21 Underrated Remakes That Escape The Shadow Of The Original

Dredd isn't so much a direct remake as it is an act of course correction. The Sylvester Stallone-starring Judge Dredd was a massive flop in 1995. Reviews were scathing and the movie topped out at just $34 million in domestic box-office receipts. What was supposed to be a summer blockbuster instead turned into a joke. 

It took 17 years, but the comic book character finally hit screens again. Dredd avoids the silly, jokey tone of its predecessor, morphing itself into an intense action flick instead. The plot is pretty basic: Dredd (played by Karl Urban) has to fend off dozens - if not hundreds - of armed henchmen in order to make his way through a massive building in order to take down the kingpin, who's flooding the streets with a dangerous new narcotic. Despite better reviews, a better representation of the character, and a lot of exciting violence, the remake suffered from the public's memory of getting burned the first time.

When all was said and done, Dredd earned just $13 million domestically - less than half Judge Dredd's total, despite higher ticket prices. People who did see the movie largely agreed it washed the bad taste out of their mouths, and there's a long-standing online movement to get a sequel made.

3:10 to Yuma is one of the most notable Westerns of the 1950s. Ven Heflin plays Dan Evans, a rancher who accepts a job with a formidable challenge - he has to make sure dangerous outlaw Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) gets on board the titular train in time so he can be transported to his upcoming trial. Wade's henchmen and brother try to prevent this from happening. Wade even attempts to bribe Evans into letting him go free. The film is exciting and tense.

Russell Crowe took over the Ben Wade role in James Mangold's 2007 remake, and Christian Bale took over as Dan Evans. You couldn't find two more powerhouse contemporary actors than them, which gets the movie off to a strong start. Both men bring nuance to their roles, infusing the film with a sense of authenticity. Mangold stages the action scenes for maximum excitement, especially during a chase though a mining area, and there's a scene-stealing turn from Ben Foster as Charlie Prince, Wade's even more ruthless protege. 3:10 to Yuma did respectably in theaters, but Westerns remain a hard sell in today's superhero-driven climate. Anyone looking for a really exciting movie packed with superb performances would be smart to give this one a look, whether they're a fan of the genre or not.

Remaking an all-time classic takes a lot of guts. If George Romero's Night of the Living Dead invented the zombie movie, his sequel Dawn of the Dead perfected it. The movie, which finds human survivors trying to outwit a large group of the undead in a suburban shopping mall, has plenty of gory mayhem. Underneath that, though, is a shrewd satire of consumerism. Romero was showing that zombie flicks could be about more than just blood and guts. It had a landmark impact upon its release in 1978.

Zack Snyder was brave enough to remake Dawn of the Dead, and he started off by paring down the premise. Most of the satire was stripped away from his 2004 remake. Instead, he crafted the leanest, meanest zombie movie imaginable, one packed with non-stop action. The shopping mall setting remains intact, but Snyder puts an emphasis on how terrifying the characters' ordeal is. Heavily stylized “kill scenes" - including one involving a bus with a slit down the middle to stick a chainsaw through for easy zombie slicing - are cool and imaginative. A stellar cast that includes Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Mekhi Phifer ensures that the human element doesn't get lost amid the fast-paced craziness. This Dawn of the Dead is a classic in its own way. 

The Crazies is one of George Romero's lesser-known movies. The plot is elegant in its simplicity. A virus has been unleashed upon a small Pennsylvania town. Those who become infected with it go insane. A married couple attempts to escape before being exposed, but the Army has sealed the whole town off. It's a claustrophobic little chiller that has Romero's trademark intensity.

Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell play the central couple in the 2010 remake. Whereas Romero's version put a lot of emphasis on mood, the recent version focuses on the survival element of the story. The infected individuals have more lethal attacks, many of which are staged to take the viewer by surprise. You really root for the couple to evade them. Beyond that, The Crazies digs deep into the question of how far the government would go to contain a virus this catastrophic. That provides the film with a thought-provoking level to match the visceral thrills that come fast and furious in the movie.

Michael Caine stars in The Italian Job as a master thief attempting to pull off an ambitious heist. He's got his sights on some gold ingots in Turin, Italy. The plan involves bringing together a group of drivers to create a massive traffic jam that will ensnare an armored truck, allowing him to rob it. The movie was celebrated for its sleek style and sense of humor.

The Mark Wahlberg-led sequel hit cinemas in 2003 - two years after The Fast and the Furious dazzled audiences with its hyperactive racing sequences. The new Italian Job took a cue from that, delivering supercharged car chases that leave viewers breathless. An appealing all-star cast that includes Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, and Edward Norton helps to elevate the material, making sure we understand the personal stakes for the characters amid the vehicular mayhem. Best of all, the specifics of the heist are carefully laid out, so we know everything that's supposed to happen and, consequently, grasp the significance of things that go wrong. From start to finish, The Italian Job is fast-paced fun. 

Fright Night was a sleeper hit when it came out in the summer of 1985. William Ragsdale plays Charlie Brewster, a horror movie buff who comes to believe that his new next-door neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), is a vampire. Of course, everyone thinks Charlie is crazy for this notion. Undeterred, he turns to Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell) for help when mysterious events begin occurring. Peter is a former vampire hunter whose career led him into hosting a late-night television horror show. 

The movie was funny and scary, as is its 2011 remake. The late Anton Yelchin portrays Charlie this time and Colin Farrell is Jerry. Because late-night horror shows don't really exist the way they did in the '80s, Peter (David Tennant) has been reimagined as a Criss Angel-like magician. These perfectly cast actors make Fright Night's characters come alive, so that we genuinely care about what happens. And a lot definitely does happen. The story gets the mixture of horror and humor just right, cranking up the tension, breaking it slightly with a well-timed quip, then immediately cranking it up some more. 

The remake opened in the same August time slot as the original, but had stiff competition from The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which were commanding the lion's share of box office at the time. For that reason, it unfairly fell between the cracks.