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The Grudge and the 10 best foreign horror movie remakes

By Wesley Lara

LOS ANGELES - OCTOBER 12: Actors Sarah Michelle Gellar (L) and Clea DuVall pose at the premiere of Columbia Pictures' "The Grudge" at the Village Theatre on October 12, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - OCTOBER 12: Actors Sarah Michelle Gellar (L) and Clea DuVall pose at the premiere of Columbia Pictures' "The Grudge" at the Village Theatre on October 12, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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2. Funny Games (2007)

Remake of Funny Games (1997) – Austria

Taking a page from The Grudge‘s playbook, this horror movie remake was also remade by the same director as the original.

For this one, acclaimed Oscar-winning director Michael Haneke takes the reigns once again as he oversaw the remake of his own film, Funny Games, from 1997. The original was Austrian, while the remake was purely American and in the English language. Both films follow the same beats, but the American delivery manages to make an even more powerful impact.

Both films follow two well-dressed men invading the home of a family – two parents and a child – and proceeding to torture them for their own casual, almost even passive amusement. If that doesn’t sound exciting to you, then bad news: that’s pretty much the whole movie.

Yeah, this movie didn’t gel with American audiences at all, but Haneke pretty much expected this reaction. His story serves as a painful commentary on society’s lust for mindless violence and he paints this by having the film’s violence be off-screen and meandering.

In short, the movie’s content isn’t the strongest; however, its one that is elevated thanks to the stellar direction from Haneke and frightening performances from the game cast. The movie feels too real, almost to a fault, as the stuff we witness is absolutely terrifying, despite appearing to be uneventful in its execution.

It’s a movie designed to piss you off, while giving you something to chew on after the movie is over. Haneke has never been afraid to push boundaries and his remake of his own home-invasion horror film is further proof of that.

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