Editorials
15 Horror Films That Would Probably Make Good TV Shows (and Who Should Run Them)
With many horror films being turned into TV shows in recent years, we break down which other horror classics could benefit from the same treatment.
It used to reek of creative bankruptcy when a television show would decide to adapt a popular movie for its source material, or vice versa. This wasn’t always a failed prospect, but it crashed and burned enough times to sour audiences on the idea for some time. That being said, there’s been a serious resurgence of television shows that deliver incredible adaptations or continuations of classic films, horror included.
In the past few years there have been television takes on Hannibal, The Exorcist, and Psycho that all far exceeded expectations, and there’s already TV versions of The Grudge, Creepshow, and Child’s Play on the way. With the recent announcements that James Wan will be producing an I Know What You Did Last Summer television show and Adam Wingard on board to headline an Event Horizon series, the opportunity has never been more viable. Older properties that perhaps couldn’t properly be realized in a feature film will get a better shot through a season (or more) of a television show.
Accordingly, here are a number of films that would also make for solid TV shows, along with who we think would be good choices to run them.
Urban Legend
Urban Legend is another horror film that’s just as steeped in the ‘90s as I Know What You Did Last Summer and there’s arguably a much richer, more satisfying premise that drives Urban Legend forward. This is a film that could benefit from a television show for a number of reasons, but a major one being that there are a number of modern-driven urban legend and “creepy pasta” variations that this show could pepper between the all-time classics. Each episode could even be centered around a different urban legend-based murder so they all really get a chance to breathe.
Glen Morgan and James Wong of X-Files fame would be a perfect fit for this, but they were also separately involved in other projects like The Twilight Zone and Lore that are both centered around material that’d be appropriate for an Urban Legend series. Bring along Darin Morgan to take care of film’s dark wit and you’ve got a winner here.
The Faculty
The Faculty is itself a ‘90s-drenched, self-aware, modern reinterpretation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it’s the film that deserves the TV show, not the source material it’s based upon. The reason being that the heightened high school drama is a highly popular genre now with shows like Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina casually intermixing murder with teen drama. “Riverdale, but it’s Body Snatchers” doesn’t seem like a hard sell.
The director and writer combination of Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody that brought Jennifer’s Body to life could seriously kill this material. Kusama has only gotten more adept as a filmmaker and films like The Invitation show that she could make this a very conversational show with strong dialogue. And giving the material a slightly more feminine slant wouldn’t be the worst angle for the story either.
The Brood
David Cronenberg is responsible for all sorts of creepy creations and unnerving set pieces, but his 1979 masterpiece The Brood features some of not only the scariest work from his career, but also some of the most upsetting killer children in cinema history. This is another film where allowing the material to be expanded upon would only make it more disturbing, even if it were just for a six-episode treatment. The Brood is a complex enough horror film that it could easily sustain that much material.
Nick Antosca has done a lot of incredible work within both the horror genre and the medium of television, but his work on the four seasons of Channel Zero is truly next level stuff. The heights that are achieved on Channel Zero show that Antosca could easily replicate the terror present in the film and take it even further. Additionally, the show’s Butcher’s Block season specifically features evil deformed children that look like they’re explicitly influenced by The Brood, as well as a focus on mental illness. Make it happen.
Cube
Puzzle-horror film Cube has gained a second life as a cult classic in more recent years, but the movie has such a good premise that anyone can turn this gem into gold under the right circumstances. A television series version of Cube could break down the mind-bending narrative even more and devote a whole episode to each room of the cube and really put some thought into the ideas. It could even be treated almost like an elimination horror show where the audience knows that someone will meet their demise at the end of each episode.
Vincenzo Natali has only leaned into horror more over the years and become a greater part of the television scene that there’s no reason why he couldn’t handle the show himself. That being said, bringing in Marcus Dunstan of The Collector series or Saw mainstay Darren Lynn Bousman would perhaps offer up some more variety to the concept without being too redundant of their previous works.
Audition
Films that have a massive twist and really take their time to show their hand can be some of the most satisfying experiences ever. Takashi Miike’s Audition is such an example where the first half almost looks like a twisted attempt at a rom-com before things spiral out of control and it turns into a brutal, painful meditation on gender roles. Audition could have even more impact if it had an entire season of television to play out. Different examples of Asami’s dark side could be revealed in each episode before the larger twist finally comes to pass. Moving the film to an American setting wouldn’t be necessary, but a very different vibe could be cultivated by placing this within Los Angeles as opposed to Japan.
Audition should be a tender horror story that isn’t afraid to strike at unsuspecting moments. It’s also a story that should have a generous female slant to it rather than straight-up turning Asami into a monster. A director like Andrea Arnold could give Asami the layers she deserves and find a take on the story that makes it gutting and challenging in entirely new ways that are still in conversation with the original film.
The Omen
It’s already been done, but maybe a second chance is in order?
The Omen Trilogy is one of the few trilogies of films that actually doesn’t struggle to justify itself as each one marks a different phase in Damien’s life. It’s like Boyhood, but with the Son of Satan. The Omen could really find an interesting perspective by breaking itself down into a television show where each season spans the course of a different film and Damien’s maturation. It would take its time and show the slow development of this budding, confused devil.
Carlton Cuse has been a part of a number of prolific series, but his work with Kerry Ehrin on Bates Motel really does turn into something special. The series slowly show’s Norman Bate’s growth and struggles in a way that would be a perfect lateral move over to The Omen. Lucifer may handle comparable issues, but it’s Damien’s youth here that makes this such an interesting story.
Sleepaway Camp
Camp slasher Sleepaway Camp is sometimes seen as more of a punch line than an integral piece of horror canon, but there’s no denying that it’s left its mark on the genre and it spawned a whole slew of sequels. There’s a fun quality that this film achieves that other similar movies attempt to recapture, but fail to reach. It also has one of the most insane, controversial endings to a horror film of all time. Sleepaway Camp could definitely be matured-up a little (or made even more ridiculous), but a camp slasher series would be easy and something that audiences deserve.
Ryan Murphy may be tackling this exact sub-genre of horror with American Horror Story: 1984, but strangely David Wain seems like he could be a more eventful fit here. Wain has predominantly tackled comedy, but that’s recently proven to be no barrier for entering the horror genre. Wain’s work on the Wet Hot American Summer series is the perfect prerequisite for this, but his work on Childrens’ Hospital and They Came Together shows that he’s a genre and parody master and could easily tap into horror.
Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Viewers definitely don’t need a series based on Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but they said the same thing about a Hannibal series, so you never know what can work. An interesting angle for the show may be the prequel angle that Bates Motel did for Psycho where much of the series is a precursor to the film that looks at a growing Leatherface, with the final season chronicling the events of Texas Chain Saw. Arguably, the many attempts that have tried to expand on the Sawyer Family and Leatherface have been misfires, but a television show has the room to make this rough family story work.
Jean-Marc Vallée made something special with Sharp Objects and was able to deliver a sweaty, frantic energy that would be perfect for Texas Chain Saw’s gritty aesthetic. Vallée’s partner in crime on the series, Marti Noxon, also has enough experience to bring the twisted, dark Sawyer family history to life and isn’t afraid to tackle controversial material and then go even deeper with it. The two could absolutely find a unique, worthwhile angle for the material.
Alien
Alien is a classic piece of both horror and sci-fi canon and there would absolutely be a lot of pushback if an Alien television series were announced. But if shows based on Psycho and The Exorcist can happen, then clearly nothing is sacred if there’s enough money or a good enough idea on the table. The most appealing aspect of an Alien TV show is that there really aren’t any claustrophobic killer alien shows on television, so this would nicely fill that gap. There have also been enough disappointing Alien offshoots at this point that a TV series couldn’t do any greater damage than what’s been done in the past.
Bryan Fuller has helped bring some of the most beautiful television shows to life and he’s made it abundantly clear that he’s a horror fiend. Fuller has worked on enough disparate properties, some of which were even set in space, that this doesn’t feel out of his wheelhouse by any stretch. It’d be even better if he could remix the material from across the various films in the franchise, like he did with Hannibal, and get particularly creative with the show’s lore.
Final Destination
There’d be an odd poetic justice the universe if Final Destination ended up as a television show since the script for the first film originally began as a pitch for an X-Files script. The Final Destination films are surprisingly some of the most consistent horror films to come along in a series and allowing that a chance to grow even further on television is well deserved. There have been attempts and rumors to get another film back together, but maybe TV is the better route. It’s yet another series where devoting each episode to a different death could yield some very satisfying results.
Brad Anderson hasn’t just stuck to the horror genre through his career, but he’s turned out some winners so far. It’s actually Anderson’s work on an episode of Fringe, “The Plateau,” that points to why he would fit well with this show. The episode’s introduction illustrates how the episode’s villain is able to pull off an elaborate murder through an outrageous Rube Goldbergian series of events, all from him just dropping a pen. Final Destination thrives off of that kind of interconnected energy.
The Ring
A Grudge television series may already be in production for Netflix, but there’s debatably even more that could be done with a prolonged look in The Ring’s universe. There have been such sophisticated detective procedurals that deal with the occult, like True Detective or Mindhunter, so really focusing on the investigative aspect would turn this into a unique spin on the genre. Besides, after the total failures of The Ring 2 and Rings, this could only be an improvement for the series’ brand.
Ana Lily Amirpour has done solid, impressive work on ambitious television series like Legion, Castle Rock, and The Twilight Zone, plus her signature film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a classic. Conjuring that same energy for a Ring series could be really powerful and she could even return to her black-and-white aesthetic. Amirpour has a unique enough point of view that she could take this premise and turn out something personal with it.
Pumpkinhead
Pumpkinhead and its sequel are hardly the Holy Grail of the horror genre, which is exactly why they’d make for a fun, experimental television show. Fans of the Pumpkinhead films are usually more invested in the creature’s grotesque design than the finer story beats. In that regard, Pumpkinhead could really work by veering off course from the original and just using the skeleton of the original films to fuel its fresh take. A particularly interesting take would be if one of the main characters gets turned into Pumpkinhead and they have to learn how to deal with it and turn it to their advantage, rather than making the character an outright villain.
The above approach is very similar to the structure of Swamp Thing, so it stands to reason that Gary Dauberman and Mark Verheiden could also find a creative take on Pumpkinhead for a series. The two of them both have enough experience with connected universes that it’d be interesting to see what a larger universe of monsters for Pumpkinhead to square off against might look like.
Prince of Darkness
John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness has always been a bit of a dark horse in the director’s filmography, but it still has plenty of die hard fans that can appreciate its different approach to an apocalypse story. Prince of Darkness basically involves some evil goo that gets discovered that’s the essence of Satan himself and then all Hell starts to break loose—literally. Prince of Darkness is seen as a flawed masterpiece from Carpenter, but it provides almost an Agatha Christie-like approach to its setup as this evil attempts to be understood. This is where a television version of the material could really prosper and turn the story into more of a claustrophobic meditation on faith and the nature of evil. It could make for a very different horror series.
Mike Flanagan creates an intense claustrophobic terror on The Haunting of Hill House and so much of that series revolves around characters simply talking. Flanagan always knows how to get the most out of his adaptation, so it feels like he could take this premise from Carpenter and deliver an even more terrifying take on it. There’s even a bit of an Oculus energy to Carpenter’s film.
The Thing
The Thing is another one of those legendary horror films that are nearly untouchable due to their influence on the genre. Any attempt to redo The Thing would have to be done with extreme trepidation, the utmost respect for the source material, and a firm understanding of the importance of practical effects and gore. This is another horror series that probably isn’t necessary, but it’d just be so much fun to watch The Thing’s alien whodunit mystery play out over the course of eight episodes.
Craig DiGregorio and his team from Ash Vs The Evil Dead seemed to often be able to defy what was thought to be possible with practical effects on that series. The show marked a strong return to form for practical gore and if anyone’s able to do this original film justice, it’d be these guys. They’d likely also be able to find a dark humor to the property that can go a long ways in something as tense as this.
Castle Freak
Castle Freak is schlocky horror fun from the 1990s courtesy of Stuart Gordon. There’s an inherently terrifying idea at the center of the film where a couple purchase a new home that happens to have a deformed monster hidden away within it. Castle Freak is gross, exploitative fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s currently a remake in production, but a television show could take the bare structure of this film and turn it into something much deeper. A season-long take on Castle Freak could let the monster really bide his time before his reveal to the family and play into the myriad of weirdness in their castle before everything comes to light. There’s such a loose story in place that the show could explore directions like who’s responsible for the “castle freak,” if more are out there, and if he can possibly be befriended to fight an even greater threat.
Neil Marshall is no stranger to horror films that revolve around creatures, with The Descent and Dog Soldiers both being strong examples, but his more recent work in Game of Thrones and Hellboy shows the British director moving further in the direction of gothic castles and the territory that consumes Castle Freak. Marshall could actually make the story scary rather than just shocking.
These selections are just a taste of what could be possible. Which horror films do you think are prime for a longer exploration via television?
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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