The Grudge and the 10 best foreign horror movie remakes

1. The Ring (2002)

Remake of Ring (1998) – Japan

What else would be No. 1 and why wouldn’t I include the film that helped spark the Asian horror remake boom of the 2000s at the No. 1 spot?

A risky endeavor, considering the moderately high budget of the remake and the unproven draw of Asian horror movie remakes. But thanks to the talents of director Gore Verbinski (the director of the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy), The Ring came and swept the nation thanks to its now iconic-scares and the much feared line, “Seven days.”

A remake of the 1998 film, Ring, the 2002 version follows Naomi Watts playing a journalist who begins to investigate the mystery behind a strange video tape whose owners have mysteriously died after watching it. The tape is filled with disturbing black-and-white imagery (who could forget the maggots?) that only serves as the beginning of the horror to ensue.

The terror edges closer as each day passes, leaving only a short amount of time before an untimely death follows. Everyone knows the story now, but back in 2002, this was THE horror film to talk about.

American audiences were shocked to see this new level of supernatural horror. It didn’t hurt that Gore Verbinski knew how to build tension through each passing day, crafting a subtle, yet terrifying nightmare of a movie that used tension and jump scares to the best of their abilities. When something made you jump, it literally made you go into orbit.

The imagery alone was enough to grant this a spot on the list, but the interesting story and the infamous legend of Samara stuck to audiences like a leech and inspired a wave of remakes to try and replicate the horror of the remake. But no matter how good the film was, it never quite measured up to the “original” remake to start it all.

What are your favorite horror movie remakes? Do you like them at all or do you prefer completely new ideas? Sound off below!