10 Film Remakes That Are Better Than The Original

The Original

Like many on this list, there’s really nothing wrong with the original version. In the case of Cape Fear, director J Lee Thompson delivered a tense thriller, with Robert Mitchum offering a broodingly psychotic villain, in the shape of Max Cady, convicted rapist out for revenge on the lawyer (played by the perfectly cast Gregory Peck) he blames for his incarceration.

Notions of sexual violence set the movie off into dangerous territory for the times, with Hollywood still under the influence of the morally-guided Hays Code.

The Remake

Ultimately it might be the freedom from these shackles that allowed the remake to surpass its predecessor. That and the fact that Martin Scorsese was at the helm and offering old pal and muse Robert DeNiro an opportunity to unhinge himself entirely; with a terrifying turn in the Max Cady role.

Scorsese retains the basic storyline, but pushes the envelope from taut thriller to full-on horror, with its dark tone and heavily symbolic splashes of satanic reds and a jarring soundtrack.

Truly sticking the knife into the fragile family dynamic, Nick Nolte takes over from Peck as the tarnished lawyer trying to protect his family from DeNiro’s monstrous villain. The film eclipses its earlier incarnation however, thanks to a superb, yet deeply unsettling performance from a young Juliette Lewis, more than holding her own against such heavyweight counterparts.

And, of course, this also happens to be the film that inspired one of the Simpsons greatest parodies of all time, involving Bart, Sideshow Bob and a lot of garden rakes.