The Last House on the Left (2009)

The Last House on the Left, a remake of the Wes Craven 1972 classic is not only a vast improvement over the original; it’s also one of the best horror flicks to hit multiplexes in recent years. Craven’s exploitation rape-and-revenge flick was influential but amateurish, hampered by bad acting and his then-inexperience behind the camera. The remake, meanwhile, has an air of professionalism that is apparent in Greek director, Dennis Iliadis’ muscular, sinewy directing as well as the superior acting by the established band of thespians. Though it is a genre horror film, unnecessary female objectification and all, Iliadis’s film strives for pathos and thoughtfulness as much as gross-out gore.

Both Craven’s original and the remake are about two teenage girls, who get kidnapped by a quartet of sadistic psychopaths, and the revenge that the one victim’s parents seek upon their daughter’s victimizers. The story arc, itself lifted from Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, is inherently satisfying because it provides catharsis during the entire second half of the film, as opposed to during the second half of a climax.

In this remake, the two teenage girls, Paige, a pothead (the plucky Martha MacIsaac) and Mari, a goody-two-shoes (Sara Paxton) have intriguing personalities and back-stories that make their demise all the more harrowing. Usually in genre films, the heroic character with the most developed personality is not subjected to the worst violence- yet in this, a brutal rape scene shatters the innocence of the characters as well as our expectations as an audience. In spite of the omission of the more degrading acts from the original, the quality of the characters- not the quantity of the violence- makes the remake more disturbing.

Likewise, Garret Dillahunt is a force of nature as head-psycho, Krug, and hateful acts are just a bit more disgusting when perpetrated by him. After impressive work in No Country for Old Men and Deadwood, Dillahunt is nastier and sexier than the original’s counterpart. In general, the cast is excellent, devoid of the young-Hollywood blandness that befalls so many horror flicks. As Mari’s vengeful father, John, Tony Goldywn, is both smart and brawny enough to inhabit the part of an ER doctor who takes things into his own, brutal hands. Julia Roberts-look-alike Monica Potter is also superb, evoking grief and strength. Despite only being sixteen years older than Sara Paxton, Potter doesn’t strain for excessive MILF-y hotness, and is believable and comfortable in the maternal part.

Iliadis’ thoughtful compositions work in tandem with Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth’s screenplay to generate motifs, develop characters, and move the action forward. The character of Mari’s connection to the water becomes a potent symbol of rebirth and possibility. The film also brilliantly shows John’s ability as an ER doctor to repair the human body, which is later subverted nastily when he has to destroy it to defend his family.

The score is also noticeably, unusually good, heightening the human tragedy of the film’s innocent victims yet appropriately quoting the raw, dirty, 70’s synth scores in reverence to the spirit of the original. When I checked imdb.com, it all made sense, as the composer is John Murphy, who is responsible for the brilliant scores to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

Out of the following recent remakes of horror classics: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and uh, Friday the 13th (which was billed as a remake though it wasn’t) Last House on the Left is clearly the best.