When Wes Craven made The Last House on the Left in 1972, he
was a recently retired humanities professor who had barely seen any
movies, much less directed one. Though the amateur quality and
decadence of The Last House on the Left (renamed after original
title Sex Crime of the Century failed to sell tickets) has
mainly given it a following among purveyors of low culture, Craven
approached it seriously as an inquiry on the nature of evil and
interpersonal violence.
With this in mind, the new remake is halfway respectable. The setup
differs, but the incident is basically the same. Two teenage girls meet
the wrong people. Led by a prison escapee (Garret Dillahunt), they’re
brought into the woods where they’re humiliated, raped and maybe
killed. Their abductors then seek shelter and hospitality, not knowing
that the house they’ve arrived at belongs to one of the girl’s parents
(played by Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn), who enact revenge.
What’s honourable about director Dennis Iliadis’ version is that,
however pointless its existence, it frequently accepts the moral
responsibility of being no fun at all. There’s no cheap thrill in the
extended rape and mutilation. The Last House on the Left registers the violence with disgust, and the female leads are permitted
the dignity to be three-dimensional characters. It’s in the revenge
aspect where the movie plays safe. Iliadis finally goes for raucous
applause in the parents’ vengeance—diluting Craven’s sober
understanding of their descent into barbarism.
The lines between good and evil are too clearly drawn this time,
making the film simplistic when it’s already proven the courage to be
gruelling.
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2009.