The Last House On The Left (DVD)

A review of just the film, this is the 2009 remake of the 1972 Wes Craven horror 'classic'. The region 2 DVD is due to be released on October 19th and is an extended version compared to the cinematic release. Emma and John take a trip to their country retreat for a family vacation. On the first night, teenager Mari asks permission to visit her friend Paige in the city and, reluctantly, her mother hands over the car keys and tells her to have fun. In the store where Mari's friend Paige works, they hook up with a dubious-looking teenager named Justin and are lured back to a motel room on the promise of some seriously good weed. Justin comes good on his promise, ...  Read the complete review

17 year old Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton), her Mother Emma (Monica Potter) and her Father John (Tony Goldwyn) have all been struggling to cope with the loss of their son and Mari's brother Ben since he died a year ago. They've decided to take a holiday to their remote house in the country where the nearest house is 6 miles away. When they arrive Mari wants to visit Paige, an old friend whom she hasn't seen for a while, her parents give her permission to use the car. When she gets to Paige, she's working in a shop, the two chat and catch up but once a young boy of around 16 walks in their lives change forever. The boy wants a packet of cigarettes, he's clearly ...  Read the complete review

I wanted to see my mate one last time before heading off on a 2 week holiday to South Africa. Somehow, each time we go there I get more nervous about the crime rate. Anyway, we met up to watch a DVD and as usual I was to choose, because she has seen practically everything anyway and I'm actually quite indecisive - so she gets to influence me into choosing something she enjoyed! I said lets watch a horror then a comedy, so the horror was the first we looked for. She liked this film, although I do recall reading some of your reviews that suggested it may be less than favourable. I've got to admit this just made me curious, so I agreed to add it to our list. I'm adding this ...  Read the complete review

Last House on the Left, Wes Craven's 1972 exploitation classic, represents one of those rare occasions when inexperience, fearlessness, anger and despair conspire to produce something which strikes the viewer as truly unique and important even as it obliterates all acknowledged indicators of "worth" within moments of its opening credits. It is a film which is, by any standards, shockingly lo-fi, grotty and chaotic. Yet it stands, alongside Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Craven's own The Hills Have Eyes, as one of the most astonishing, most intelligent and most damning American films of the decade. Dennis ...  Read the complete review

Memo to Hollywood producers; if you're going to remake a horror, make sure it is of a half decent production. Put simply, that does not mean Wes Craven's original and first 'testing the water' horror film from 1972. The Last House On The Left starts with two policemen deep into filthy conversation, just to underline that this is an 18-rated movie you are watching. In the back of their car is Krug (Garret Dillahunt), who is shortly thereafter bailed out by his girlfriend Sadie (Riki Lindhome) and his brother Francis (Aaron Paul). It is unexplained why Krug was initially arrested, but the threesome deem it necessary to murder the police officers with brutal ...  Read the complete review