Click here for the review of The Last House on the Left

SPOILERS must be tagged with the "SPOILER" tag!

Dammit, I'm out of the running again.

But I think my problem with this is that it's too polished. The Craven one was almost like a home movie that made it all too real in some cases.

But, are those stupid cops in this version as well?

No. Well, there are two stupid cops in the opening scene but they don't last very long. The idea of inserting dumb comedic bits into the film has been abandoned. This one is straightforward and hard-core.

What did you guys think about the villians? I thought they were so boring! They're just regular people who are somehow "bad". If you don't have a back-story on them, you should at least make them a little more twisted.

That was probably the worst thing about the film for me--other than sitting next to a 5 year old...

What the hell was a five-year old doing in a theater for this movie??

Yea. I was about to say something to the mother, but I soon realized that she had an arsenal of friends around and behind her. Included was another 7-8 year old behind me eating chicken tenders. These families, what memories they make.

James, there was a remake of Last House called 'Chaos' that came out a few years ago(Ebert gave it no stars)
So technically this is the 4th version of this story not the 3rd.

I wonder what Ebert will give this(he gave the original 4 stars, but seems easily offended by intense horror films in recent years)

Hi Calvero

I had the misfortune of watching Chaos (1/10). It is both dreadful as a movie and depressing as an experience. No redeeming value for me. However, I like the original Last House on the Left for the sense of dread and feeling that in this movie nothing is out of bounds. Once you get to that place it does become genuinely frightening.

I'm also intrigued to hear what UK critic Mark Kermode will think as horror movies are his favorite genre and he's a recognized authority on the subject. Kim Newman as well in Empire magazine.

Rob

Chaos is an example of Ebert doing his job and steering me away from a movie I probably have no business seeing. XD As far as Last House on the Left goes, I doubt I'll see it. I've got no time between now and April, and I have to catch up with a selection of foreign movies (12, Gomorrah, Everlasting Moments, and Two Lovers). >.<

I'm very interested in seeing this movie. Although I think horror movies have been on a downhill spiral lately, this preview intrigued me. I like Tony Goldwyn, he directed (and acted) in some episodes of the TV show "Dexter", so he has a feel for darkness and violence, I'm wondering if he transfers that to his character in this film. I knew nothing about the plot until I read Mr. Berardinelli's review, and it sounds sick, but interesting. Monica Potter did a fine job in the first "Saw" movie as the wife in distress, from the clips I saw it looks like she might have to take some aspects of that character and mold her character in this movie that way. The last horror movie I saw was "The Unborn" (not my choice, rather some friends decided to see it), so really anything HAS to be better than that, plus whenever you have the name "Craven" attached to a project, its eye-catching.

entertainment weekly gave it an F:



http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20264879,00.html

Films like this are just sick. There is something so disturbing about the torture porn genre. And now what? rape / torture porn? One might call movies like this one and others such as “I spit on your grave” a “revenge thriller”.

But I just see it as cinematic GARBAGE.

Period.

I hope this isn't your first exposure to things like this. Because movies like this go back. Way back.

Especially Craven's Last House...that can be also be "Torture Porn" as well. With the emphasis on the torture part.

Kind of how I feel. If there isn't an intriguing story or someone or something memorable (artistically), what's the point, to show boobies and blood?

*shrug* I have no idea. I still don't really understand why people keep seeing the Saw sequels.

I enjoyed the first Saw film, but the sequels are trash. Over the last few years I've developed an aversion to films like this that revel in rape and torture. Perhaps getting married and settling down has caused it ... whatever it is, there's enough disturbing news in real life that I feel no desire to wallow in fictional portrayals of repulsive acts.

I'd like to refer to James' point respective to gratuity and the inherent reprehensibility of certain techniques used in the display of certain acts.

The obvious question (and this needs to be thrown out there as much for it's tradional value [like not swinging at the first pitch] than for any other reason) is does merit have a relation to action (depicted/ inferred or otehrwise).

More interestingly (for me) do films like this represent the/a slippery slope in terms of perception of acceptable depictions of violence. If you go back, for example, to Walter Hill's 'The Warriors' you would have thought that the end was nigh as Gangs were about to take over the Cinemas (not helped by a couple of coincidental events) nowadays, The Warriors, brilliant as it is, wouldn't raise an eyebrow.
- You can cue in discussions on social aneasthetization/ desensitization to such to such things if you like...

Side observation: The US has become aneasthetized to violence but not sex whereas in the UK it is the other way around. Thoughts?

While its not a horror movie, I still think the rape scene in "A Clockwork Orange" when they rape the guy's wife in front of him while singing "Singin' in the Rain" is extremely haunting. They show this stuff on TV shows too, not as graphically of course, but in one of my favorite TV shows of all-time, "The Shield", one of the main characters is forced to do an unspeakable act. Rape scenes are tough, they can either draw you away from the movie, or draw you closer to the character. Of course, TV shows have an advantage here because your with the characters for more time as opposed to a 2 hour movie, but sometimes rape scenes serve as a valuable tool for connecting you to the character. Although, I'm not sure "The Last House on the Left" has that goal quite in mind, but we'll see.

Well I initially wasn't planning on seeing this in theaters, but after reading the review I definitely will as it sounds like a great film to me! And to respond to the previous posts, yes I can udnerstand people being unnerved by a film like this and I find rape scenes much more disturbing then any form of torture ever depicted in films, and yet for some reaosn I enjoy rape/revenge thrillers, and overall it takes alot to disturb me in horror films. I guess that's why I enjoy torture films(I refuse to use the term torture porn as I think it's a lame term madeu p by critics with too much time on they're hands) as they're one of the few types of films that are capable of genuinely disturbing me.