There is nothing more synonymous with the coming of autumn (except maybe pumpkin spice) than horror films. Every year in the days and weeks in October leading up to Halloween, it’s hard to find a movie channel not showing some sort of scary flick. Unfortunately, not all horror films live up to our expectations and some barely even qualify as “good.” In the spirit of the season and the spirit of improving our viewing experiences, here are ten fanedits to watch this Halloween (or any other time of the year). Click on each title to be taken to the relevant IFDB page and the editor’s name to be taken to a complete list of their posted edits.
Editor: maniac
This edit combines the first two Hostel films into a single two hour film. Lots of dialogue cuts were made, as well as trimming down of unnecessary characters to tell the core story and highlight the complimentary themes of both films. At the time of writing, there is only a single review for this edit on IFDB, but the reviewer has many good things to say about the edit (in addition to a few critiques) and the score sits at an 8.8.
Editor: Q2
Working from both the theatrical and special edition releases of David Fincher’s Alien 3, Q2 cuts down on some of the excess of the special edition release and reincorporates several elements from the theatrical edition. One of the major changes is the movement of the introduction of the Xenomorph to later in the film, which required Q2 to completely rebuild the opening credits. At the time of writing, this edit holds a solid 9.0 on IFDB.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 – a steFANedit
Editor: steFANedit
In 1999, The Blair Witch Project revitalized the “found footage” genre, telling the story of three film students who went missing through the lenses of their own cameras. The very next year a sequel was released, but was poorly received in comparison to its predecessor. Even director Joe Berlinger was unsatisfied with the theatrical cut, so steFANedit recut the film to bring it closer to Berlinger’s original vision. The edit currently holds an 8.7 on IFDB.
Editor: Billy Baston
There are few films more iconic than Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula. Unknown to many, the film was recut and scenes rearranged before it was released to general audiences, which resulted in more than a few continuity errors. Working from the original shooting script, Baston restores the film to as close to the original intention as possible. There are two version of this edit: a “purist” version that uses footage from the 1931 Dracula, and a hybrid version that uses footage from George Melford’s Spanish language adaptation to restore some of the missing footage. At the time of writing, the edit holds a 9.3 based on 5 reviews on IFDB, and was voted the Favorite Edit of the Month in February of 2015.
Editor: steFANedit
Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of Halloween wasn’t particularly well received, nor was his 2009 follow-up (which was more of an original sequel than a remake of the original Halloween II). SteFANedit takes the original film and reworks it so that the killer is not who you are led to believe they are. The edit was originally released in February of 2012 and was updated in January of 2013. It currently holds an 8.8 on IFDB.
Editor: The Man Behind the Mask
This June 2010 edit reorganizes Guillermo Del Toro’s 1997 film Mimic into a more linear and organized experience, while cutting the film by about 15 minutes and giving the film a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The edit holds an 8.2 on IFDB based on 9 reviews, which praise TMBTM on his editing choices, but also note that the edit does not quite discard all of the negative elements of the original cut.
Editor: thecuddlyninja
The first season of FX’s American Horror Story told the tale of a family that moved into a haunted house in the Los Angeles area. The show was received very well by audiences and critics, as was this edit which condenses the original 12 episodes into a single 97 minute film. This is a must-see for fans of the series and is rated 9.2 on IFDB.
Editor: ranger613
The second TV-to-movie edit on this list takes the first two seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead and condenses them into a 177 minute zombie epic. With this edit, ranger613 addresses two of the major complaints about the first two seasons: the comparatively weak ending to the first, and the rather plodding pace of the second. Major reorganizations and edits help to make this a much different experience from the TV show without sacrificing the characters or the action that have become so important. The edit currently holds a 9.3 based on 12 reviews on IFDB.
Editor: RollWave
This edit combines John Carpenter’s 1994 film In the Mouth of Madness with Paul W. S. Anderson’s 1997 Event Horizon. Using In the Mouth of Madness as a base, scenes from Event Horizon are integrated into the main plot, maintaining the original storyline of the former and integrating similar elements from the latter. The edit sits with a 9.1 on IFDB.
Zombie Consecution: The True Fanedit Chronicles
Editor: Various
Featuring 12 short edits by a number of different editors, Zombie Consecution (the second project that collected shorts by editors around the community) is exactly what it says on the tin: a collection of zombie shorts. Ranging in length from two minutes to 16 minutes, each short tells a different story within the zombie genre. The collection holds a solid 8.0 on IFDB, and all 12 shorts are available for viewing on Vimeo through the IFDB page.
So, whether you watch one or watch them all, there’s sure to be something here that will strike your fancy. Browse for more horror edits on IFDB.
Happy Halloween!