Top 10 Horror Flicks That Should Be Turned Into TV Shows!

Last Updated on August 3, 2021

So what’s your favorite horror TV show currently on air? Well, whatever the answer, there’s a high likelihood that your favorite series is a small-screen adaptation of a well known horror movie? Am I right? Wrong? Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that the new televisual trend these days in the horror genre is to turn classic movies into long form, episodic reimaginings. Heavyweights too, BATES MOTEL, HANNIBAL, ASH VS. EVIL DEAD, ROSEMARY’S BABY, DAMIEN, soon to be THE EXORCIST, etc. Nothing is sacred!

And hey, we thought why not toss our two cents into the bank. That’s right, we’ve been ruminating about what horror movies left untouched are good enough to become a legit TV series. Now, it only makes sense to consider major movies, franchises even, thus its broad appeal as a potential TV show. Know what we mean? Groovy! Slam her up top and check out our Top 10 Horror Flicks That Should Be Turned Into A TV Show!

#1. THE THING (1982)

Since so damn much of John Carpenter’s THE THING relies on in-house paranoia and the ever-eroding trust between major characters – not to mention the sheer possibilities of a shape-shifting alien monster – it seems THE THING could truly make for a great TV show. Not only that, you could even change settings each season – from the Arctic one season to the city another – and create the tension-filled suspense of discerning who among the cast of principals is actually a human-form-assuming ghoul…with a beard!

#2. POLTERGEIST (1982)

True talk, POLTERGEIST was once turned into a shortlived TV series subtitled The Legacy, but come on, with the way TV has increased in quality to the point of rivaling cinema itself – in addition to the technological leaps and bounds the form has taken – a newfangled Freeling family spook-show seems like a perfect choice to make a new series out of. As long as Carol Anne and Tangina the medium are somehow incorporated, the emotional core of the original film will remain intact. Just no more of those goddamn clowns!

#3. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)

Seriously, how f*cking cool would an INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS TV show be? I’d definitely watch that sucker, no doubt about it. After-all, there’s a reason why there’s been no less than 4 big-screen versions of essentially the same story (1956, 1978, 1993, 2007). Of course, allegories to communism may seem antiquated now, but one of the best things about the BODY SNATCHERS is how the subsumption of can be projected as any discriminating fear in the world today…xenophobia, gay panic, terrorism, you name it. Won’t be the same without Donny Sutherland’s greasy perm and John Holmes stache though!

#4. HELLRAISER (1987)

Be honest, would you clock a HELLRAISER TV show on the regular? Oh hell yes you would! Thing is, to keep the story action fresh, you could have a different character receive the baleful box every week, setting off a never-ending chain of nightmarish events centering on those maniacal pin-headed cenobites. Could work, no? Shoot, you can even bring the OG, Doug Bradley, to reprise his iconic role and bury his aging facade under the white glob of makeup. While we’re at it, why not bring in Clive Barker to script the series…it could breathe new life in what’s become legendary roles for both.

#5. CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984)

OUTLANDDDERRRR! Big ups to our man Courtney Gaines and his cheesy 80s ubiquity, with no role more prevalent than his turn as Malachai in CHILDREN OF THE CORN. Like many on this here list, deteriorating sequels often tend to sully the original, thereby dragging the entire franchise as a whole down a peg or two. A way to combat that is going the small-screen episodic route. I mean, would you rather see a direct-to-disc CHILDREN OF THE CORN 14 or a newly minted TV series based on the Stephen King original? Yup, count us in the latter camp!

#6. THE LOST BOYS (1987)

We’re actually quite puzzled as to why there’s never been any real attempt to bring THE LOST BOYS to the tube. Think about it, the only addendums we’ve been treated to (or tricked by) are a pair of woefully inept direct-to-video sequels that came about some 20 years after the mega-popular original. Garbage! It seems a perfect opportunity to revivify the entire franchise by taking us to Santa Carla (shout out to Santa Cruz!) via the small-screen. Bring back the Frog brothers, give Feldman a cool cameo and let this motherf*cker rip!

#7. SUSPIRIA (1977)

Though technically ensconced in Argento’s Mother of Tears trilogy, SUSPIRIA stands alone as its own entity in a way that could be done almost identically as an updated TV series. I know David Gordon Green had long been attached to a film remake, but come on, how killer would it be to set a TV show in a foreign ballet academy that moonlights as a cruel coven of witchery! I know American Horror Story did a season about witches, but bringing in the candy colored exorbitance of Argento’s stylings would up the subgenre by a factor of “oh f*ck!”

#8. PET SEMATARY (1989)

It seems that Stephen King’s ghastly tales have such universal appeal that any one of them could be brought to the small screen and plumbed to great depths, but really, there’s something extra intriguing about PET SEMATARY being turned into a TV show. Not only the backstory and family drama therein, but just in terms of animalistic variety. You could have a different animal reanimate every week, like old Church seen above, or even revolve an entire season around such if you damn well pleased. Come on, the promise of baby Gage with a scalpel? Our DVR’s already set!

#9. THE HAUNTING (1963)

One of the classic less-is-more horror exemplars comes via Robert Wise’s inimitable THE HAUNTING, which literally relies on nothing more than eerie ambience, shuddering windows and creaky doors to create a hair-raising horror. A perfect template on which to found a modern TV show, is it not? You could totally set each episode within the creepy confines of the mansion in question, creating a claustrophobic inescapablity on top of the haunted house affectation.

#10. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)

Simply substitute the titular London for Europe, and you could easily have a lasting lycanthropic horror yarn take place in a whole swath of different cities and locations. That’d be pretty badass, right? Not only does it pay homage to the fish out of water motif of the original, but you could also heighten the eeriness by highlighting the Gothic history of old Europe. Of course, with such a dearth of werewolves on TV at the moment, centering an entire series on the age-old horror villain seems a no brainer, particularly by splitting the character in half…man by day, wolf by night. We’re looking at you Landis, make this happen!