wicker basket named Belial.

Henenlotter’s projects all have such a distinct tone of dark comedy meshed with dramatic horror, not to mention his effective low-budget special effects style, that any attempt at replicating a cult classic like Basket Case feels doomed from the start. A New York City native, Henenlotter’s films, including Basket Case, were nearly all shot and based in New York during a time the filmmaker once told The Skinny “was fun to show that dirty, ugly side of it – and it was real!” During the same interview, Henenlotter lamented, “The New York I grew up in and love doesn’t exist anymore,” which further speaks to an impossible task for any other filmmaker to take a story like Basket Case outside of 1980s New York.

The horror comedy was such an important fixture of New York and cult cinema that in 2017, Basket Case was selected by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for preservation and restoration. Henenlotter was “both humbled and proud” about his feature debut being added to MoMA’s film collection (via Facebook).

Basket Case is available to stream on Tubi and AMC+.

From Beyond (1986)

Stuart Gordon’s sci-fi horror From Beyond is the perfect encapsulation of ’80s horror and it’s hard to imagine a version being made in any other time period. There’s extremely gory body horror, experimental filmmaking, shoe-string budget special effects that still hold up, genre star Barbara Crampton, and Re-Animator’s Jeffrey Combs. Any iteration of From Beyond in today’s use of these elements would never hit as hard as it did in 1986.

Based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, From Beyond centers on your classic mad scientist, Dr. Pretorius, who wants to enter a parallel dimension. After building a machine called a Resonator, he succeeds but is turned into a grotesque monster after crossing over into the beyond. Not only do a group of scientists come under attack from the newly transformed Pretorius and otherworldly lifeforms, but they have to confront their temptations drawn out by an alternate dimension that is tied into pleasure and pain reminiscent of Hellraiser.

From Beyond is available to stream on MGM+ and Pluto TV.

Monkey Shines (1988)

George A. Romero‘s adaptation of Michael Stewart’s novel is not as big of a cult classic as other movies from the 1980s, but 1988’s Monkey Shines is the only version of this story that should exist on screen. After a tragic accident, Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) becomes a quadriplegic and receives a well-trained monkey named Ella from his friend Geoffrey to assist him. What Allan doesn’t know is that Geoffrey has been conducting experiments on Ella and other monkeys, and Allan’s new furry companion is no ordinary animal. Ella quickly becomes enamored with Allan, becomes a danger to his enemies and loved ones, and feeds Allan’s inner rage.

The premise of Monkey Shines is odd, but this drama-horror is strange in the best way. The movie features solid performances and direction by Romero, and it doesn’t shy away from meshing the bizarre with the story’s creepiness. Still, a movie about a psychic killer monkey falling in love and becoming obsessed with a human man is better left in the decade where that kind of tale really wasn’t that surprising.

Monkey Shines is available to stream on MGM+ and Pluto TV.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Director Joel Schumacher struck gold with The Lost Boys, which included an important element of the 1980s: music. Partly thanks to MTV hitting the scene at the beginning of the decade, music was becoming more and more accessible and inextricably linked to visual storytelling. Music created much of the atmosphere in ’80s horror; synthesizers and rock tracks were an important part of The Lost Boys.

With an entertaining script, sexy, seductive vampires, and an excellent cast including Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, the late Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, and Alex Winter, you’ve got a cult classic that will forever stand the test of time. The Lost Boys is a special horror-comedy rooted in familial relationships that simply can’t exist in another time and place or with another group of creatives and be worth watching.

The Lost Boys is streaming on The Roku Channel and available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

Gremlins (1984)

We all know the rules: Do not expose them to bright lights, do not let them get wet, do not feed them after midnight, and never remake Gremlins into another live-action movie. Gremlins is a time capsule of fantastical 1980s cinema that embraced practical effects, bits of family wholesomeness, and friendly creatures you become attached to. What made this film so fun, though, is how it played around with non-gory body horror elements and mean, dark comedy. Yes, Gizmo is adorable, and Stripe and his Mogwai buddies are hilarious, but they are still big old bullies brutally killing people. The balance in tone is almost flawless, thanks to the collaboration between director Joe Dante and writer Chris Columbus.

Max’s animated Gremlins prequel series is an acceptable continuation of the franchise specifically because it sticks to animation. Gizmo and the other Mogwai creatures have a specific look and style in the original films, so attempting another version of them in a modern movie would no doubt yield disappointing results.

Gremlins is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

Society (1989)

Society is possibly the most extreme of 1980s comedy-horror movies due to its unapologetic, goopy body horror (ranging between the grotesque to the silly) and a wild premise with the darkest humor while still pulling off its ultimate take on how the rich feed off the poor and get away with murder.

In the film, teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) discovers the truth about his family and neighbors when he uncovers their gruesome orgy cult where only the social elite are invited. Considering how far Society was willing to push the envelope, there’s no way a remake would ever be brave enough to take the story and its disturbing visuals where it would need to go to create a similar viewing experience.

A 2-disc special edition Blu-ray of Society is available to purchase from Arrow Films.

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Maximum Overdrive is a fascinating movie on multiple levels. It feels like it took a little longer than some films to reach cult-classic status, but once you embrace the ridiculousness of Maximum Overdrive, the bonkers movie does offer quite a bit of fun. Stephen King adapted the screenplay from his own short story “Trucks,” and it was the only movie the master of horror ever directed. King has admitted that the horror-comedy was the product of the writer being “coked out of his mind” at the time (via /Film).

The response to the movie has always been fairly divided, but the camp humor and varying performance choices make for an entertaining watch if you go in with zero expectations. As for a remake? King is happy to leave this one in the past, and unless there’s a filmmaker out there dying to revisit the story about homicidal machines led by a Green Goblin truck, we agree with him.

Maximum Overdrive is streaming on Tubi, Freevee, and Pluto TV.