Pale remake (The Last House On The Left (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	The Last House On The Left (DVD)
Date:	03/07/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well made and well acted

Disadvantages: Moral agency is depleted

Wes Craven's original The Last House on the Left is a grim horror film adapted from Ingmar Bergman's superb revenge parable The Virgin Spring. It was very controversial at the time for its brutal rape and murder scenes, and had a moral complexity in its extremely controversial and hotly debated revenge scene. This remake, whilst well made and well acted, however, removes a lot of that moral agency, and makes it a veritable splatter fest devoid of much intelligence or social commentary.

The setup is the same - two girls on the road meet up with a group of drifters that brutally rape and attempt to murder them. The drifters then stop at a house, seeking shelter, not realising that the home is that of one of the girls' parents. Such begins a pretty tense state of affairs, where the parents slowly come to realise the dark truth behind the fate of their child and her friend. Unfortunately, the final scene blows everything, removing the morality of the situation and making it straightforwar, amoral killer revenge scenario.

A grim and well-constructed remake of Wes Craven's cult horror film that neither damages nor improves upon the original. The Last House on the Left is an efficient, visceral horror that is slightly too long, but gritty, and successful in acting and direction departments.

Summary: An ammoral but well made remake