In 1998, Gus Van Sant was riding the wave of acclaim after his first Academy Award nomination and had studios knocking at his door. What did he decide to do? Well, he decided to remake Alfred Hitchock's iconic 1960 thriller "Psycho." Not only that, he decided to do it shot for shot. Starring Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates and Anne Heche as Marion Crane, featuring Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen and William H. Macy, Van Sant's remake was predictably panned. The typical response to the film was simply "Why?" Ten years later, Michael Haneke did something similar to Van Sant and Hitchock himself, by remaking his very own 1997 home invasion thriller "Funny Games." For his first American film, Haneke enlisted an all-star cast of Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet, but was met with the worst reviews of his career, while the original sits at a barely fresh 67%. Today, we're joined by return guest Olivia Willke to discuss these notorious remakes that beg the question: Is any film actually necessary?
"Funny Games" is available to rent on iTunes, while "Psycho" is streaming on STARZ.
