These guys are up to no good in The Last House on the Left (Rogue Pictures)
By Jason Lacsamana
The Last House On The Left (released throughout San Diego Friday 13th, 2009) failed to live up to my expectations but at the same time still pleased me. The movie features a family, the Collingwoods, that vacations at a lake house every summer. The daughter of the family, Mari(Sarah Paxton) is granted permission to take the car into town to visit her childhood friend Paige. Mari and Paige are kidnapped and assaulted by a gang of convicts on the run. A storm comes and the gang takes refuge at the warm comforting home of the Collingwood family. Soon after the convicts are led to the guesthouse where they are to stay for the night. The Collingwoods hear a bizarre sound on the porch and go to investigate the noise to find their daughter. Mari had miraculously made her way back home after being shot. The Collingwoods realize that the people who brutally assaulted their daughter are the exact same people taking refuge in their guesthouse. And to think they gave them coffee and cocoa! So in fear that the gang would realize that they were Mari's family they take the pre-emptive and decided to strike with vengeance.
I took teen critic Nicholas Page with me so we could compare and contrast the original versus the remake because he's seen the original while I, unfortunately, have not.
NICK: The original Wes Craven Film was much more brutal, this film managed to get across the same concept without using the extreme imagery.
JASON: I thought the most extreme part of the movie was the rape scene, which I found a really extreme.
NICK: The antagonist in the original and remake were basically the same and very believable. Krug (Garret Dillahunt), the gang leader, would definitely give the Manson family a run for their money. Besides the final death scene of Krug, the remake stayed pretty true to the original.
JASON: I found the movie to be gruesome but I just thought it was going to be a lot more gruesome. I expected to see some gruesome scenes like in Hostel or Saw. Besides not being as gruesome as I expected the movie was pretty good. I highly suggest not bringing kids to this movie at all. Find a babysitter or something because this is seriously a film a young child should not be watching. I also wouldn't suggest this be a movie you go on a first date to mainly because it's pretty sick. If anything I suggest waiting for it to come out on DVD.
NICK: I suggest you watch the original then watch the remake so you can decide which one you like better.
-- Jason Lacsamana is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. He says he wants to be a Teen Critic because he loves watching movies and loves to critique them but never really had a way of sharing his critiques. He cites zombie movies as his favorites of all time.
