Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Universal Studios Home Entertainment – 114 mins  – 2009 – Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 1.85: 1 – DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 – Digital Copy

When the original Last House on the Left was released in 1972, it was shocking for the times, displaying a graphic rape scene, extreme violence and glorifying revenge. This was Wes Craven’s first movie, and it’s raw “no apologies” style made the film and instant cult classic with horror fans. Unfortunately, like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and Friday the 13th, instead of leaving what was well enough alone, Last House on the Left was also sucked into the “remake” or  “re-imagining” pipeline. Like it or not, the rehash of Last House is available on Blu-ray from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and if you’re a purist, go to the house on the right and stay away from this one.

THE MOVIE

The story attempts to stay close to the original concept where two silly teenage girls, Mari (Sarah Paxton) the “innocent one,” and Paige (Martha MacIsaac) the “naughty one,” attempt to have a little fun and smoke some weed with a boy they just met, Justin (Spencer Treat Clark). Having the worst luck in the world, the girls discover that Justin happens to be the son of a brutal escaped convict, Krug (Garret Dillahunt) who’s entourage includes his psychotic brother Francis (Aaron Paul) and his sadistic girlfriend Sadie (Riki Lindhome). For no other reason, but to just have something happen, Mari and Paige are kidnapped by the gang and beaten, and just to make the bad guys badder, Paige is killed and Mari is raped, shot and left for dead.

The twist occurs when Krug and his gang need shelter from a storm that hits the area and they make it to the last house on the left, which so happens to be where Mari’s parents, John and Emma (Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter) are staying, waiting for their daughter to come home. To avoid giving too much away, as you can imagine, the parents who are hospitable to the gang of strangers at first, discovers what brutal thing they have done and seek revenge by any and all violent means accessible.

In the 70’s, it was easy to shock people with violence, rape and gore, but now we’ve seen it all, and you would think that when remaking a film that started this genre, the filmmakers would do something clever to up the ante…Nope. Instead director Dennis lliadis, (who is this guy?) chose to do a watered down version of the original film, and stick it into a neat R rated package. Yes, this Blu-ray also includes an unrated version of the film, but it still doesn’t deliver the punch that will make you remember the film after the credits role.

The original Last House on the Left was echoing the violent times that were occurring in the world, such as many films did in that era, but except for the obvious “re-make it for some quick cash fever,” there was absolutely no reason to make this movie again, because even though the original had a budget of about $3 dollars, it’s still far more superior and gets under your skin more. Hollywood is running out of things to remake (well, let’s hope they are), so eventually a new wave of original horror films are on the horizon. Until then, horror fans still have a huge backlog of classic films from the 70’s and 80’s to get their fix, or they can turn to the foreign horror market to see brilliant fresh horror such as Let the Right One In. Just don’t get that confused with Last House on the Left, because there’s a massive difference.

VIDEO

Last House on the Left comes to Blu-ray in full 1080p with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and though it looks, it doesn’t exactly jump off the screen either. It seems that the director was trying to give the film a dark 70’s tone, where colors are muted and grain is intentional to make things look harder. Blacks are handled nicely, and skin tones are highlighted with good texture balance, so just by the faces you can instantly tell who are the bad guys and who are the good guys just by how dirty their faces are.

AUDIO

This Blu-ray offers an acceptable DTS-HD 5.1 Lossless master track, allowing you to hear all the bad dialogue crystal clear. Sound effects are well done, making solid use of the rear speakers, especially for rain effects. Basically, the sound won’t win any awards, but it gets the job done.

EXTRAS

Hmmm….it seems as if no one wanted to take any credit for this film. The bonus features for the Blu-ray are completely anemic, not even offering an audio commentary track. You get both the theatrical and unrated versions of the film, but is anyone going to watch the censored version when you have the option to see a little more gore?

There’s a three-minute Look Inside promo with quick clips of the film and comments by Wes Craven, who serves as a producer.

A slapped together collection of deleted scenes adds nothing new to the film, and does nothing more than take up space.

A second disc includes a Digital Copy of the theatrical version of the film. Yawn!

BOTTOM LINE

If you have the option of seeing the original Last House on the Left, see that version instead of this one, because if you do it in reverse you’ll kill the effect. The Blu-ray offers decent picture and sound, but the extras are thinner than a super model. It’s is advised that you spend your hard earned dollar on another Blu-ray, because this one is no more than a rental.

SCORES: (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras:  1.0

Bottom Line: 2.5