I think a main difference is the idea of pride. In the ’80′s, Americans are constantly reaffirmed their identity and supremacy as Americans, and being at fault even in a horror movie would not have gone well. If you look at other eighties movies, for the most part Americans are the victims of the North Koreans, Cubans, Soviets, etc. I think in 1938 there was as much of a sense of the American identity. The Depression was still on everyone’s minds and I think the unity WW2 brought was still far from everyone’s minds.
But that’s just my impression. I think it will be interesting to see how the newer movie deals with the ideas of national pride and fault, especially considering that there are going to be more nationalities represented than just the Norwegians.