What to stream: Best American remakes of international horror films
New horror film “Speak No Evil” hits theaters this weekend, starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy and Aisling Franciosi. It’s a remake of a 2022 Danish horror film directed by Christian Tafdrup and written with his brother Mads, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently streaming on Shudder — it’s well worth the watch before, or after, you see the remake. It’s an astonishingly dread-filled film, with an outstanding performance from Danish actor Morten Burian in the lead role, who ably conveys the ennui, loneliness and existential crisis that leads his character and his family into danger. It’s also remarkably different film from the remake, and begs discussion and comparison between it’s similarities and differences.
American remakes of foreign horror films are nothing new, and in fact have been popular for decades, especially in the early 2000s, when Hollywood became enamored of East Asian horror cinema from Japan and South Korea. In fact, some of the American remakes have become well-regarded horror classics in their own right. So in honor of “Speak No Evil” (the original and the remake) here’s a list of some of the best American remakes of international horror films and their originals.
The first entry must be 2002’s “The Ring,” directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Naomi Watts in the creepy urban legend of a video tape that will kill you in seven days. The original Japanese film “Ring” (or “Ringu”) from 1998 is directed by Hideo Nakata, based on a 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki. Stream “The Ring” on Paramount+ or rent, and stream “Ring” on Shudder, Tubi, Kanopy or rent.
That trend continued in 2004, with Takashi Shimizu remaking his own “Ju-On” (2002) for an American audience with Sarah Michelle Gellar, about a cursed house. Both “The Grudge” and “Ju-On” spawned franchises, though Shimizu only directed the first remake. “The Grudge” is streaming on Peacock and “Ju-On: The Grudge” is on the Roku Channel or available for rent.
Austrian director Michael Haneke also remade his own film for an American remake with “Funny Games,” also starring Naomi Watts. The Austrian original is a bleak home invasion film about a pair of young men who take a family hostage and force them to play sadistic games. The 1997 original is streaming on Max or available for rent. The 2008 remake starring Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt and newly minted Venice Film Festival Silver Lion-winning best director Brady Corbet, is available for rent on iTunes and Amazon.
In terms of Scandinavian horror, the 2008 Swedish kiddie vampire movie “Let the Right One In” directed by Tomas Alfredson, was remade in 2010 by future “The Batman” director Matt Reeves, and stars Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz. Stream “Let Me In” on the Roku Channel or Tubi, and “Let the Right One In” on Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi, Kanopy or rent.
Italian master filmmaker Luca Guadagnino delivered his own spin on Dario Argento’s giallo classic “Suspiria” in 2018, expanding the world and lore of the story about a coven of witches embedded in a German ballet school and the young American woman who stumbles into it. The 1977 original boasts lush, violently colored vis uals and a fetching Jessica Harper as the heroine (stream it on Kanopy). The remake features Dakota Johnson in a role that becomes rather menacing as she ascends to the heights of power at the school, alongside Tilda Swinton and “X” scream queen Mia Goth, set against the background of political turmoil in 1970s Berlin. Stream the 2018 remake on Prime Video or Freevee.