i figure big budget hollywood remakes are doomed from the start. Thier goal is to get the widest audiences possible, so it end's up with the exact same types of characters and events that will apeal to the largest number of sheeple. well, maybe have someone wearing a new hat and killing a villain with a flag, and thats about it.

One of einstein's lesser known (but equally deadly) theories on 're-imaginings' of blockbusters is
remake = Old movie + cool haircut + marketable catchphrase - (original idea + depth of character + survivors bra size) / number of big name musicians * lawsuits against poor reviews

and that number is either shoe size, IQ, or my penis length. err, einstien's penis length.....268

(i did like the haunting remake, though like the dawn of the dead remake, i dont consider them really related to the original.)
I think manos could be decently remade. like a lot of mst3k movies, it would be hard to make it worse but i think they'd try.

Some of my favourite remakes are big budget remakes. Or what i consider big budget.

The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Village of the Damned, Fistful of Dollars (I forget how to spell the kurasawa version ), etc. They weren't exactly tiny budgets. I kinda get what you mean, and the budget often takes out some of the atmosphere because you've got clean shots, actors with too much ego and makeup, and crappy cgi... i think that works against them, but still, I wouldn't say budget is the curse, its still all about purpose of remaking in my mind.