20 Surprisingly Great Horror Movie Remakes

Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes is a brilliantly grotty piece of work, and so it was fair to assume that the 2006 remake was going to be an excessively glossy effort that planed all those lovely rough edges away.

But against the odds, director Alexandre Aja - who will be back on this list later - managed to serve up one of the more appreciably nasty horror remakes of its era, propelled forward by gut-wrenching suspense and some unforgettably brutal gore.

Aaron Stanford gives a stellar performance as the easy-to-root-for protagonist Doug, and far more than a mere tight survival flick, it's also a film that had something to say about modern America, just as the original 1977 film cast its own judgment on the culture of the time.

Its uncompromising tone certainly isn't for everyone, but it is does represent a game, serious-minded intent on Aja's part to deliver a remake that earns its keep.