9. Michael Haneke - Funny Games (1997) / Funny Games (2007)
Austrian auteur, Michael Haneke, remade his Funny Games a decade later for American audiences, changing nothing except the language (the original is in German) and the actors (it is a shot for shot remake). Haneke intended his Austrian original for American audiences anyway, its sadistic and violent nature much more of a fit with the American-Indie scene of the 90s. The original remains the most effective of the two, but there really isn't much to choose between them. The '97 version is more powerful in its message, but the remake has a fantastic star turn from the underrated Michael Pitt, a favourite of art-house directors (Haneke, Gus Van Sant, Bertolucci) throughout his career. With the script remaining the same for both films bar a few millennial tweaks (mainly regarding technology), and Haneke even using the same sets and props, the only real reason for the remake was so that the director could fulfill his vision of having the film made for American audiences. Never going to rank in the upper echelons of Haneke's work, Funny Games only needs watching once, and it doesn't really matter which version you see.