The Last House on the Left

Wes Craven’s 1972 original The Last House On the Left is often revered as some sort of masterpiece, a barebones horror film that channeled fears brought on by the murderous Manson family in the late 1960s. In the film, innocent Mari Collingwood and her friend went searching for pot and wound up in the woods, victimized by unspeakable horrors. These horrors would be avenged in a ridiculous finale by some none-too-pleased-parents wielding chainsaws and biting genitals and whatnot. I never liked that movie, and I’m not too fond of this remake. It’s made with a bigger budget, bigger stars, and it tries to soften the blow of Craven’s original totally nasty vision. The film, regrettably, contains a redo of the infamous rape scene from the original, and the Collingwood parents (Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter) still get their bloody revenge. It wants to be a crazy slasher film and a realistic horror picture, and the two don’t mix well. In the end, it’s just sort of unnecessary.