5 Unrealized Horror Movies That Deserve Another Chance (& 5 That Should Remain Untouched)

5 Unrealized Horror Movies That Deserve Another Chance (& 5 That Should Remain Untouched)

Horror is one of Hollywood’s most popular genres, but some projects never make it to the big screen. Which unmade films should have been made?

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The process of getting a script funded, finding the right director, and seeing the project through to the end is rife with potential issues and roadblocks. While some of the best horror movies survived strenuous circumstances or financial problems, others didn’t make the cut. The creative minds behind these scary genre features aren’t always able to bring their ideas to the big screen.

From remakes to sequels to original movies, the well of unrealized horror scripts runs deep. Some of these projects deserve the chance to rise to the top, while others should remain at the bottom. After all, does the world really need a creature feature starring the Loch Ness monster, or a horror-comedy wherein Cheech and Chong battle Jason Voorhees?

10 Another Chance: Guillermo Del Toro’s At The Mountains Of Madness

In 2006, horror icon Guillermo Del Toro adapted H.P. Lovecraft’s “unfilmable” novella At The Mountains of Madness into a screenplay. Set in 1930, the script follows a group of Antarctic explorers who stumble upon mysterious ancient ruins. Terror ensues from there.

Del Toro jumped from studio to studio with his script, but none were happy with his desire to make a bleak, R-rated movie lacking a happy ending or a love story. At one point, James Cameron was set to produce and Tom Cruise to star. The project fell apart and was officially canceled. Now that movie audiences are more attuned to stark, hopeless horror films, At The Mountains of Madness deserves another go.

9 Leave It Be: John Carpenter’s Shadow Company

One of John Carpenter’s many unrealized films, Shadow Company’s script was written by the duo responsible for 1987’s cult classic The Monster Squad: Shane Black and Fred Dekker. The pair are known for combining horror, comedy, and militarized action. Black and Dekker’s script tells the story of a bunch of undead Vietnam Special Forces officers who wage an all-out zombie apocalypse.

While many horror fans were excited about the prospect of a shoot ’em up ghoulish horror film, the project fizzled out before production began. While he’s revered for brooding, atmospheric tales of terror, Carpenter doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to big-budget action movies (see Big Trouble In Little China and Ghosts of Mars). Shadow Company may have ultimately been a lackluster addition to the genre.

8 Another Chance: The Wachowskis’ Carnivore

The very first script written by the Wachowski sisters is called Carnivore. This gory story focuses on a soup kitchen that literally feeds the rich to homeless people. The owners of the operation, it turns out, are hungry for wealthy flesh.

Alas, it was impossible for the siblings to get funding for the film because it was seen as way too strange. Even after the success of The Matrix, the script failed to find an inroad. At one point, George Romero was set to direct the movie with Trimark producing. The project stalled, and both Romero and Trimark backed out. What a shame.

7 Leave It Be: Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash

The insane idea to create a next-level horror crossover between A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger, Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees, and Evil Dead’s Ash Williams came from New Line Cinema’s Jeff Katz, the man behind 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason. The production company wasn’t as invested as Katz, though, mainly because the idea of merging three franchises seemed like a major headache.

Bruce Campbell, who plays Ash Williams, also wasn’t excited about the concept. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m not real interested in crossovers,” he shared in a Reddit AMA. Intended to be a sequel to Freddy vs. Jason, there’s no doubt Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash would have been a box office success, albeit a totally derivative and self-indulgent one. The concept was eventually adapted into a six-issue comic book, though.

6 Another Chance: Alfred Hitchcock’s Kaleidoscope

In the mid sixties, Alfred Hitchcock strove to create his most shocking and debaucherous film to date. Inspired by the British serial killers Neville Heath and John George Haigh, Hitchcock wished to make a movie focused intensely on a brutal serial killer who targets women. He wanted to depict violence on the screen instead of suggesting it.

Most of Hitchcock’s creative collaborators wouldn’t touch the idea, deeming it too graphic and controversial. Eventually, writer Benn Levy wrote the script. However, Universal refused to fund the film, even though Hitchcock agreed to make it for $1 million. Had Kaleidoscope been made, it could have contributed to the turn toward gritty, taboo storytelling that defined cinema in the late sixties and early seventies.

5 Leave It Be: David Robert Mitchell’s Follow It

David Robert Mitchell wowed audiences with his original and thought-provoking 2014 horror movie It Follows. In the film, a supernatural entity jumps from person to person, transmitted through sex. Maika Monroe plays Jay, a college student who catches “It” from the man she’s dating.

The terrifying creature takes human form, stalking Jay ceaselessly in hopes of killing her. It Follows’ box office success led fans to share their desire for a sequel. A sequel, though, feels unnecessary as much of the terror in the first film rests on what’s unknown about the entity.

4 Another Chance: William Gibson’s Alien 3

Before David Fincher directed Alien 3 using a script developed by producers David Giler and Walter Hill (with the help of Larry Ferguson), cyberpunk author William Gibson was approached in 1987 to write the screenplay. Gibson is known for hard-hitting, intellectual science fiction works like Neuromancer. Originally, Giler and Hill wanted to make a two-part franchise installment that delves deeper into the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s nefarious dealings.

Gibson wrote a script he summed up as “Space commies hijack alien eggs—big problem in Mallworld.” However, 20th Century Fox was not happy with Gibson’s writing and asked him to revise it ⁠— which he unfortunately refused to do. Gibson’s script was developed into a 2019 streaming audio drama, but it would revolutionize the Alien franchise if he were asked to work on another film. Fingers crossed.

3 Leave It Be: Hammer Films’ Nessie

What’s exciting about this almost-collaboration between Hammer Films and Toho, the Japanese production company responsible for Godzilla, is special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano was on board to create the mythological monster at the bottom of Loch Ness. What’s not exciting about Nessie is it would have likely ended up a complete ripoff of Toho’s most successful lizard.

The plot of the film involves a toxic spill in Loch Ness, which awakens ol’ Nessie and sends her on a rampage toward the Pacific Ocean. Set to begin production in 1978, by 1979 the project stalled after its funding fell through.

2 Another Chance: David Cronenberg’s Frankenstein

Considered the king of body horror and psychological terror, David Cronenberg explored the idea of adapting Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein into a feature-length film. Cronenberg’s filmography attests to his fascination with the limits of scientific discovery (The Fly) and the effects of being cast an outsider (Scanners), so fans believe his approach to Frankenstein would have been on point.

Cronenberg wanted his Frankenstein monster to be more relatable and humanistic, a creature turned into a monster by society. The project never came to fruition, and Cronenberg fans still grieve over the loss.

1 Leave It Be: Tom McLoughlin’s Cheech And Chong Vs. Jason

After 1986’s Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, director Tom McLoughlin was asked to make another Jason movie. Producer Frank Mancuso Jr. told McLoughlin that Paramount was thinking about working with New Line to bring Freddy Krueger into the same world as Jason Voorhees ⁠— which would later evolve into 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason.

McLoughlin suggested using stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong since Paramount already owned the rights to their franchise. Mancuso flatly refused, and the world is likely better because of it.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/unrealized-horror-movies-deserve-another-chance-should-remain-untouched-john-carpenter-freddy-vs-jason-ash/

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