Rather than remakes, the big trend at the moment is turning popular horror movies into TV series, and shows based on The Evil Dead, The Omen, and possibly even Suspiria are soon going to join successful small screen adaptations like “Scream,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” and “Bates Motel.”
While TV adaptations of beloved horror films are all the rage right now, the road to success for such projects hasn’t always been an easy one. Over the years we’ve seen many come and go, either failing to catch on with audiences or just plain never even finding their way in front of the cameras.
Today we take a look at eight of those horror TV series that didn’t quite work out as planned for one reason or another.
1) OPERATION: ALIENS
Believe it or not, 20th Century Fox actually tried to turn Aliens into a Saturday morning animated cartoon series for children, back in the early 1990s. Titled “Operation: Aliens,” the series was meant to tie in with the release of Alien 3, and though production did start on the show at a Korean studio, it never actually aired. It’s been rumored that a pilot episode was put together, though the footage has to this day never been seen. All that remains of the project are several production stills, which you can see above.
Interestingly enough, Kenner’s line of Aliens toys from the 1990s were actually based on the failed “Operation: Aliens” series, which would explain why the figures looked so different than the characters in the movies – and why Xenomorph creatures not even seen in the movies were turned into toys. Though many pieces of merchandise did make it to store shelves with the “Operation: Aliens” title attached to them, the Kenner toys were released under the title Aliens.
2) BATES MOTEL
Though A&E’s “Bates Motel” has proven that fans are into the idea of a Psycho TV series, the same idea didn’t work out so well back in the late 1980s. After the release and box office failure of Psycho 3 in 1986, Universal thought it’d be best to stop with the movies and instead try to rejuvenate the classic story by turning it into a TV series. Anthony Perkins refused to be a part of the project, but production rolled on and a pilot episode was shot. Kurt Paul – who had previously doubled for Perkins on Psycho 2 and 3 – was brought in to play Norman Bates.
The series was to center around a new character named Alex West, who inherits the infamous Bates Motel when Norman dies, but it was never picked up by a network. With the pilot shot, Universal decided to air it as its own standalone movie, premiering the original “Bates Motel” on July 5th of 1987. The 100-minute pilot garnered mostly negative reviews, and Universal got to work on the made-for-TV Psycho 4 shortly thereafter.
3) BLADE: THE SERIES
Despite the fact that badass vampire-killer Blade caught on with fans in the worlds of both comic books and feature films, the character wasn’t so lucky in the world of television. First up, Showtime had planned a spin-off series several years back, which was to see Wesley Snipes reprising the role. But the plug was pulled on that idea when Snipes dropped out, leaving Spike TV to pick up the ball and attempt to run with it.
Replacing Snipes with rapper “Sticky Fingaz,” “Blade: The Series” became Spike’s very first original scripted series, the 2-hour pilot premiering on June 28, 2006. Written by David S. Goyer – who wrote all three Blade films – and acclaimed comic book writer Geoff Johns, the pilot episode of the series pulled in big numbers for the network, and it seemed that they had a hit on their hands. Taking place after the events of 2004’s Blade: Trinity, the series saw Blade teaming up with a new character named Krista Starr, and a total of 12 episodes were aired on Spike.
Unfortunately, the ratings plummeted after the pilot, negative word of mouth delivering a death blow to the series that once showed promise. Spike announced shortly after the final episode of the season aired that they were not renewing the series.
4) CARRIE
Prior to the big screen remake we got in 2013, the 2002 made-for-TV adaptation of Carrie that starred Angela Bettis was actually intended to be the pilot episode for a spin-off TV series, which would see Carrie traveling around and helping out others with telekinetic abilities. According to Bettis, the plan was to have Carrie and Sue Snell embark on a Thelma and Louise-style road trip and to possibly delve into the town’s reaction to the prom night massacre.
The 2+-hour TV movie aired exactly 26 years and 1 day after the release of Brian De Palma’s film, premiering to low ratings on November 4, 2002. Due to the poor reception, the series was never picked up, and it left behind a pointless remake that did absolutely nothing to improve or expand upon the original film – or the novel. Its only saving grace was that the always impressive Bettis nailed the part of Carrie White – a role she was perhaps born to play.
LIST CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE!
5) THE LOST BOYS
This next one is a little bit different because it’s a project that never actually got off the ground in any shape or form. After the release of the Lost Boys sequel, The Tribe, in 2008, Corey Feldman began teasing that not only was a second sequel in the works, but a TV series centering around the Frog Brothers was also on the table. Apparently the plan was to have Feldman and Jamison Newlander reprise their roles of Edgar and Alan Frog, and the series was said to be in the same vein as “Supernatural.”
These rumors persisted for the next few years, Feldman continuing to tease the series while out promoting 2010’s The Lost Boys: The Thirst, the franchise’s second direct-to-video sequel. Last we heard, Warner Bros. shut down Warner Premiere, who had been handling the Lost Boys property, which spelled the end of all future sequel and series plans. “The Frog Brothers are homeless at the moment,” said Feldman back in 2013.
6) THE OMEN
After three sequels to the classic horror film The Omen, ending with 1991’s made-for-TV Omen 4: The Awakening, the plan in 1995 was to rejuvenate the popular franchise by spinning it off into its own TV series. Directed by Freddy’s Revenge filmmaker Jack Scholder, the pilot episode – simply titled “The Omen” – aired on Fox on September 8, 1995. Though the series was produced by original Omen director Richard Donner, it didn’t actually have anything to do with the films aside from sharing a name.
The pilot centered on a strange entity that uses humans as its host, a la Jason Goes to Hell, and the series failed to generate enough interest to be picked up. It has never been seen or heard from since it originally aired, and Donner has publicly expressed his displeasure with having his name attached.
The Omen finally heads to the small screen next year in the form of “Damien,” a sequel to the original classic that will air on A&E.
7) TREMORS: THE SERIES
1990’s Tremors spawned three sequels between 1996 and 2004, with another one headed our way this year. After 2001’s Back to Perfection, and while production was under way on 2004’s The Legend Begins, those pesky Graboids made the leap from film to television, starring in “Tremors: The Series.” The 13-episode series premiered on Syfy in March of 2003 and nabbed fairly respectable ratings.
Taking place after the events of Back to Perfection, the series again starred Michael Gross as Burt Gummer and focused on the residents of Perfection Valley attempting to live with a Graboid underneath their town – at the end of the third film, Burt and the gang leave an albino Graboid called El Blanco alive, an endangered species that seems to only want to consume those who deserve it.
Many fans will remember that Syfy totally botched the airing of the series, presenting the episodes completely out of order and leaving everyone highly confused. Though all 13 episodes were aired, the series was cancelled before it even wrapped up, and it was finally made available on DVD in 2010. Thankfully, all of the episodes were presented in the proper order for the DVD release.
8) ZOMBIELAND: THE SERIES
Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick originally developed the story as a spec script for a TV series back in 2005. When Ruben Fleischer came on board the project, he helped them turn the idea into a feature film, which was of course directed by Fleischer and released to big box office numbers in 2009.
After years of on and off sequel rumors, Amazon announced back in 2013 that Zombieland would be returning to its original roots, premiering the pilot episode of “Zombieland: The Series” in April of that year. Written by Reese and Wernick, with new actors playing the four main characters from the film, the 30-minute pilot was put together in an effort to generate fan interest in the series – Amazon promising that they’d pick it up for a full season run if the interest was there.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the pilot was pretty fun, there just wasn’t enough interest, and “Zombieland: The Series” was not picked up by Amazon. A true sequel to the film still eludes us.
Which of these do you wish had been given more of a chance? And which ones are better off dead? Comment below and let us know!