AThe first and most obvious answer is that the remake is in color, the actors are contemporary, and there's more sex and nudity. Other changes include the setting (changed from France to Pennsylvania) and the character names, e.g., Christina and Michel Dellasalle are now Mia (Isabelle Adjani) and Guy (Chazz Palminteri) Baran, Commissaire Albert Fichet becomes Detective Shirley Vogel (Kathy Bates), and the mysterious subplot involving Moinet is all but forgotten. Some viewers have pointed out that Guy is not portrayed as the monster he was at the beginning of the 1955 movie, but Sharon Stone is thought to do a good portrayal of Nicole Horner, although some viewers have complained that she was colder than Nicole as played by Simone Signoret. The movie follows the 1955 plot fairly closely, including the scenes at Nicole's house (in Pittsburgh rather than Niort), the bad food at dinner, the bathtub, the swimming pool, Guy's suit, Mia's weak heart, etc. There are a few added subplots involving photographers, abuse and cancer survivors, religiosity, an unwanted pregnancy, and lesbianism, and more emphasis is placed on the detective's attempts to unravel the case. The biggest difference is that the ending of the movie has been significantly altered