The Last House On the Left
The Last House On the Left is the remake of an identically named 1972 thriller. I never saw the original which I think is what a lot of producers are counting on lately as they try to cash in on previously good ideas with an inferior reworking. I’m not sure of the quality of the original but it would have to be pretty impressive to outshine this retrofit and if you love films that make you squirm this is one of the most intelligently done ones of that genre to come along in a while. A pastoral lake cottage owned by Dr. John Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn) and Emma (Monica Potter) his beautiful nurse wife is the location for a bad weekend getaway with Mari (Sara Paxton) their teenaged daughter. Great pains are taken to show that Mari is a speedy swimmer so you just know that’s going to come in handy eventually. Mari and townie friend Paige (Martha MacIsaac) inadvertently get mixed up with a crew of criminals headed by an escaped con named Krug (Garret Dillahunt) who leave the girls for dead in the woods and take shelter during a deluge at the Collingwood cottage where mom and dad slowly discover the truth about their creepy guests. Tension builds in unique ways and not so much in the cliché endless light footed on edge sneaking around corners only to have someone jump out from a spot just passed. Death scenes are graphic as is one of chilling sexual molestation - which seems gratuitous at first but goes to the character of Krug thus making his comeuppance one that should have the theatre cheering.