Editorials
Why ‘Evil Dead’ and ‘My Bloody Valentine 3D’ Make for a Perfect Remake Double Feature
According to some, remakes do untold damage to childhoods the world over, leaving nothing but tears, regrets, and crumpled up memories in their wake. Obviously, the idea of redoing a beloved movie is a touchy subject for film fans as the results are sometimes less than stellar. In some cases, they’re not even adequate. But horror remakes fair a little better. Specifically, ones with a creative team with something on their mind or a singular perspective.
Every week in October, I’m suggesting a double feature of remakes for your Halloween viewing pleasures. The movies are connected and never random, even if the connection is not-so-obvious at first sight. Besides the fact we’re all dying for horror to watch during the spooky season, double features are great introductions to movies for the uninitiated. And for seasoned vets, watching two movies back-to-back can sometimes put them in a different light.
So, without further ado, let’s get to the picks.
What Are the Movies?
Here comes the blood. While the previous four movies we profiled in this column aren’t short on bodily fluids squirting out of every possible orifice, Evil Dead and My Bloody Valentine 3D put them to shame. And yes, you should watch them in that order.
2013’s Evil Dead is a nasty piece of filmmaking. And I mean that in the best way possible. Fede Alvarez‘s remake sticks to the more serious tone of the 1981 original movie. It forgoes the comedic nature of its sequels. Of course, Evil Dead is still more than a tad over-the-top with the sheer amounts of blood the film wants us to believe exists within the human body. But there’s barely a wink or smile to the proceedings. To be fair, when the marketing says it’s “the most terrifying film you will ever experience,” that doesn’t leave room for sight gags. And it definitely doesn’t have time for Raimi’s trademark slapstick. We’re left with a very visceral and, dare I say, squeamish experience.
Evil Dead inverts the premise of the original just enough while focusing on a brand-new cast of characters. Without giving too much away for the uninitiated, the kids aren’t spending time at a cabin in the middle of nowhere just for fun. When we meet them, they’re already on edge, which is never a good sign for survival. You know that part in horror movies where the bad things start and no one listens to the character telling them about said evil? Well, that happens here too, but because of the setup, it’s easy to understand their skepticism.
Once they accept the truth, it’s way too late, and the movie begs us to watch the resulting carnage without covering our eyes. There’s that tree in the woods, that incident in the bathroom, that maiming in the kitchen, and of course, all the violence in the basement. Every major scare in this flick feels like it was created on a dare.
Evil Dead is as earnest as a movie about possession, curses, and demonic trees can be. My Bloody Valentine 3D is the complete opposite. With tongue firmly in cheek, the remake takes a tonal departure from the 1981 original while fully embracing the 3D phase of the late 2000s. The 2009 flick remixes the original, using most of the same characters but presenting them differently. Director Patrick Lussier and writer Todd Farmer tag team for the ultimate valentine—pun very much intended—to slashers and a bygone era. Plus, not many movies have a pickaxe and an eyeball coming right at you, complete with blood droplets.
Yes, a lot of it is over-the-top because, well, it’s in 3D, but that excess gore helps separate it from the original. Having a bigger budget doesn’t always create a quality product, but that’s the case here. The 2009 version attains a level of carnage the 1981 movie couldn’t reach. Going bigger and bolder can hurt remakes, but that ethos makes My Bloody Valentine 3D memorable. The soap opera at the heart of the film, along with a whodunit, tries to ground the surroundings in some semblance of real human emotion. The directors walk a fine line portraying those storylines with sincerity while never forgetting this is still a movie about a guy dressed like a miner who kills people with whatever tool at his disposal.
Okay, Why These Two?
Evil Dead and My Bloody Valentine 3D are adaptations of their respective source materials. Most remakes follow the same beats as the originals and maybe add one or two additional story elements. But these two flicks take premises and alter the settings, change some characters, and throw in wrinkles to make something that stands on its own two feet. Without spoiling too much, both movies feel like mirror universe versions of their ’80s counterparts. Those who love the classics won’t have to shield their eyes or weep for their childhoods because the modern equivalents are on their own wavelengths. They’re love letters—no pun intended— to what came before. The filmmakers use every penny possible to make the movies as they envisioned them as kids who were way-too-young to see them in the first place. This attitude brings ’80s sensibilities like practical effects, gore, and 3D into the 2000s.
Evil Dead and My Bloody Valentine 3D push the envelope just like their predecessors, fully embracing the “anything goes” mantra of the genre’s most hallowed decade.
A new month means a new guide as titles are added (and dropped) from streaming services. Let’s unpack the most exciting titles that are available to watch on Tubi in July 2026.
New to Tubi July Horror Films
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
- Premise: Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease, a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the prey as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.
- Why Watch It? Let’s be frank: Director Renny Harlin has made some absolute dogs in the last few years (the less said about The Strangers trilogy the better, though this year’s Deep Water was actually ok). Deep Blue Sea remains one of the Finnish director’s best contemporary efforts, though. Between the great cast (Samuel L. Jackson, Saffron Burrows, Stellan Skarsgård, Michael Rapaport, LL Cool J, Thomas Jane, and Jane’s sleeveless wetsuit), the ridiculous premise, and that damn/dumb song (“My hat is like a shark’s fin”), you basically can’t go wrong with Deep Blue Sea. It’s one of two great shark films gliding onto Tubi this month, so why not stay out of the water and watch this instead?
- Streaming: July 1
Exorcist II: Heretic (1977)
- Premise: Reagan (Linda Blair), a girl once possessed by a demon, finds that it still lurks within her. Meanwhile, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) investigates the death of the priest who performed her exorcism.
- Why Watch It? August sees the release of documentary Boorman and the Devil, which is about the troubled production of this sequel. The notoriety surrounding Heretic has undoubtedly kept plenty of horror fans away from the sequel, but this truly is a “seeing is believing” kind of film. Real talk: it’s undeniably a disaster, but the John Boorman film has also become a minor cult film. Don’t you want to see it to make up your own mind?
- Streaming: July 1
Hostel: Part III (2011)
- Premise: Four men attending a bachelor party in Las Vegas fall prey to the Elite Hunting Club, who are hosting a gruesome game show of torture.
- Why Watch It? What does Hostel look like without Eli Roth? Part III kinda answers the question. Technically Roth is still a writer, but he hands over the directorial reins to Scott Spiegel (best known for acting in Evil Dead films). The result is a film with a terrible pedigree; it’s also the first (and last) entry to skip theatres before the franchise was permanently shelved (until that TV show with Paul Giamatti shows up?). For some horror fans, however, there’s something exciting about a bad low-budget sequel. Just bear in mind that the Hostel: Part III‘s biggest star is Kip Pardue…so adjust your expectations accordingly before hitting play.
- Streaming: July 1
Insidious 1-3 (2010/2013/2015)
- Premise: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.
- Why Watch It? It’s hard to believe that the sixth (!) Insidious movie is coming out in a month and a half, but James Wan and Leigh Whannell‘s other horror franchise has been steadily chugging along for sixteen years. It’s a shame that Tubi doesn’t have all five films available to watch, but in terms of quality, you can do far worse than the original trio. The first film is iconic, and the second is basically an extended coda (with some admittedly problematic stuff going on). I’ll go to bat for Whannell’s 2015 directorial debut, though: there’s a few banger sequences in that film that people slept on.
- Streaming: July 1
Man Finds Tape (2025)
- Premise: After finding mysterious video clips, siblings investigate the strange recordings and uncover a disturbing secret spreading through their Texas town.
- Why Watch It? Writer/directors Paul Gandersman and Peter S. Hall‘s well-received found footage film did an extensive tour of the festival circuit, so now is a great time to check out one of the most contemporary titles debuting on Tubi this month. Surely a title that hails from producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring and The Endless) is worth a free look?
- Streaming: July 2
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
- Premise: A depressed musician Adam (Tom Hiddleston) reunites with his lover Eve (Tilda Swinton). However, their romance, which has already endured several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska).
- Why Watch It? This beautiful, melancholy vampire film is courtesy of writer/director Jim Jarmusch, who doesn’t often dabble in genre fare. As always, some will quibble if this artsy drama qualifies as horror, but the existential ennui of an eternal life certainly qualifies (bonus: there’s also something inherently sexy about watching Hiddleston and Swinton just lay about). Plus: if Leviticus has you hankering for more Wasikowska, this is an under the radar pick.
- Streaming: July 1
The Shallows (2016)
- Premise:A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy (Blake Lively) is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.
- Why Watch It? What better time to watch a shark movie than July? The temperatures are soaring and the idea of escaping into the water is so tantalizing. This tight, contained thriller features a great performance by Lively (and that damn seagull!), but it’s the direction from genre fave Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan; the House of Wax remake) that keeps the movie clicking along like clockwork. At 86 minutes, this is a perfect summer flick.
- Streaming: July 1
Vacancy (2007)
- Premise: Stranded in an isolated motel, a couple (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) become the unsuspecting subjects of a snuff film.
- Why Watch It? I’m not going to pretend that this Nimród Antal-directed home invasion film is high art, but it is a good time. You’ll likely wish there were deeper characterizations for Wilson and Beckinsale’s David and Amy in Mark L. Smith‘s screenplay, but this mid-aughts thriller is tense, exciting, and just the right amount of grimy. Plus: another short runtime, clocking in at an expeditious 85 minutes!
- Streaming: July 1
July Tubi Originals
The One Next Door (2026)
- Premise: When a mysterious stranger moves in next door to Robert and Tabitha, boundaries are tested, loyalty is questioned, and danger comes for all.
- Streaming: July 10
I Know Where You Live (2026)
- Premise: Sarah thinks she’s found “the one” until his flaws emerge. When she pulls away, chilling threats suggest he’s watching her from inside her own home.
- Streaming: July 24
What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Original? Sound off in the comments below
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