The Last House on the Left

admin | June 30, 2009

DIR: Dennis Iliadis • WRI: Adam Alleca, Carl Ellsworth • PRO: Jonathan Craven, Wes Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, Marianne Maddalena • DOP: Sharone Meir • ED: Peter McNulty • DES: Johnny Breedt • CAST: Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt

Returning to his 1972 cult hit, Wes Craven has produced a sleeker, gorier yet wholly soulless horror offering that will delight fans of standard Hollywood frights while disappointing anyone in search of something deeper.

The plot is similar to the decidedly arthouse Funny Games, where a family is held captive by a couple of vigilantes, yet this comparison only helps to highlight the weaknesses of The Last House on the Left; a film so melodramatic and improbable that the characters and actions remain largely impersonal and lack emotional depth. Presumably this was predicted by director Dennis Iliadis, who fills the screen with enough gore and cheap thrills to satisfy cinemagoers wanting to be scared. Still, this will not convert any audiences with a distinct distaste for the horror of Hollywood, and who may struggle to forgive the film for its decidedly trivial presentations of murder, rape and captivity. Surely this is a missed opportunity to develop a greater, intellectually scarier film than Craven’s original.

Arguably, the film misses an opportunity to investigate the sadistic actions of humankind, instead relegating itself to a piece of standard Hollywood fare that is ultimately a must see for hardcore horror fans.

Michael Peers
(See biog here)

Rated 18 (see IFCO website for details)
The Last House on the Left is released on 12th June 2009
The Last House on the Left – Official Website