Remakes like The Thing, The Blob, and The Hills Have Eyes are all well known among horror fans. This particular curation, though, is geared toward remakes that have much less renown, at least in most circles. The chances are, you hadn’t even heard of them until now.
Hollywood loves to remake, yet so do other filmmaking industries around the world. These other places aren’t just remaking domestic movies, either. As this list demonstrates, localizing imported ideas is fairly common.
The following ten movies are merely a sample of what’s out there when looking for international horror remakes you might not know about.
Seytan (1974)
Seytan, Metin Erksan‘s unofficial remake of 1973’s The Exorcist, has to be seen to be believed. This Turkish version is so brazen with its copying that it never has a chance to form its own personality. Plus, the effects are shoddy, the acting is dubious, and generally speaking, the movie is just very not good. Even so, all of that leads to a lot of incidental amusement.
A Monstrous Corpse (1981)
Of all the zombie movies that Korean filmmaker Kang Beom-gu could’ve semi-remade at the time, he picked something unexpected. No, instead of reimagining, say, Dawn of the Dead, A Monstrous Corpse is based on Jorge Grau‘s The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (a.k.a. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie). Here, a radio transmitter’s ultrasonic wavelengths cause the dead to rise. A Monstrous Corpse is widely considered to be South Korea’s first zombie movie, but obviously it wasn’t the last. You’re in luck, by the way; this K-horror classic is available through the Korean Film Archive.
Srigala (1981)
The Indonesian Srigala is a quasi-remake of 1980’s Friday the 13th. It’s really more accurate to say Sisworo Gautama Putra‘s movie remakes certain scenes, as opposed to the whole movie. Here, some treasure hunters find more than just buried fortune upon reaching their destination; there’s a murderer hunting them down, one by one. By the end, the references to Friday the 13th become obvious.
Mahakaal (1994)
There are at least two Indian riffs on 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, but as of this writing, Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay‘s Mahakaal appears to be the only one to have gotten an official release outside of its homeland. The other, Khooni Murda (1989), has fallen through the cracks. Looking at reviews, that seems understandable. As for Mahakaal, this other Bollywood interpretation includes a character who does a hilariously bad impersonation of Michael Jackson. Par for the course, there’s a lot of singing and dancing in between the horror content.
Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (1995)
Sam Raimi‘s The Evil Dead inspired a number of filmmakers, to say the least. A few of them, however, saw this as more than an opportunity to do something equally gonzo; they straight up used that iconic horror movie as a blueprint. In the case of Shinichi Fukazawa‘s Japanese cult flick Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell, it “apes so much from Evil Dead that it’s virtually an unauthorized remake”. Story beats and Ash’s signature “groovy” are all included here. What was once so hard to find is now easily available with just the tap of a finger. So, do you dare to discover what’s been rightfully dubbed “The Japanese Evil Dead”?
Kucch to Hai (2003)
While Anurag Basu and Anil V. Kumar‘s Kucch to Hai is said to be a remake of 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, it also borrows from that movie’s sequel, as well as 1998’s Urban Legend. Keep in mind, no one in charge will confirm any of that. Horror fans, however, can spot an homage, official or otherwise. In this movie, it takes quite a bit of time, plus singing and dancing, before we reach the event that puts a target on the characters’ backs. Just be thankful there’s any attempt at suspense here; sometimes these Bollywood remakes don’t even bother doing that.
Yella (2007)
Prior to Christian Petzold‘s German remake of Carnival of Souls, there was a ’90s version that, in the past, has been torn to shreds by critics and audiences. Although Wes Craven is listed as a producer there, and was also nearly the director, he has little to do with the movie. As for Yella, it’s a more grounded retelling of Souls that’s hard to categorize; it’s more supernaturally tinted than straight up horror. Yet like the original, the story leaves room for interpretation.
Watching (2019)
More and more people have come around to P2, the nasty holiday horror movie that Roger Ebert called “well made” in his review. Nevertheless, P2 wasn’t a huge success, so learning there’s a Korean remake is a small surprise. The setup between Watching and its predecessor is the same; a workaholic is held captive and tortured by a parking garage attendant. Kim Sung-Gi‘s movie, though, has a plot twist that makes it all worthwhile.
Sharktopus (2023)
Remaking bad movies should be more common practice. In the case of Sharktopus, the Chinese version is actually something of an improvement. It’s only fitting that Dongsheng Hu and Shixing Xu‘s movie, one of many Chinese creature-features from the last decade, redoes a SYFY Original. These CGI-ridden spectacles are essentially the same thing, only now more absurd and brainless, if you can believe it.
Handsome Guys (2024)
One of the most random entries here has to be Nam Dong-hyup‘s Handsome Guys, the Korean Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Indeed, that beloved horror comedy is the basis for this movie, and for at least half of the time, it’s sort of faithful to the original. The style of comedy is also a bit different, but if you’ve watched enough Korean media, you shouldn’t be too caught off guard. Additionally, there is a more pronounced supernatural element in the last act.
