The Last House on the Left (18) ***

Jun 14 2009 by Graham Young, Sunday Mercury

HHH

Revenge revamp

Cast: Sarah Paxton, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn

Plot: A family arrive at their remote lakeside holiday home, only for daughter Mari (Paxton) to take the car to visit a friend, Paige (Martha MacIsaac).

After hooking up with a teenager armed with some dope, they find themselves out of their depth when his family from hell arrive.

The film then tests how far ordinary people will go to defend themselves.

It is based on Wes Craven’s 1972 rape-revenge thriller of the same name, which had to have 31 second of cuts made in 2002 before it was granted an 18 certificate.

Good Points: Director Dennis Iliadis generally keeps a tight rein on events so that the atmosphere is one of foreboding instead of being dominated by silly sound effects as in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell.

The performances are generally restrained, with Mari seemingly proving herself to be an adept swimmer in the early training sequences. Tony Goldwyn is especially good as her father, a doctor whose skills will soon be tested in the most unlikely fashion.

Bad Points: It’s extremely violent and goes too far both with the pivotal rape sequence and in what looks like a tagged on ending which reduces the tension.

Should I see it? You are more likely to come out of this screening feeling drained than entertained. On balance, I don’t think it’s any better, or worse, than Drag Me To Hell. Just more gory.

GRAHAM YOUNG