8. Ann Farber - Funny Games (2007)
As soon as you hear the words shot-for-shot remake it should be ringing alarm bells in your ears. If the original material is so good then there is no need to fiddle with it, but if the original material is so good, then why do we need to remake it? Enter the 2007 remake of Michael Heneke's Austrian horror 'Funny Games', think of a stylised version of 'The Strangers' but without Liv Tyler pouting at everything, this role is filled by Naomi Watts. The all too familiar scenario of home invasion is given a splash of white tennis outfits and sent to be filmed in Long Island. Tim Roth and Naomi Watts play the Walton-esque Farber family who visit their holiday home in hopes of some rest and relaxation. They meet their neighbour in the garden playing with angelic boys Peter and Paul; it is at this point you as the audience you suspect that something might be wrong, amplified as the clean cut boys come round to borrow eggs in a creepy scene. After far too much talking and social commentary the film eventually ramps up the tension. The dog bites the dust first and their son barely makes it past the second act, relieving to see a film that isn't scared to off its child actors as it still has great shock value. Tim Roth takes a knife to the gut which gives Watts a chance to grab a shotgun, blowing the brains of one of their captors all over her eggshell walls. What makes a boring shotgun death so much more is the film's blatant breaking of the fourth wall. Just when you see a glimmer of hope for our leading lady, Paul grabs the television remote and rewinds the previous events, totally changing the ending and leaving you open mouthed. Taken out on the lake Watts is simply disposed of, hands tied she is pushed off the boat to drown, meanwhile you are still reeling from what has just happened. As a package 'Funny Games' is nothing, but the shotgun and boat scenes are something that really stand out and will leave you pondering/ struggling how to explain what you have witnessed. The film ends with Peter and Paul knocking on the door of their next victims. Hopefully, just like Mrs Farber, any hopes of 'Funny Games 2' will remain at the bottom of a lake.