Being true to its source does not always make a better movie. If you compare the original to this then you can see why they changed it up and made a better movie to begin with. The remake ignores the original's way and sticks close to the original short story by Stephen King. The couple are bitter, the unhappy ending and no shot whatsoever of he who walks behind the row. The roles are miscast-ed left and right. The kid playing Isaac is the biggest blunder I have seen in years. He simply is not right for this part. Take away any kind of threat and you just have a bunch of overly religious kids who do not like adults and have a twisted religion. There are many things that backfire in this movie from the miscasting to the changes to keep in line with the original story and none of them work for the better. Stick with the original which is a all around a better movie.
