Went to the first showing of this today. I think the bottom line on your entertainment will depend on how many of the previous versions you've seen. Spoiler free mini-review:
Last House on the Left, The (2009)
First we got Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING, which would then be remade by Wes Craven as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. The Craven film sent shock waves around the world with his vile violence and countless rip-offs started showing up including NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS and HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK. In 2005 we got a semi-remake in CHAOS, which I found to be quite brutal but it too ended up with its own share of controversy. Now, in 2009, we get yet another film version with this one using the same title as that 1972 Craven film. This time out two teenage girls go to a motel to pick up some dope when they encounter Krug (Garret Dillahunt), his son and his two sicko friends. The girls are raped, tortured and left for dead when one of the girls is able to crawl back to her parent's (Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn) house. The parents then discover that the people who tortured their daughter are staying in their house. As you can tell, this film really doesn't change any of the plot line too much, although there are a few changes, which tone down some of the actions that we saw in the original movie. That's not to say that the entire film is a watered down version because there's still some effective violence and the rape scene, while not as graphic as that in the original, is very unsettling. With that said, I've personally seen this type of film way too many times so this movie really didn't give me anything original to work with. I did enjoy a few of the changes with one being Krug's son being a teenager around the same age of the girls being tortured. This here added some nice twists to the story but nothing much was done with it. I won't ruin things but there's some interesting stuff that could have been done in the final act but it doesn't happen because the film doesn't want to cross that dangerous line. The film is technically well-made with director Iliadis doing a good job with his style and keeping the film moving. This film runs quite a bit longer than the original film but it's over before you know it so it's nice to know there aren't any slow moments. Another major plus are the performances, which are very good. Dillahunt does a very good job as Krug but of course we're going to have people comparing him to David Hess, which is unfair. Dillahunt tries to do the role differently, which I give him credit for doing and he actually manages to make the character quite creepy in his laid back approach. Spencer Treat Clark is also pretty good in the role of Krug's son and I actually wished we had spent a little more time with his character. Sara Paxton also impressed with in the role of the daughter as she made us care for her character even though we don't spend too much time with her. The best performances comes from Potter and Goldwyn as the parents. There's a scene they share together after they've learned what has happened where both of them have to show emotions and this scene comes off extremely well and better than anything else in the movie. Goldwyn has always been a fun character actor and it was nice seeing him in a leading role. The violence in the movie is rather laid back, although there are some brutal moments including a sequence involving a hand, which I won't spoil. The movie has a fresh look to it so those expecting something raw like the original are going to be disappointed. I think how much you enjoy the film will depend on how many of the previous versions you've seen. I've simply seen too many of them to fully get all the impact that this one tries to go for but if you haven't seen the earlier stuff then I'm sure this will win you over. Others will probably be on the fence like me.
Last House on the Left, The (2009)
First we got Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING, which would then be remade by Wes Craven as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. The Craven film sent shock waves around the world with his vile violence and countless rip-offs started showing up including NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS and HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK. In 2005 we got a semi-remake in CHAOS, which I found to be quite brutal but it too ended up with its own share of controversy. Now, in 2009, we get yet another film version with this one using the same title as that 1972 Craven film. This time out two teenage girls go to a motel to pick up some dope when they encounter Krug (Garret Dillahunt), his son and his two sicko friends. The girls are raped, tortured and left for dead when one of the girls is able to crawl back to her parent's (Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn) house. The parents then discover that the people who tortured their daughter are staying in their house. As you can tell, this film really doesn't change any of the plot line too much, although there are a few changes, which tone down some of the actions that we saw in the original movie. That's not to say that the entire film is a watered down version because there's still some effective violence and the rape scene, while not as graphic as that in the original, is very unsettling. With that said, I've personally seen this type of film way too many times so this movie really didn't give me anything original to work with. I did enjoy a few of the changes with one being Krug's son being a teenager around the same age of the girls being tortured. This here added some nice twists to the story but nothing much was done with it. I won't ruin things but there's some interesting stuff that could have been done in the final act but it doesn't happen because the film doesn't want to cross that dangerous line. The film is technically well-made with director Iliadis doing a good job with his style and keeping the film moving. This film runs quite a bit longer than the original film but it's over before you know it so it's nice to know there aren't any slow moments. Another major plus are the performances, which are very good. Dillahunt does a very good job as Krug but of course we're going to have people comparing him to David Hess, which is unfair. Dillahunt tries to do the role differently, which I give him credit for doing and he actually manages to make the character quite creepy in his laid back approach. Spencer Treat Clark is also pretty good in the role of Krug's son and I actually wished we had spent a little more time with his character. Sara Paxton also impressed with in the role of the daughter as she made us care for her character even though we don't spend too much time with her. The best performances comes from Potter and Goldwyn as the parents. There's a scene they share together after they've learned what has happened where both of them have to show emotions and this scene comes off extremely well and better than anything else in the movie. Goldwyn has always been a fun character actor and it was nice seeing him in a leading role. The violence in the movie is rather laid back, although there are some brutal moments including a sequence involving a hand, which I won't spoil. The movie has a fresh look to it so those expecting something raw like the original are going to be disappointed. I think how much you enjoy the film will depend on how many of the previous versions you've seen. I've simply seen too many of them to fully get all the impact that this one tries to go for but if you haven't seen the earlier stuff then I'm sure this will win you over. Others will probably be on the fence like me.
