[5.00/10] The Last House on the Left (2009)

The Last House on the Left (2009)

The new version of Wes Craven's 1972 exploitation classic, "Last House on the Left", is a way, way softer and far less sleazier film. It is not that there is anything specifically horrible about "The Last House on the Left"... it is just the fact that it seems so monotonously made. Even for those who have no knowledge of the original film, the remake still plays like a paint-by-numbers of modern horror. There are practically no scares and everything plays out in a predictable fashion. As fantastic as the trailer for the film was, it sets up every death scene and almost every beat the film takes. It may say there are twists and turns, but the major twist is in the setup. It feels stale right after its unconventional opening, and it never tries to freshen itself up at any point. It just plays right into everything you ever imagine happening. The remake attempts to make each character a bit more developed than they were in the original film, but it falls into the same trap as the original. The characters seem to just run on instinct, and their actions and motivations do not always gel with who their character is supposed to be. Where the film does succeed, much like the original, is in its ability to make the viewer feel increasingly uncomfortable. The aforementioned rape scene is nowhere near as disgusting as the one featured in Craven's original film, but it still manages to successfully border on being exploitative. The acting is about as great as it can be from a film that baits-and-switches its character developments and dimensionality. The remake of "Last House on the Left" is neither great nor horrible. In my opinion, it sits comfortably in the middle somewhere.

• My Rating: 5.00/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 41% (4.9/10)
• IMDb: 6.7/10