WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
I originally used to think this was some sort of zombie film, however I was completely wrong and instead Eli Roth had much better idea than that. Such a good idea in fact that Travis Z felt it was worth remaking in the early 2010s.
Frame for Frame
So I was really hoping at one point this wasn’t going to be the case, maybe a scene here or there – like Marcy in the bath – but it seems I was wrong; there are moments where it’s word for word! For example, when Bert steals the Snickers bar, he says that it’s because of the nougat in both versions. OK, it is worded slightly differently but I think my point still stands. I guess this is more noticeable when you watch the films back to back.
The one thing I will say for this is that it makes a little more sense because of the fact that they actually kept the character names the same which is really rare for remakes.
There’s Something in the Water
See, now even with the frame for frame nature of the remake, I don’t feel they make this as obvious as they do in the original – the reason Paul and co. become infected is because they drink or have contact with the water. Yes, they follow the pipeline when Paul fills the glass for Karen like in the original but they don’t show the fact that Henry’s infected body ended up in said water! Because of this, I actually found the remake pretty confusing the first time I watched it. Instead we find this out when the main characters discover it later in the film.
No Survivors?
We assume at the end of the original film that the body we see, either already thrown on the fire pit or lying in the stream, is Paul’s body. In the remake however, it is pretty obvious that they are all dead as we quite clearly see Paul’s dead body sitting in the forest and being discovered by Dennis (not too sure why though…) I actually thought they were going to change this and have Paul survive as we don’t see him starting to cough up blood like in the original after he falls in the reservoir. Well, it clearly wasn’t going to be Jeff was it? As he actually drinks the water in the remake instead of just being shot at the end of the original on the off-chance he might be infected.
Grim and Doctor Mumbo
I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s the way the role is played in the original film but Grim comes across much more sinister in the remake but his dog, Doctor Mumbo, is much calmer. It’s the calm behaviour that makes Doctor Mumbo’s aggression later in the film comes across as pretty odd especially as we don’t see the remains of Grim where the dog has clearly feasted on him giving it its first taste of human flesh.
Homage to the Original
Obviously this is an assumption but it’s not too far a stretch. In the original film, before Dennis bites Bert, he starts shouting ‘Pancakes’ and I will forever wonder why because there is absolutely no explanation for it. Now, in the remake the dead dog at the beginning is named Pancakes.
In Conclusion
What is there really to say about these two films? They are basically the same film so you can’t really distinguish which one is better or worse. However, having said this, because they are the same – I would still always go for the original film as it is the original concept and directed by the same person that actually wrote the story in the first place.
