THE
LAST
HOUSE
ON
THE
LEFT
With
Garret
Dillahunt,
Tony
Goldwyn,
Monica
Potter,
Sara
Paxton,
Aaron
Paul,
Riki
Lindhome,
Spencer
Treat
Clark,
Martha
MacIsaac
Written
by
Adam
Alleca
&
Carl
Ellsworth
based
on
the
screenplay
by
Wes
Craven
Directed
by
Dennis
Iliadis
In
1972
Wes
Craven
entered
the
world
of
horror
directors
with
his
debut
The
Last
House
On
The
Left,
a
movie
branded
with
notoriety
across
the
decades.
Craven
perfected
his
craft
and
moved
on
to
creating
‘80s
and
‘90s
hits
in
the
shape
of
the
Nightmare
On
Elm
Street-
and
Scream
franchises
respectively.
Amid
the
recent
barrage
of
horror
remakes
(including
Halloween,
Prom
Night,
My
Bloody
Valentine
et
al),
the
re-take
on
Last
House
happens
to
be
one
of
the
more
commendable,
and
had
its
original
creators
Wes
Craven
and
Sean
S.
Cunningham
on
board
as
executive
producers.
While
some
of
the
characters
and
events
in
this
Last
House
update
have
been
adjusted,
the
same
basic
premise
is
in
tact.
The
unsuspecting
Collingwood
family
visiting
their
lake
house
(a
year
after
the
death
of
the
son)
ends
up
staring
horror
in
the
face
rather
than
encountering
a
joyous
break
together.
The
daughter
Mari
and
her
friend
Paige
cross
paths
with
some
very
bad
company
while
out
looking
for
a
bit
of
fun
in
the
sparsely
populated
town.
The
sadistic
gang
is
head
by
Krug,
recently
sprung
from
custody.
This
life-altering
encounter
results
in
violation
and
murder
in
the
woods.
A
fateful
turn
of
events
has
the
gang
seeking
refuge
–
at
the
Collingwood
home.
The
hospitality
soon
eclipses
when
the
Collingwoods
discover
what
the
“guests”
have
done
to
their
daughter...
While
violent
and
terrifying,
the
film
does
address
our
moral
duality
in
asking
the
question
whether
we
are
prepared
to
lower
ourselves
to
the
same
level
as
the
monsters
that
harm
us
and
those
we
love,
and
whether
we
are
able
to
live
with
the
results
of
those
actions.
The
choice
of
Greek
director
Dennis
Iliadis
was
a
well-calculated
one,
as
his
gritty
take
on
realism
pulls
the
audience
into
the
lives
of
these
characters,
unlike
the
cheap
teen-slasher
flicks
where
viewers
root
for
the
killer,
not
the
annoying
screaming
victims.
The
new
Last
House
On
The
Left
was
shot
almost
entirely
in
Cape
Town,
South
Africa,
the
wooded
Helderberg
area
doubling
for
the
US.
For
my
extended
article
on
the
movie
as
well
as
a
feature
on
the
South
African
make-up
FX
artist
Clinton
Smith
(who
created
the
amazing
and
gruesome
special
effects),
see
issue
#282
of
the
international
horror
magazine
Fangoria.
While
this
South
African
DVD
release
is
the
"Extended
Version
Too
Extreme
For
Cinemas",
the
extras
are
very
thin,
and
only
comprises
a
few
minutes
of
behind-the-scenes
footage
and
bloopers,
and
a
very
brief
"look
inside"
with
interview
clips
from
original
director
(&
exec
producer)
Wes
Craven,
and
remake
director
Dennis
Iliadis.
PS.
Craven’s
original
movie
was
actually
based
on
the
Bergman
film
Jungfrukällan
(The
Virgin
Spring),
which
was
in
turn
an
adaptation
of
a
medieval
Swedish
fable.
4
/
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-
Paul
Blom
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Click
below
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Last
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