The Last House on the Left

Lake Ends In The Road.

The Last House on the Left is directed by Dennis Iliadis and adapted to screenplay by Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth from the story by Wes Craven (co-producer here). A remake of Cravens 1972 film of the same name (itself influenced by Ingmar Bergmans The Virgin Spring), it stars Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt, Sara Paxton, Spencer Treat Clark and Martha MacIsaac. Music is by John Murphy and cinematography by Sharone Meir.

During a family vacation, teenagers Mari (Paxton) and Paige (MacIsaac) are viciously set about by a gang led by recent prison escapee Krug (Dillahunt). When bad weather forces Krugs car to career off the road, the gang, unbeknownst to them, seek refuge in the vacation h...

Pretty good suspense-thriller-horror with Sara Paxton, Aaron Paul, Garret Dillahunt and Tony Goldwyn giving fine performances. Can't say it was exactly 'entertaining' given the SA scene but seeing them get their comeuppance was. I've never seen Wes Craven's 1972 original so I don't know how it compares, but thought it was alright, just won't revisit outside of watching with the new commentary track on the Arrow Video release. 3.75/5

Beauty and the Beast

I admit I originally had no interest in seeing this '09 remake of 1972's "Last House on the Left," which involved the rape/murder of two girls and the ensuing wrath the parents of one of the girls (loosely based on Ingmar Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" from 1960). Why not? Because the original movie was just so dumb. I know many hail it for being "disturbing" due to the vile, sadistic villains and the humiliation, rape and gory murders -- but I didn't find it disturbing at all. Why? Because the preposterous storyline accompanied by the goofy music and bumbling cops made it impossible to take serious. Consequently, just like I don't consider the violence in, say, a Road Runner cartoon disturbing -- because it's i...