To allow a majority rule, I chose three films and their remakes to see if for one, they were worth it, if the remake improved on the original, and if the remake brought anything new to the table.

The first pair of films I chose were the “Dawn of the Dead,” films. The original made by legendary zombie maker George A. Romero, the other made by Zack Snyder who wouldn’t be known until “300” and “Watchmen” were released.

Romero’s version puts a news producer, a helicopter pilot, and two cops inside a shopping mall only to fortify it and try to survive the zombie attack.

Romero’s films starts right as the zombie “disease” has already taken effect and people are scurrying around trying to figure out what the hell is going on. A fact that has never been explained in any of the Romero zombie pictures – some other zombie films try to give a soul source but still are all just part of cinematic speculation.

In Snyder’s version, some things are similar to the original. People are trying to survive from becoming zombies inside a shopping mall, yet there are more characters and more of an incentive to eventually leave the mall where Romero started to have his heroes want to stay.

Snyder keeps the cop, but adds a nurse, a young couple expecting their first child, a know-it-all despite his employment at Best Buy, a rich lothario that just so happens to own a boat, three security guards that at first trust no one, and a handful of redneck look a likes fresh from being rescued by a truck driving mama.

All parties realize they need to live and begin life inside the mall as a make shift family, however, the possibility of actually surviving is always in the back of their minds. But as usual there are too many chiefs and not enough indians when it comes to escaping the mall to greener pastures – or in their case, a boat to possibly find an island to live on and escape the zombies, something only briefly mentioned in the original film as the heroes first board the helicopter en route to somewhere other than Pittsburgh.

So a small original gets blown up and expanded to add more of a cast and a hell of a lot more zombies. And of course when it comes to zombie films they are indeed the main characters of the film. Romero’s zombies are usually slow moving, not very smart, and easy to at least run away from if need be. Snyder’s not so much, his zombies can actually run and run fast, and they may not be the brightest but they are a lot stronger.

What these new attributes gave the “Dawn” remake was that you never really knew what to expect from any zombie at any given time. Yes, there is the sub-plot of one of the characters hiding the fact they were bitten, a bite that will eventually kill them and turn them into part of the walking dead, but other than that, Snyder and those involved went way beyond updating the original with fresh new techniques and storylines compared to its original framework.

Each film looked at separately could come close to being looked at as not even a remake. There are so many differences done in each film that had Snyder’s film been set inside an airport and been named something other than “Dawn of the Dead,” then you wouldn’t even consider it a remake at all – something that rarely happens anymore.

I wish I could say the same thing for the other films I considered to compare.

Next up were “The Omen,” films, the original stars Gregory Peck in a rare genre shift to horror. The two films are about a child being born and as it turns out, just so happens to be the son of the devil. The remake starred Live Schreiber and Julia Stiles as the parents and co-stars Mia Farrow as the nanny who helps Damien “The Devil’s Son” Thorn survive the threat of his father finding out who he really is and try to kill him. The original premise and acting was superb and well directed by “Lethal Weapon” helmer Richard Donner. The only good quality I could say about the remake aside from Farrow is that the film was released June 6, 2006 – 666, get it!?

The remake was almost a spitting image of the original, not one real major change other than how people happen to die, especially the famous scene where the first nanny hangs herself in front of a crowd of people at Damien’s birthday party – both films of course make the scene the show stealer though, followed with the great line, “It’s all for you Damien, it’s all for you.”

If you had to choose one or the other, easy choice, take Peck and Donner hands down.

Finally, I endured the two “Amityville Horror” films. Original film starred James Brolin and Margot Kidder of “Superman,” fame where the remake had Melissa George and Ryan Reynolds. The remake, just like that of “The Omen,” was close to splitting images of the original. The only exception being the original ran close to two hours long where the remake was about an hour and a half.

Reynolds, staying away from comedy for once, was a bright spot as the dad turned evil doer and was better at his role than Brolin, but Kidder killed playing the mother who should have decided to move the family out of the house trying to kill them a long time ago rather than waiting close to 30 days to do so – fitting it was that George went on to star in “30 Days of Night,” apparently she is used to trying to survive 30 days whether it be her husband trying to kill her, or vampires.

But when it comes to these two films, I’d say they’re each a push. One wasn’t really superior over the other yet the acting is a smidge better in the original.

What all this tells us as horror fans is that when it comes to the horror remakes, 1 out of 3 is actually worth it. For every “Last House on the Left,” remake, we have a “Prom Night,” for every “Halloween,” we have a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” So, watch at your own risk and don’t complain about the remakes – they’re going to be around for a long time.