DVD
REVIEW: The Last House on The Left

08/16/09

OVERVIEW: There’s a place where evil gets what it deserves. Legendary masters of horror Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham revisit the landmark film that launched Craven's directing career and influenced decades of horror films to follow: The Last House on the Left. Bringing one of the most notorious thrillers of all time to a new generation, they produce a shocking and thrilling re-imagination of the story that explores how far two ordinary people will go to exact revenge on the sociopaths who harmed their child. Includes two versions of the movie - the unrated cut too terrifying for theaters and the theatrical version. Starring Monica Potter (Saw), Tony Goldwyn (The Last Samurai), and Sara Paxton (Sydney White).
SYNOPSIS: Renowned horror director Wes Craven returns to the scene of one of the most notorious thrillers of all time in this darkly disturbing reimagining of The Last House on the Left. After kidnapping and ruthlessly assaulting two teen girls, a sadistic killer and his gang unknowingly find shelter from a storm at the home of one of the victim’s parents – two ordinary people who will go to increasingly gruesome extremes to get revenge.
REVIEW: There it sat
next to my bookshelf, a preview copy of The Last House on
The Left. A movie I did not want to see, only because I
consider the first remake a horror masterpiece by one of the
masters of horror himself Wes Craven. However, since my
bosses at Smartcine had assigned this movie to me I had no
choice but to comply. Director Dennis Iliadis in his
sophomoric effort delivers a violent thrill ride devoid off
all substance that made the first remake so compelling.
I don't want to get into the plot of the movie as to not to
spoiler it, but suffice it to say that this is your classic
revenge horror flick. The original works like a charm, but
in this update that are scenes that are so violence and
unnecessary that they rob the viewer of the entire
experience. Maybe this movie works better with teens and
young adults, but I found it was way too extreme. I'm not
even sure how this movie got it's R rating.
Overall I can't recommend this movie, why not rent the Wes
Craven version or better yet the original, Ingmar Bergman's
The Virgin Spring. The DVD version of the disk has two
versions of the movie: the theatrical and unrated version.
The movie also includes nine minutes of deleted scenes that
aren't worth the film they are printed on and a very short
Inside Look Featurette with Wes Craven.
Review
By Brad Peterson
brad@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Subtitles - English, Spanish,
French
BONUS FEATURES:
DELETED SCENES
A LOOK INSIDE - FEATURETTE
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
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