The Last House on the Left (2009)

Running Time: 1hr 50min

Release Date: March 13, 2009

Directed by: Dennis Iliadis

Review by: Stacey

I'll save you the tired ass "remake vs original" argument that everyone has every second of every day, and just get to it.  The original The Last House on the Left (which was actually my first review for the site 2 years ago!) was grim and brutal is still hard to watch for some of us (although it boasts one of my favorite horror soundtracks).  I don't think it's on many folks' Top 10 lists, not for the content, but because simply, it's not very good.  That said, it's maintained it's cult classic status with many of us horror fans and it's lasting power is a testament to Wes Craven's earlier works.

And then, in 2009, we got our modernized version of the film.

I actually don't even remember the hub-bub when news of the remake came out, but I can almost guarantee there was some; and I will freely admit that I was one of the people who was opposed to it after I watched it.  And I watched it several times since then and never really felt any kind of connection to it.  After watching it again last week after a few years, I think my palate has definitely grown accustomed to the remake and I can say I now enjoy it!

Directed by Dennis Iliadis (+1), the remake of The Last House on the Left follows pretty much the original plot of the movie with some changes that I will probably leave out to avoid spoilers in case you've avoided the movie for this long.  If you forgot the plot entirely, it basically follows a gang who viciously assault two teenage girls, and then find refuge in a home which unbeknownst to them, belongs to the parents of one of the victims.  From there, the parents exact their revenge for the actions against their daughter.

As your typical rape/revenge flick, there's nothing you haven't seen before since the original LHotL was released, except this one was able to expand on story a lot more and I believe it was in large part to the better budget.  It was easier to form a connection with the characters because you had some more time to get to know them better.  And they were far more likeable than the characters in the original.

If you're worried that maybe they toned down the brutality and violence in this version- they didn't.  Even though I'm somewhat of a fan of this particular subgenre, I don't enjoy rape scenes, and the one in the remake is just as hard to watch.  The gore and the fight scenes are pretty intense as well.  While the brutality was ever-present, noticeably absent is the off-kilter comedy that became a favorite of fans of the original, including the "bumbling cops" that were a welcome comedic relief in between scenes of the rough stuff.

The actors themselves did a kickass job all around, and it boasted a pretty decent cast with names like Sara Paxton, Monica Potter, Aaron Paul, and Tony Goldwyn (bad guy from Ghost).  I do have to gripe about how hot the villians were.  What I loved about the original was that the bad guys weren't attractive, which made them even more unlikeable.  In the 2009 version, you had bad guys played by the likes of Aaron Paul and Garret Dillahunt.  Hell, I'd probably get Stockholm Syndrome with those dudes.  That's not to say that they weren't unlikeable because their characters were pretty vile.

Did you ever try a certain food and totally hate it/shunned it/wrote it off/etc., only to end up really liking it after repeated taste tests?  That was sushi for me many moons ago, and 2009's The Last House on the Left.  I really wish I could remember WHY I hated it when I first saw, but honestly, I was probably being an elitist, remake-hating brat.

So, quite whining about remakes and go give this one a re-watch if you haven't seen it in some time.  Hell, make it a double feature and watch the original and remake back-to-back and see which one you enjoy more.

3.5/5

Check out the trailer below: