Here we go with another comparison review from Markus. This time he takes a look at the original and remake of Last House On The Left. Please check it out...
May be it was the debuting director's complete unawareness about the rules of filmmaking, may be it was a lucky strike of having a couple of crude imperfections coming together so perfectly, be it as it may be, but Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left", alongside George Romero's "Night of the living Dead" (1968) and Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) was one of THE lasting and essential influences, which changed the face of horror forever, with more than just plain visible influences even today.
In fact, it's safe to say that the genre really hasn't had such a defining period in its history for the last 30+ years, if the flock of modern remakes of the works (and spirit) of that era is anything to go by!
Craven was still young and angry enough to draw the energy for his loose adaption of Ingmar Bergmann's "Virgin Spring" directly from his gut instinct, which you'll feel right up from the start.
Nowadays it's hard to think back to the new sensation of having "human monsters" terrorizing "real people", because that's what horror has been mostly about for the better part of the last three decades.
And while the acting is a mixed bag to say the least, ranging from the scene grabbing David Hess and Fred Lincoln as Krug and Weasel to the utterly daft "Gaylord St John" as Doc Collingwood, the humour mostly of the dumb and misplaced variety (though back then, again, it might have been the last straw for the audience to survive the ordeal of the disturbingly realistic scenes with "Krug and Company") and the cheerful music, playing under scenes of human degradation, might not be to everybody's joy and liking, "Last House on the Left" remains one of these "one-of-a-kind" powerhouse genre experiences, which you'll either love or hate....Not much middle ground there, I'm afraid, but given the movie's lasting status, it's all for the better!
And yes, "Last House" made good use of a chainsaw in the climax 2 years prior to Tobe Hooper handing that powertool to his iconic "Leatherface" in Texas....
Luckily the BBFC finally saw the light of day and passed this milestone completely uncut, releasing the "Last House" out of its "video nasty" status at last, after an earlier DVD release by "Anchor Bay UK" still had to loose some quintessential 31 secs to the scissor sisters.
While it's puzzling indeed what a big difference just a couple of years can make in censorship terms, it's an improvement which fans in Germany can still only dream about, where the 1972 movie was first banned in 2000(!)
5/5
May be it was the debuting director's complete unawareness about the rules of filmmaking, may be it was a lucky strike of having a couple of crude imperfections coming together so perfectly, be it as it may be, but Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left", alongside George Romero's "Night of the living Dead" (1968) and Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) was one of THE lasting and essential influences, which changed the face of horror forever, with more than just plain visible influences even today.
In fact, it's safe to say that the genre really hasn't had such a defining period in its history for the last 30+ years, if the flock of modern remakes of the works (and spirit) of that era is anything to go by!
Craven was still young and angry enough to draw the energy for his loose adaption of Ingmar Bergmann's "Virgin Spring" directly from his gut instinct, which you'll feel right up from the start.
Nowadays it's hard to think back to the new sensation of having "human monsters" terrorizing "real people", because that's what horror has been mostly about for the better part of the last three decades.
And while the acting is a mixed bag to say the least, ranging from the scene grabbing David Hess and Fred Lincoln as Krug and Weasel to the utterly daft "Gaylord St John" as Doc Collingwood, the humour mostly of the dumb and misplaced variety (though back then, again, it might have been the last straw for the audience to survive the ordeal of the disturbingly realistic scenes with "Krug and Company") and the cheerful music, playing under scenes of human degradation, might not be to everybody's joy and liking, "Last House on the Left" remains one of these "one-of-a-kind" powerhouse genre experiences, which you'll either love or hate....Not much middle ground there, I'm afraid, but given the movie's lasting status, it's all for the better!
And yes, "Last House" made good use of a chainsaw in the climax 2 years prior to Tobe Hooper handing that powertool to his iconic "Leatherface" in Texas....
Luckily the BBFC finally saw the light of day and passed this milestone completely uncut, releasing the "Last House" out of its "video nasty" status at last, after an earlier DVD release by "Anchor Bay UK" still had to loose some quintessential 31 secs to the scissor sisters.
While it's puzzling indeed what a big difference just a couple of years can make in censorship terms, it's an improvement which fans in Germany can still only dream about, where the 1972 movie was first banned in 2000(!)
5/5
Remaking "Last House"....The notion alone was enough to give the "traditional" block among the horror community their fair share of shivers in advance, yet most discussions seemed to ignore that the original "Last House" had already been a loose redux of Ingmar Bergmann's "Virgin Spring".
Of all the recent entries into the seemingly neverending chain of mainstream "reimaginations" of 70's/80's cult faves, "Last House" seemed to me to be one of the more interesting options, as the original movie- groundbreaking and relentlessly powerful classic that it undoubtedly is- has had its fair share of flaws as a result of its low budget/"absolute beginners"-indie-filmmakers origins.
More importantly, "Last House" has a core story dealing with fundamental moral issues, so it could prove worthwhile to give "Krug & Company" a modern makeover, may be even allowing the tale another angle from a today's perspective on life and death.
As always with multiplex remakes, there's a percentage of "old school fans", who'll always find something not to like about the new version.
Others can rest assured that "Last House '09" is the best modern redux since Alexandre Aja's "The Hills have Eyes", may be not coincidently also a "reimagination" of another groundbreaking 70's genre effort by Wes Craven.
In some ways, I prefer "Last House '09" to "Hills '06" as it's really making an effort to stand on its own two feet as a "modern version of the tale" whereas Aja's movie stayed much closer to the original up until the third act.
Gone is the bluegrass score by David Hess, so are the comedy cops and the chicken truck, not to mention the "Piss your pants!" scene.
"Last House '09" is a far more serious (some would argue "conventional") movie in tone than the '72 version with its unique mix of shrill satire and ultra-sleaze, adding almost half an hour of extra running time for deeper character development from which the Collingwood family in particular really benefits.
The original's parents rarely left the status of caricatures, but Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter make you care for a father and mother faced with a parent's ultimate threat and horror.
While "Phyllis" is now called "Paige", the girls are equally believable and likeable as in the original movie, while some hardened gorehounds' comments in the www regarding the "toning down" of their ordeal shouldn't fool you into thinking that "Last House '09" has lost its course....This is still very grim viewing material on a big theatre screen with an average multiplex crowd and unlike some cynics out there, I wouldn't dare to suggest that the "rape scene lost its impact"...
Garret Dillahunt takes on the task of filling out David Hess's shoes as Krug with bravura. It's not quite the same character, which doesn't mean that he's any less menacing.
There's one particularly controversial change to the fate of Mari, which I personally felt was a wise move, as it allowed for some subsequent plot developments, which really enhance the tension in the final act.
"Last House '09" spends more time on the "revenge" part of the story and that's where the movie really pays tribute to the mainstream's current appetite for graphic mayhem, with a final shot, which is so hysterical that it almost puts the film back on the satirical map of the original in its "over-the-top" approach.
Director Dennis Iliadis clearly invests a lot of energy in building up the mood and atmosphere and the beautiful orchestral music by John Murphy almost gives some of the more intense bits an "Eden Lake"-feel.
Ultimately, as (in-)official "Last House" remakes go, you'll have the choice between this well executed and acted studio outing or the "indie-sicko" flavoured "Chaos"- if we don't take the numerous Italian rip offs from the 70's into account.
With the lucky score of (so far) two quality remakes of earlier Craven classics, it's a minor shame that the "Elm Street" redux didn't quite continue the trend- but there's some hoping for the suuposed revisits to "Shocker" and "The People under the Stairs" making up for that.
4/5
Written By Markus Duschek
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