"Last House" is undesirable piece of realty (**)
Ryan Anderson
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Entertainment
"The Last House on the Left" (1972) is arguably one of the most important horror pieces of the twentieth century. It pushed the envelope, enabling Wes Craven to exhibit skills that rivaled Roman Polanski's which was a raw and gritty piece of social commentary about Vietnam. "Last House on the Left" was groundbreaking cinema. So perhaps it was inevitable that it would be remade, although many would argue that remakes are almost always worse than their predecessors. Judging from the studio's decision to release this on March 13, right in the middle of a Hollywood draught, maybe they thought so too.
The film is, polt-wise, a carbon copy of the original. A group of escaped convicts lead by a fellow named Krug (Garret Dillahunt) come across young Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) and Paige (Martha Maclsaac). In what was originally considered to be one of the most graphic scenes in history, and still churns stomachs in this rendition, Paige is murdered and Mari is brutally raped and assaulted. Seeking refuge from the rain, the killers come to a house where they find a charitable couple. Unbeknownst to them however, their new hosts are Mari's parents John and Emma Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter). Soon Mari returns, now a bloody pulp. When the parents discover what has happened, and they slowly extract their revenge.
It's not difficult for one to imagine what happens next. The question remains, however, why it happens. As it happens in the original "Last house on the Left" was a remake of "The Virgin Spring" (1960) by Ingmar Bergman, which was an adaptation of a Swedish folk ballad that's supposedly a true story. Also, the story was already remade in 2005 by director David Defalco under the name "Chaos". What more could another version add? In the Bergman adaptation, as well as the ballad, the father seeks forgiveness for his blood lust and builds a church. Wes Craven did away with that, but still had a message that violence dehumanizes. This version lacks any of the moral components found in the previous ones with the exception of "Chaos" which was a grotesque, mess of a picture. Instead, it merely becomes an exercise in the ever popular genre of "torture-porn".
The film is, polt-wise, a carbon copy of the original. A group of escaped convicts lead by a fellow named Krug (Garret Dillahunt) come across young Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) and Paige (Martha Maclsaac). In what was originally considered to be one of the most graphic scenes in history, and still churns stomachs in this rendition, Paige is murdered and Mari is brutally raped and assaulted. Seeking refuge from the rain, the killers come to a house where they find a charitable couple. Unbeknownst to them however, their new hosts are Mari's parents John and Emma Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter). Soon Mari returns, now a bloody pulp. When the parents discover what has happened, and they slowly extract their revenge.
It's not difficult for one to imagine what happens next. The question remains, however, why it happens. As it happens in the original "Last house on the Left" was a remake of "The Virgin Spring" (1960) by Ingmar Bergman, which was an adaptation of a Swedish folk ballad that's supposedly a true story. Also, the story was already remade in 2005 by director David Defalco under the name "Chaos". What more could another version add? In the Bergman adaptation, as well as the ballad, the father seeks forgiveness for his blood lust and builds a church. Wes Craven did away with that, but still had a message that violence dehumanizes. This version lacks any of the moral components found in the previous ones with the exception of "Chaos" which was a grotesque, mess of a picture. Instead, it merely becomes an exercise in the ever popular genre of "torture-porn".
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