If you've never seen the original, then you may think this version is okay. For those of us who have seen the original version, this one by comparison is a disappointment, IMHO. The acting in the first one wasn't spectacular, but the casting was so much better. Fred Gwynne played the role of Judd far better than John Lithgow did. The deformed sister was way creepier in the first film (one of the creepiest characters I've seen in horror films), and the original character of Victor Paskow was much more "haunting". The only character which was better in this remake was the cat (good job, cat). I had hoped for a lot more from this film, but I should've known...it's a remake. Fortunately, I watched this on RedBox so I'm only out $1.50 and an hour and forty minutes of my life. There's always a bright side.