Review of The Last House on the Left (2009) by Ryan B — 10 Jul 2012

After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging the parents of one of the victims.

The remake wagon carries on, and as other previous horror remakes 'The Last House on the Left' is high on style but misses the point of its original.

It can be seen as the only reason why this film exists is the fact the film is next in line with the horror catalogue of the 1970's. We have had remakes of 'Texas Chainsaw', 'The Hills Have Eyes', 'Friday 13th' 'Halloween' etc and both the 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' and 'Hellraiser' franchise are getting a remake too. With the exception of an ok 'The Hill Have Eyes' all the remakes have been terrible. 'The Last House' is ok, but again there is really no reason why this film has been remade at all.

'The Last House' remake is slickly made, the performances are ok. After the main assault and attack the film loses its way, what is left is an hour or so of standard revenge themes and various ultra violent deaths, also creeping around a blacked out house, or running about in the rain.

The main problem with this remake is the original film had a meaning. The original was released at the time of the Vietnam War, and Watergate, the film was projecting messages of violence, and how far on screen violence can or must go, the film also had an art house following too.

The movie was terrible, gritty and badly made, BUT had a place in the horror genre and is a watermark for this type of horror genre. With the remake the message is slightly less profound and ultimately gives a bland message of revenge is good.