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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 2962
Released: August 18, 2009 |
| Our Price: $12.21 |
| Used Price: $4.55 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Renowned horror director Wes Craven returns to the scene of the most notorious thrillers of all time in this darkly disturbing reimagining of The Last House on the Left. After kidnapping and ruthlessly assaulting two teen girls, a sadistic killer and his gang unknowingly find shelter from a storm at the home of one of the victim's parents-- two ordinary people who will go to increasingly gruesome extremes to get revenge. Loaded with shocking twists guaranteed to leave you on edge, it's the ominous film critics call, "One of the best horror remakes ever made" (Scott Weinberg, Fearnet.com).
Description of Last House on the Left (2009):
A hot-button topic in the horror community from the minute it was announced, the 2009 remake of Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham’s controversial Last House on the Left will undoubtedly leave audiences polarized in regard to both its treatment of the source material and its level of violence. As with the original film, which drew inspiration from Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring (and was itself based on 13th century Scandinavian legend), director Dennis Illadis’ film traces the downward spiral of two teenage girls (Sara Paxton and Martha MacIsaac from Superbad) who fall prey to a quartet of degenerates. The perpetrators then seek refuge in a nearby vacation home--which happens to be occupied by Paxton’s parents. Both versions spare no quarter in detailing the torments inflicted on the two girls, as well as the ruthlessly efficient revenge metered out to the killers by the parents; the difference, however, lies with the intent. Craven and Cunningham (who serve as executive producers for the remake) sought to shock Nixon/Vietnam-era audiences by showing the limits to which the "average" citizen could be pushed by violent acts; Illadis, however, is simply content to deliver a glossy, overamped thriller that neither delights in nor condemns the atrocities committed by its characters. The result is a flat, often tedious exercise in nihilism buoyed only by its cast, especially Paxton, Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter as her parents, and Garrett Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men) as the malevolent leader of the depraved foursome. Fans of the original need not bother with this version; newcomers should seek out Craven’s version, which has lost none of its power to overwhelm. --Paul Gaita
Amazon.com
The legendarily scuzzy 1972 shocker Last House on the Left gets all dressed up in this slick remake, which retro-fits the original storyline to an isolated lakeside cabin. This time out, unsuspecting teen Mari (Sara Paxton) makes the crucial mistake of going to buy some weed at a rundown motel room with a stranger (Spencer Treat Clark). It must have sounded like a good idea at the time. Soon Mari and her pal (Martha MacIsaac) are confronted by the stranger's diseased posse, and the real trouble begins. The set-up of the 1972 picture, which director Wes Craven borrowed from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, is a blunt exercise in brutality followed by revenge, the twist being that the revenge is as savage as the initial transgression. This structure remains in the remake, although a few key plot points are changed, with little improvement. Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn play Mari's parents, who at some point will be called upon to put aside their merlot and their civilized constraints and get to it; Garret Dillahunt, coming off his strong work in Deadwood and No Country for Old Men, is far too qualified to be playing the stock role of the creep-in-chief. There is something distinctly strange about watching a film that took much of its original power from its cheapness, an outlaw energy that is completely lost in this dressed-up, professionally made remake. Here the scenes of rape and murder are presented not as pulpy shouts from the subculture but as necessary ingredients in a respectable machinery, which somehow makes them more dispiriting and unpleasant to watch. That this film is a technical advance on the original film on every level--acting, writing, photography--does not make it a better film. --Robert Horton
Last House on the Left (2009) Reviews:
Visible Gore low & rape shown from afar-lots of Killing thought 
2009-12-16 - See the other reviews for details about the movie. I took the time to comment since the film was well developed. They did logical things. I hate it when someone you think is dead comes back to fight again. These characters when dead are dead! Every thing the good and the bad "guys" and gal did is what you would properly expect. For this reason I gave the film a high rating. Good acting, great story development and 4 or 5 flashes of T&A in the unrated verion to keep the guys wanting more...Sorry I had to say that, she was really cute, mean but cute.
rape has NO place in film 
2009-12-10 - the revenge is sweet but its a bit violent in the wrong way and the rape scene is something movies should NEVER depict
the subhuman people get some sweet revenge, the garbage disposal and microwave were the highlights of the film. Other than that its extremely violent and not a healthy thing for one to watch.
i saw it twice and probably don't need to watch stuff like that but its a good revenge movie.....and if u like that type of theme the crow is 10 thousand times better and MUCH more action and body count
In some ways, it's better than the original. In other ways, not so much.
2009-12-08 - Personally speaking, I was never a fan of the Wes Craven original film. I first saw LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT when I was younger and I think my expectations were a little high at the time. I heard great things about it from many different Horror fans over the years, so imagine my disappointment when I saw the final product. If anyone has seen the 1970's Wes Craven original, most of you know what I'm talking about. Unless of course you are fan of the Wes Craven version. If that's the case, I'm sure you couldn't disagree with me more.
To say that LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT was an imperfect film is putting it lightly. The original film is riddled with many problems, some bigger than others. Being the fact that we're here to talk about the new "remake", I'll keep my summary short and sweet. My biggest gripe of the original movie is the lack of suspense and awful dialogue.
Some people would argue my point by calling LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT a "Grindhouse" type of movie that isn't supposed to be taken seriously. Granted, I've taken that perspective into consideration. Yet, when people boast that the original is one of the best Horror movies of all time, one might expect some serious nail biting terror! Not a cheesey "Grindhouse" type of Horror film. So if you ask me, that point is rather invalid. I know and love true "Grindhouse" Horror films. I consider myself to be a "Horror connasure." Movies like HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, DEEP RED and DAWN OF THE DEAD are true and well done "Grindhouse" films.
Fast forward to the 2009 remake of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. When I heard they were going to remake the original movie, my interest was peaked. I always thought the idea behind the Wes Craven version was a good one, it just needed to pack the type of punch that all the hype behind the original boasted. This new remake gets the job done (more or less) than I expected.
If you don't know, the plot of both versions is pretty straight forward. This remake keeps things pretty close to the original. Basically, it's a story about a young girl who goes out for a night on the town with one of her old Highschool friends. The parents of this young girl seem to be pretty liberal and open minded. They don't mind loaning her the car for the evening or giving her some pocket money as well. This "remake" of the movie makes the parents seem like young teenagers within themselves.
We're introduced to the parents first thing in the movie. The Mother is pretty cool chick who doesn't seem to mind listening to Rap music with her Daughter in the car (oh' those darn new age "hip" parents) and the Father is lying down in the back seat, snoring away asleep. Meanwhile, the Daughter is the one driving the car. These scenes are done to express to the viewer that these parents aren't your typical, 1950's Mother and Father. For the most part, it works as a character study.
Soon, the Daughter is going out with one of her friends for the evening. Her friend of course is the "edgy" rebellious one, who is always looking for a party. Fast forward some dialogue and we're eventually introduced to a young sleazy kid who offers them a "good time." They all make their way back to this strangers hotel room and start smoking pot. Suddenly the fun night takes a quick turn for terror when the family of said stranger comes back and see's two young girls in their hotel room. As it turns out, these people are on the run from the law and now they have two young hostages.
A lot of psychological torture ensues, which eventually leads to the rape and killing of these two young girls. Or so it seems. The young girl of the parents we were introduced to at the beginning of the film survives her ordeal. Meanwhile, the gang of rapists and murderers decides to take refuge after the killings (an oncoming thunder storm approaches) in a seemingly innocent middle class home with two nice parents. Eventually the raped young girl (beaten and bloody) makes her way home after being left for dead in the woods and is found by her parents.
The rest of the movie is spent following the parents as they exact revenge on the gang of hooligans, in a series of horrifying deaths. The plot might seem like it's all over the place (and it is) but for the most part, it works and to a much better degree here in the remake. That isn't to say this movie doesn't have it's faults. For one thing, I didn't like how the victim survives in this version. I could be wrong but I recall the girl in the original film dying in front of her parents. In my opinion, that would have been a much better turn of events for the movie.
Over all, this isn't a bad little remake. I know that these days most people don't like remakes (for whatever reason) but that really isn't a problem for me. Sometimes a remake can top the original, like the Alexandre Aja version of THE HILLS HAVE EYES. Sometimes it doesn't work so well. THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is more or less better than the original but that might not be enough to satisfy some people.
The "old school" fans are dedicated to the original no matter what the movie is. These days it's more fashionable to claim you liked the original and only the original, otherwise people might view them as "newbies." Golly gee folks! We wouldn't want that now would we!?! That's just stupid. I've been a Horror fan for almost my entire life. I love the "classics" and I love the "new wave" of Horror. I can watch NIGHT OF THE DEMONS and end the night with Rob Zombie's remake of HALLOWEEN. In my eye's, a fan of Horror should be just that. A fan of the scene.
Gore Hounds, check it out for nasty scenes of torture and death! People are stabbed, chopped and hacked in every conseivable way imaginable. The ending of the movie does have a sickening scene involving a microwave oven. I won't go into details but lets just say that things end with a "bang!" The casual Horror fan might want to be cautioned. Some people aren't comfortable with the subject of rape and this movie doesn't hold back on the offensiveness.
In the end, this wasn't a bad little remake. Check it out!
Last House on the Left
2009-12-05 - My husband and I enjoyed this movie. It was full of supense and a wonderful illustration of how fair one would go to protect themself.
Got the item in a timely manner
2009-11-19 - Haven't watched the DVD yet, I hope it is in good condition. The delivery time was great. Thank you.
