The Last House on the Left (2009)

Directed by: Dennis Iliadis | 100 minutes | drama, horror, thriller | Actors: Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn, Garret Dillahunt, Michael Bowen, Joshua Cox, Riki Lindhome, Aaron Paul, Sara Paxton, Martha MacIsaac, Spencer Treat Clark, Usha Khan

It’s unclear what exactly is the purpose of this remake of Wes Craven’s 1972 ‘The Last House on the Left’, which was again a variation of Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Virgin Spring’ from 1960. The first half of the film looks like a psychological exploration of themes of crime, guilt, remorse, revenge, and loss, all of which is completely negated by a mid-movie revelation and dispassionate focus on retaliation and a ridiculous coda. At the same time, the gore content remains so limited that the lover of blood and mutilations will not find what he is looking for. The film also does not work as a pure exploitation film, although the film focuses on the “comfort” of revenge and thus provides the viewer with a “safe” way out. The presence of the nasty rape scene is therefore completely meaningless. The film now finds itself in an uneasy no-man’s-land between a psychological drama and an exploitation thriller/horror. A pity, because director Iliadis shows that he has a feeling for both approaches. However, by not choosing a clear direction, the film is still meat fish.

It is an interesting fact that the parents of a raped and murdered child come into contact with her killer(s) and gradually find out. What (conflicting) feelings take hold of them? Should they immediately play their own judge and give the killers a taste of their own medicine? Would it be better for them to flee, perhaps report them to the police, and try to build up the best possible life elsewhere? What place does grief take in their reflections? How do they deal with the loss?

These questions and more hang in the air when the killers accidentally end up in the parents’ house. Those are very emotional moments when these sympathetic people take in their daughter’s murderers, care for them, and even offer them a place to sleep. However, the reticence and fear in the mother is very well captured by Monica Potter. She remains polite, but you can see that she keeps wondering who exactly these people are and if she can trust them. And then she doesn’t even know what happened to her daughter and what these visitors really have on their conscience. The father, who is a doctor, stitches the broken nose of one of them, and the mother puts an ointment on it and puts hot chocolate on it. “Thank you, Emma,” the killers tut, as if they meet every day for coffee. It gives you chills.

Interesting is the presence of Justin, who is indirectly responsible for the meeting between the rapists and daughter Mari (Sara Paxton). He is in fact a good boy, but has hardly protested when Mari was raped, and will only take real action later. What about his guilt, and how are Mari’s parents dealing with him and his involvement in the murder?

In short, there is a lot of content potential in the film. Yet little or nothing is done with this wealth of intriguing themes. Justin seems to be forgiven by the parents, but otherwise all difficult questions are avoided in favor of a series of revenge actions, the first of which is still exciting, but after which boredom sets in. If the murders were still original or terribly over-the-top, so that the gore-hound would still have had something to do with it, but no, that too is too much to ask. Director Iliadas seems to find it enough to “excite” the viewer with a gruesome murder and rape and psychological tension, but then seems to lack the courage to actually do something with this. It would of course be great if the viewer had to actually think about and sympathize with the consequences of a traumatic experience such as a murder or rape within a family. The feeling of pain or loss should not dominate, so the killers should get what they deserve for a while, so that the viewer can sleep peacefully again. The righteous parents then never question whether their actions are “right” or justified. There is itself excessive torture, which is completely unnecessary, but invites the viewer to cheer rather than think. While these people initially came across as intelligent and morally very (self) conscious people. Any conflict about their revenge acts was the least the director could have offered. When they finally opt for brutal violence, it makes even more impression. It’s all a bit too “easy” now.

It may not be possible to speak of pure exploitation, because of the psychological content that is present somewhere, but Iliadis does use these kinds of elements. Then why those close-ups on Mari’s panties and bra when she goes swimming (in shots that can’t be point-of-view of the killers), and why so much unnecessary exposure? (one of the criminals takes off her top every once in a while or is seen with her bare breasts in the picture). But “fortunately” the film can be called intriguing for about half of its running time. Too bad the director didn’t have the courage to choose a clear direction.