These days it seems originality in Hollywood has gone the way of the dinosaur, seeing as how a huge percentage of the material being churned out is a remake or reboot.
While there are some film properties that definitely can stand to be redone and reintroduced to a new generation of moviegoers, the truth is, the vast majority of reboots are big, steaming piles of something that falls from a bovine rear end.
Here's a list of seven of Hollywood's biggest and smelliest remake disasters, films so terrible they might actually make you throw up in your mouth a little.
Psycho (1998)
Alfred Hitchcock more or less reinvented the horror genre with his masterpiece "Psycho," the twisted tale of a man who simply loved his mommy dearest so much he actually became her and murdered naked chicks in the shower.
Director Gus Van Zant decided to try bringing this film back to the silver screen in a remake designed to introduce the infamous Norman Bates to a whole new generation of viewers. Unfortunately, he failed miserably, creating what's considered to be the worst film remake of all-time.
When skilled directors make a successful remake, they take core elements of the original story and add their own flare, twists, and touches to it to make it fresh. Van Zant took a different route, more or less making a shot-for-shot remake of the original "Psycho" right down to the camera angles.
Legendary film critic Roger Ebert summed it up best when he stated, "The movie is an invaluable experiment in the theory of cinema, because it demonstrates that a shot-by-shot remake is pointless."
Godzilla (1998)
Any fan of the monster film genre knows that the original 1954 Godzilla is a classic that not only introduced one of the most iconic figures in pop culture, but was also a commentary on the times, as it explored the danger and hysteria surrounding the threat posed by hydrogen bomb testing.
This is one of many reasons the remake from the 1990s -- a complete turd of a film -- devoid of any sort of social commentary reflecting the times, seems so disconnected from the meaning of the original and from the franchise in general.
The movie was directed by disaster film virtuoso Roland Emmerich -- one of the main dudes behind the awesome 90s goodness known as Independence Day -- who succeeded in creating a dud that contained amazing effects for the time, but a script weaker than a house of cards.
Godzilla made close to $380 million worldwide, but was shredded like a block of mozzarella in a most ruthless and brutal fashion by critics and fans alike. Folks hated the acting, directing, and the monster's t-rex style redesign with the intensity of a thousand suns, leading the film to be nominated for several Razzie awards.
After the severe backlash, TriStar, the studio responsible for this monstrosity -- see what I did there? -- scrapped plans it had for a full trilogy.
Godzilla, the 1998 version, is currently sitting at a pretty awful 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Clash of the Titans (2010)
The original 1981 Clash of the Titans was famous for it's stop-motion effects, which at the time were kind of cool, but man, when you watch it today, it's excruciatingly cringeworthy.
This was apparent to some clueless studio suits in Hollywood who thought, "Hey, you know, stop-animation sucks, but 3D is all the rage these days, so let's do a Clash reboot and milk it for all it's worth." Which is precisely what they did, with totally disastrous results.
Now, the film's biggest issue was the 3D, as the aforementioned geniuses at the studio responsible for this bad boy didn't get the bright idea to give it some extra dimensions until after it was shot, making all of the 3D post-conversion. It was pretty awful.
Aside from the horribly done 3D -- which really helped to sour the craze with audiences and critics alike -- the story just wasn't any fun and the acting was subpar.
Somehow, this junk managed to get a score of 28 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, though it probably deserves much less.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Hands down, one of the greatest sci-fi "what if" stories ever created has to be the original 1968 version of Planet of the Apes. The movie has an intriguing premise, fantastic acting from Charlton Heston, and some of the most memorable movie quotes of all-time.
I mean, who hasn't heard the whole "Damn dirty ape" bit before?
It's not a movie that needs a remake. Like ever.
Yet, during the beginning of the remake/reboot boom, Hollywood decided to give it a shot, putting veteran director Tim Burton in charge of the project. Who better to take on such a dark subject than one of the creepiest, darkest directors in the business, right?
The film was moderately successful financially, but critics and fans of the original weren't impressed, though it was hailed for its visual style, something Burton has always excelled at.
Again, this is a remake that suffers from being too much like the original with the director not adding anything fresh or new to the mix to make it his own.
In other words, when people talk about the Apes franchise, it will always be in reference to the original 1968 film first, then the newer prequels second. This remake will be lost in space.
Karate Kid (2010)
If you're an 80s kid, the tale of bullied teenager Daniel Larusso and his rise to karate master through the expert tutelage of Mr. Miyagi is an untouchable classic, a staple of what made the era so memorable.
So of course, Hollywood had to get their grubby little paws on it and totally destroy millions of peoples' childhoods with an absolutely craptastic remake that failed to achieve any of the magic of the original in spectacular fashion.
While the original nailed the whole "fish out of water" trope by having Larusso move from rough and tumble New Jersey to California, folks didn't find the remake's premise, moving Will Smith's son Jaden -- named Dre in the film -- from the U.S. to China relatable or believable.
While Jackie Chan is a great actor, he wasn't a suitable replacement for the strong, wise Miyagi who did more than teach Daniel how to defend himself, but how to strike a balance in every area of life, preparing him for greater battles down the line. You know, adulthood and stuff.
Oh, and uh, the main character in the remake learns Kung Fu, which is a completely different fighting style than karate, so yeah, calling it the "Karate Kid," when there's no actual "karate" doesn't win it any points either.
The Bad News Bears (2005)
When it comes to irreverent sports movies starring kids, it gets no better than The Bad News Bears, a classic from the 1970s starring funny man Walter Matthau as the ultimate bad influence on little leaguers everywhere.
If you're a big fan of political correctness, you'll hate the original film, which is what makes it so indescribably awesome. However, the remake lacks this irreverence and is much more "safe" in what it chooses to portray, losing the charm of its predecessor.
The lack of care and effort put into the film, which stars Billy Bob Thornton, is clear from the get-go, and the story comes off as a desperate attempt by studio executives to play off the nostalgia factor from parents who grew up watching the original.
Sure, it was time for a new adaptation of the story to examine what life as a kid is like in today's world, but the remake doesn't really capture that, which is partially why so many critics and moviegoers just weren't that into it.
Fantastic Four (2015)
All of the films on this list are horrible enough to make your eyes bleed, but this one might just take the taco for the worst out of the bunch.
Back when the superhero movie boom was in its infancy -- think back to Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy -- Sony put out a rather bland and unimpressive Fantastic Four film starring Chris Evans, who would later go on to play the legendary Captain America. While the film was just "meh," it was, like most comic book movies of the time, fun to watch.
Oh and the director and writers actually attempted, for the most part, to stick to the comic book source material.
The remake took everything about the original film series and basically took a number two on it and flushed it down the toilet.
The director, Josh Trank, was apparently in the middle of some sort of psychotic breakdown and decided to let the insanity fly in the film, straying so far off the grid from the source material the franchise was hardly recognizable.
Making classic villain Dr. Doom some sort of angry blogger while having Sue and Johnny adopted siblings was just the tip of the iceberg. The Thing slaughters a whole bunch of people and the whole plot revolved around the industrial military complex rather than focusing on themes of family as the original did.
Combine this less than stellar writing, acting, and special effects, and you get a pile of creative garbage so unappealing not even raccoons would eat it.
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