Too many remakes are awful reproductions of the original. "Psycho" comes to mind. But this movie was actually pretty good. The cast was first rate. Tim Roth & Naomi Watts are both great actors and they are excellent in this film. The true stars are the villains, Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet. Pitt was excellent in "Hedwig & the Angry Inch" and the under-appreciated "Bully". He hasn't appeared in much lately. However, in this role, Pitt played the lead villain with a devious and sly humor, perfectly suited to the character. My guess is this role will help Pitt's career greatly.
I think with some very minor editing this film could have been considerably improved. For some strange reason, the Director spent 10 minutes showing Naomi Watts squirming around on the floor trying to free herself. This particular scene got very tiring rather quickly. There were other examples, but I'll skip them for the sake of brevity.
Is the American version better than the original? I think so, based on the respective acting of the cast, Pitt in particular. Is this a movie you would want to go see? It's difficult at times and if you get creeped out watching movies like "Saw", you might want to steer clear of this. That's not to say this film has the gore quotient of "Saw"; it doesn't. It's not a slasher film. But the idea of a sociopath torturing his helpless victims, which is central to "Saw", is the main plot in this film.
I think with some very minor editing this film could have been considerably improved. For some strange reason, the Director spent 10 minutes showing Naomi Watts squirming around on the floor trying to free herself. This particular scene got very tiring rather quickly. There were other examples, but I'll skip them for the sake of brevity.
Is the American version better than the original? I think so, based on the respective acting of the cast, Pitt in particular. Is this a movie you would want to go see? It's difficult at times and if you get creeped out watching movies like "Saw", you might want to steer clear of this. That's not to say this film has the gore quotient of "Saw"; it doesn't. It's not a slasher film. But the idea of a sociopath torturing his helpless victims, which is central to "Saw", is the main plot in this film.