Wes Craven’s debut feature gets a classy remake at the hands of Dennis Iliadis, who rediscovers the hard edge of revenge in this story of a mother and father who confront their daughter’s attacker in the name of revenge. Grotesquely violent, but beautifully photographed with a hint of ‘70s nostalgia, the movie is a bit too gory and disturbing to be fun -- but it does rediscover Craven’s hardcore style for a new generation.
Starring: Tony Goldwyn, Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt, Spencer Treat Clark, Martha MacIsaac and Monica Potter.
Rating: Three Stars out of five
Whether or not Wes Craven’s 1972 grisly debut was worth revisiting is one of those questions that could keep critics atwitter for eternity given its content was considered so shocking for its day, the poster cautioned patrons about fainting.
A novelty that went beyond slasher violence and sexual titillation with graphic images of rape, mutilation and murder, The Last House on the Left established Craven’s reputation as a man who was willing to go the extra mile into Hell, and in turn, set a whole new bar for mainstream horror.
Nearly 40 years on, we’ve seen people hack off their own body parts with rusty saws, we’ve watched an Asian coed’s eye get cooked by a blow torch, and we’ve born witness to countless acts of senseless sexual brutality.
So if aspiring thrill maestro Dennis Iliadis was hoping to land a knockout blow to the current Zeitgeist with his remake of Craven’s noteworthy bow, he’d have to sink pretty low to scrape something new off the high-traffic killing floor because we’ve seen it all before.
It’s a credit to his intelligence as a filmmaker, and as a pop culture re-packager, that Iliadis didn’t try to outdo Craven’s grotesquerie. Instead, he pays homage to the fright guru’s debut by rediscovering the twisted moral core of the story, as well as a ‘70s style of shooting.
This remake flirts with the grainy look and murky blue tinge of the original, but its homage begins in emotional tone as we watch a beautiful young woman (Sara Paxton) swim lengths at the local aquatic facility. Her mom (Monica Potter) watches on with timer in hand while dad (Tony Goldwyn) works over at the hospital and gets ready to take the family on a holiday.
Things haven’t been easy for the Collingwood family since son and big brother Ben died last year, but the grieving group hopes to rebuild their lives with a little downtime at the isolated family cottage -- the last house on the left.
Good horror always exploits emotional vulnerability, and Iliadis nails the martyr factor early on as Mom, Dad and Mari Collingwood put on a brave face and march into their post-tragedy life with wilful optimism. But almost as soon as they pull into the driveway, things teeter on the brink of bad.
Mari decides to see her old buddy Paige (Martha MacIsaac) at the local convenience store, where they soon meet Justin (Spencer Treat Clark), a shifty kid with a hoodie and a psycho killer’s facial expressions. In exchange for leniency on the cigarette age restriction, Justin offers Paige and Mari some great weed -- which he has back at the motel room.
Despite the blaring sirens screaming danger, Paige and Mari see Justin and share some bud, but just as they were about to leave, Justin’s father, uncle and would-be stepmom crash the party.
The trio are killers, and Dad just broke out of jail, which means Paige and Mari have to die.
The rest unfolds like this: The girls are tortured and beaten. Paige is stabbed in the stomach and dies slowly as Mari is raped by Justin’s father. Mari attempts to escape via the lake, but is shot in the shoulder as she nears freedom. The trio need a new set of wheels, and stumble into a remote cottage -- the last house on the left.
They tell mom and pop Collingwood they had a car accident, but little do they know they walked into the home of their victim’s parents. When the folks realize their little girl -- and only surviving child -- has been raped and nearly murdered at the hands of their guests, they fight for their survival by taking weapons into their own hands.
What follows lives up to some of the more creative revenge fantasies out there as Dad, a surgeon, finds novel ways of immobilizing his daughter’s tormentor. Iliadis also throws in a few creative moments of his own, by offering up a shot of a man’s hand pulled into a garburator, and using a broken microwave for eye-popping effect.
If the audience has the desire to stick around for the grisly denouement, they’ll find some satisfaction in the scenarios and cheer as the bad guys get their just desserts. But after such a bleak ride -- and an extended rape sequence that felt plain exploitative -- it’s hard to muster any real emotion whatsoever. The audience has been pummeled into a raw pulp.
Oddly, from a moral perspective, it’s almost better to feel hollow than euphoric in the face of graphic violence. We don’t feel complicit.
Iliadis’s surreal camera work, and his ability to contrast beauty with ugliness in the same frame, bring a sense of visual completeness -- as well as a nostalgic look Ð-- to the movie, ensuring we’re adequately transported into an alternate and disturbing universe for the duration.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
