As Nosferatu reboot goes down a storm with critics take a look back at the best and worst Hollywood horror remakes from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho to terrifying Black Christmas

Critics have gone wild for the latest horror remake as Nosferatu is set to return to screens with Robert Egger's remake of the 1922 silent classic. 

In this new version, Bill Skarsgård takes on the role of the bloodthirsty Count Orlok, with Lily-Rose Depp playing Ellen Hutter, the object of his sinister obsession.

Early reviews are already raving, calling the film 'hypnotic,' 'devilish,' and 'the scariest movie since The Shining,' as the movie posted a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile Johnny Depp's daughter, 25, is stealing the show, as The Hollywood Reporter wrote: 'The film belongs to Lily-Rose Depp, whose performance is a revelation,' as Collider called it 'one of the year’s best performances.' 

Horror remakes are a popular genre, from the 1998 reboot of Alfred Hitchcock's legendary Psycho to on of the earlier slasher films Black Christmas. 

Here we take a look back at some of the best and worst Hollywood horror remakes as we dive into which were worth uncovering and which it would have been best to leave alone. 

Jeepers Creepers (2022) 

A 2022 reboot of Jeepers Creepers was met with dismal reviews from fans and critics alike who said the franchise 'would never be the same' after the movie's release.

This latest instalment of the 2001 series - its fourth - was taken over by Timo Vuorensola, after the original director Victor Salva was ousted several years ago when his 1988 conviction for molesting a 12-year-old boy was widely publicised. 

Some fans of the 2001 original and its sequel Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) criticised changes made by Vuorensola, citing 'sloppy' CGI, and a 'non-sensical' plot among the film's weaknesses. 

However, it is the reimagined Creeper - the central villain - which has come in for some of the harshest criticism, with some moviegoers saying it has reduced the picture to a 'slasher movie'. 

The creeper, a flesh eating monster who rises every 23 years to feast on people's organs, was first seen when Justin Long and Gina Phillips (playing Damien and Trish) took a highway trip in the first film 21 years ago.

While it teased some creeper folklore, and hinted at how the mysterious and seemingly indestructible creature came to be, fans were still left looking for answers, bringing about hope for a fourth version to tie up loose ends.

Overall, this instalment was less successful than the first two, and after it was panned by moviegoers, Timo Vuorensola said in a YouTube interview that he would take over the franchise and give it 'new life'.

However, Jeepers Creepers Reborn, which stars Jarrueau Benjamin as the creeper, alongside Imran Adams and Sydney Craven as the main protagonists, has disappointed many.  

It shows the couple travelling to a horror festival, where they end up in a creeper-themed escape room - the first three films are referenced as fictional and the creeper has 'fans' who then try to sacrifice a pregnant Sydney to the hungry monster.

Psycho (1998) 

It is one of the most critically-acclaimed horror films in cinematic history.

Alfred Hitchcock's original 1960s Psycho follows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a woman who steals a large sum of money from her boss and seeks refuge at the remote Bates Motel, run by the mysterious Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). 

After Marion vanishes, her family and a detective start to investigate, uncovering unsettling truths about Norman and the motel.

And the psychological horror film returned for a remake in 1998 directed by Gus Van  Sant and starring Vince Vaugh, Anne Heche and Julianne Moore. 

Despite being filmed in colour and set in 1998, the film was a close shot for shot retelling of the classic, copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing. 

The film also reused the original script by Joseph Stefano and the musical score by Bernard Herrmann. 

However, despite it's attempts to replicate the original, Psycho was a commercial failure and received terrible reviews from critics and has a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

It won the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Remake and Worst Director, and was nominated for Worst Actress for Anne's role as Marion. 

However, it also earned two Saturn Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Writing. 

The Grudge (2020) 

Originally released in 2004, The Grudge is a Japanese-American remake of the 2002 Japanese film Ju-On: The Grudge. 

The plot follows an American nurse living and working in Tokyo who exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim. 

Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr the film unfolds in a nonlinear sequence of events and includes numerous intersecting subplots. 

The film was remade in 2019 with the plot following a police officer who investigates several murders that are seemingly connected to a single house. 

Starring Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir and John Cho, Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an average rating of 4.1/10 rating. 

The critics consensus reads: 'Dull and derivative, the rebooted Grudge wastes a talented cast and filmmaker on watered-down scares that may leave viewers nursing grievances of their own.'

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: 'Pesce has hired some fine actors and squandered them on a plot that isn't ingenious enough to justify the heartlessness that's all part of the package at this end of the horror movie market.'

The Ring (2002) 

Released in 2002, The Ring is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 Japanese horror film Ring, based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki.

Naomi Watts stars journalist Rachel Keller who discovers a cursed videotape that causes its viewers to die seven days later.

The film was a huge box-office success and became one of the highest-grossing horror remakes of all time, grossing $249.3 million worldwide on just a $48 million budget.

The film won Best Horror Movie and Best Actress for Naomi Watt's performance at the Saturn Awards and also picked up both an MTV Movie Award and Teen Choice Award a year later.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 71% as the critics consensus reads: 'With little gore and a lot of creepy visuals, The Ring gets under your skin, thanks to director Gore Verbinski's haunting sense of atmosphere and an impassioned performance from Naomi Watts.'

The Ring ranked number 20 on Bravo's list of The 100 Scariest Movie Moments and  Bloody Disgusting ranked it sixth in their list of the Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade. 

They wrote in 2009: 'The Ring was not only the first American 'J-horror' remake out of the gate; it also still stands as the best.'

Black Christmas (2006 and 2019) 

The 1974 Canadian film has become known as one of the earliest slasher films despite receiving mixed reviews when it was first released. 

The story follows a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), as they to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. 

Initially, Barb encourages the caller, but she stops when he responds threateningly. Next, Barb's friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose.

The horror has been remade twice, both in 2006 and 2019 with neither receiving living up to the original.

The 2006 version only received a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the critics consensus reading: 'A gratuitous remake of the 1974 slasher, Black Christmas pumps out the gore and blood with zero creativity, humor, or visual flair.'

Over a decade later the 2019 reboot received a 40% rating with the website stating: 'Better than the 2006 remake yet not as sharp as the original, this Black Christmas stabs at timely feminist themes but mostly hits on familiar pulp.'

Starring Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon and Lily Donoghue, the film was predicted to gross $10-12million in its opening week, however it ended up debuting to just $4.2million. 

Let Me In (2010) 

Directed by Matt Reeves, the 2010 romantic horror film is a remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In which was based on the 2004 novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

Set in the early 1980s, the story follows a bullied 12-year-old boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who befriends and develops a romantic relationship with a child vampire girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The movie received critical acclaim upon release and was placed on several top ten lists of best films of the year.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 88%, with an average score of 7.6/10 as they consensus reads: 'similar to the original in all the right ways—but with enough changes to stand on its own—Let Me In is the rare Hollywood remake that doesn't add insult to inspiration'.

The film went on to win a number of awards including Top Independent Film at the National Board of Review Awards and Best Horror and Best Young Performance by a Younger Actor for Chloe's role at the Saturn Awards.