The 15 Most Underrated Remakes Ever

I know, I know; nobody likes remakes (except maybe the people who own the rights to the film that’s getting remade). They are cash grabs. They’re soulless. They’re never as good as their source material.

You can feel the but coming, right?

But! Not always. Some remakes contain plenty of artistic value. Some are made by major filmmakers and incredible casts of actors. Some are not only as good as the movies they’re based on — they absolutely exceed them.

Today at ScreenCrush we’re celebrating those sorts of remakes. But instead of just picking the same old examples everyone cites when making lists of great remakes — The Thing, The Fly, A Fistful of Dollars, Gymkata — we’re picking some of lesser known, little seen, unappreciated, and sometimes outright misunderstood remakes. Most are from the last few years — Hollywood produces a lot of remakes these days — but the first third of the list is dedicated to 20th century remakes — including one that’s already 75 years old.

None of these movies prove that all remakes should be taken seriously as major artistic endeavors. Plenty of them live down to the stereotypes that they’re all worthless, mercenary endeavors. But they do serve as a reminder of that classic Roger Ebert adage: It’s not what a movie is about. It’s how it’s about it. Likewise, it’s not what you remake; it’s how you remake it.