CINEMA: The Last House on the Left

Horror remakes have become big business again in the last few years, especially the work of Wes Craven.

Now, while the Nightmare on Elm Street remake is in production, the new version of his very first film The Last House on the Left, hits cinemas. The original was banned in the UK for years and has only only recently been released onto DVD completely uncut.

The film poses the simple question of how far would parents go when confronted with the killers of their children? Would they turn them over to the police or take things violently into their own hands and exact bloody revenge?

Craven’s 1972 debut film offended many with its brutal murder of two girls and the revenge taken by one of those girls’ parents when the criminals seek shelter in the parent’s house after a car accident. Watched now it is not in the slightest bit shocking, has aged appallingly and is so cheaply shot as to be laughable. However, the simple message behind it is as relevant today as it was 30 odd years ago.

This time it is debut director Dennis Iliadis and screenwriters Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth who have managed to craft a film that is not only better than the original but delivers true moments of horror and fear and a believable backstory for the three criminals which was lacking in the old film.

The Collingwood family of dad John (Tony Goldwyn) and mum Emma (Monica Potter) are having a summer vacation in their remote lake house with daughter Mari (Sara Paxton) and her friend Paige (Martha MacIsaac). The girls are bored and go out for a drive but are kidnapped by a psychopathic escaped prisoner called Krug (Garret Dillahunt), his mad girlfriend Sadie (Riki Lindhome), his sadistic brother Francis (Aaron Paul) and Krug’s weakling son Justin (Spencer Treat Clark). The crew are mean, bad and downright evil as they torture and kill Paige and leave Mari for dead in a river. A severe storm causes them to take shelter at a nearby house, which unbeknownst to them is the home to Mari’s parents, and things start to get a lot more bloody and serious.

From the gruesome start where we see Krug violently escape from being escorted to prison and brutally killing the two cops with him you know that this is something that will not only shock and scare you but does something that many new horrors do not and that is actually ‘horrify’ its audience.

There is a palpable sense of tension and impending horror in the excellent set up towards the inevitable final confrontation between Krug’s sick crew and the Collingwood Parents that is played out in some scary and exciting set pieces that not only keep you guessing but carry you along with the story. The performances in horror films are not usually that good as there are so many clichés thrown in that distract from an actor’s work, but here all the cast members (MacIsaac aside) are excellent. Dillahunt makes Krug truly sick and horrible and is ably backed up by his co-stars Lindhome and Paul who have an onscreen chemistry that makes their actions truly frightening. Potter and Goldwyn do well in showing a human side to the parents and carrying us along with their fated decisions, and Paxton is also good in her role as Mari. However MacIsaac is a tad annoying as Paige and Krug’s son Justin played by Clark is a little clichéd and stereotypical.

But these are minor quibbles in a film that is genuinely disturbing and horrific and one that will have many of you covering your eyes in many scenes and having deep conversations afterwards about what it all meant. This is an excellent and intelligent adult horror film that deserves to be seen on the big screen and will stay with you long after it ends.

Mark Cappuccio