The Last House on the Left (2009)

After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

Director:

Dennis Iliadis

Writers:

Adam Alleca (screenplay), Carl Ellsworth (screenplay)

Stars:

Garret Dillahunt, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Garret Dillahunt	...	Krug
Michael Bowen	...	Morton
Josh Coxx	...	Giles (as Josh Cox)
Riki Lindhome	...	Sadie
Aaron Paul	...	Francis
Sara Paxton	...	Mari
Monica Potter	...	Emma
Tony Goldwyn	...	John
Martha MacIsaac	...	Paige
Spencer Treat Clark	...	Justin
Usha Khan	...	Maid

Storyline

While being transported by two detectives in a car, the dangerous criminal Krug is rescued by his brother Francis and his girlfriend Sadie, and they brutally kill the detectives. Meanwhile Emma, her husband Dr. John and their seventeen year-old daughter Mari Collingwood head on vacation to their house nearby the lake. Mari borrows the family car to meet her friend Paige that is working in a store in the town. They befriend the teenager Justin in the store and he offers some marijuana to the pothead Paige in the motel where he is lodged. While they are smoking grass in Justin's room, Krug, who is Justin's father, Francis and Sadie arrive and abducts the girls. Krug drives Mari's car and she provokes a crash on a tree. Krug stabs Paige and rapes Mari; however Mari manages to escape, swimming in the lake, but Krug shoots her in the back. They walk through the isolated road in the woods and they reach Collingwood's house telling that they have just had a car accident. Emma and John ...

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Plot Keywords:

lake | kidnapping | psychopath | woods | teenage girl | 

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Taglines:

If someone hurt someone you love, how far would you go to get revenge?

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sadistic brutal violence including a rape and disturbing images, language, nudity and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Last House on the Left

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$14,118,685 (USA) (13 March 2009)

Gross:

£880,716 (UK) (19 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rogue Pictures, Scion Films, Crystal Lake Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 114 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Co-Producer Jonathan Craven appeared as a child in the original The Last House on the Left (1972). He was the young boy with the balloon that Krug bursts as he walks past on the street.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film during the police car scene, triangular warning signs of the British / European Vienna Convention signs can be seen. These don't exist in the USA.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Morton: [telling joke to Giles] So the next week, he's even hornier. And this time, he's got twenty bucks instead of ten. He goes back to the whorehouse, he slaps down the twenty, and tells the madam he needs to get off, but he ain't going to screw no goddamn chicken this time. She says it still ain't much, but she can help. She tells him to go to the room at the top of the stairs. This time there's just a bunch of guys jerking off, but one of the jerk off guys assures him "oh hey, it's ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Miss March/Race to Witch Mountain/Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

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Soundtracks

Dirge
Written by Graham Stuart Cassie, David Harper, Simon D. Harper, Tim Holmes, Richard Fearless (as Richard Maguire), Daniel Whitlock, John Yorke
Performed by Death In Vegas
Courtesy of Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK) Limited
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Pretty good, for a re-make

If you've ever read any of my other reviews you know how I feel personally about re-makes. Most horror fans feel the same way I do (yet we still watch these things!) so needless to say I went into this movie expecting to be disappointed. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how well this one was. Yes there are the usual cases of character name changes, scene and dialog changes and complete story line changes for no apparent reason but the basic premise that made the original film so creepy was somehow still retained. The major story line change in this one has been discussed in previous reviews and revolves around main character Mari (I won't reveal any major changes for the benefit of those who haven't seen it yet) and yes I was EXTREMELY disappointed with these changes but as I said I went into the film expecting to be let down so this helped to soften the blow. This version of "Last House on the Left" has a considerable amount of added gore sequences as well but they are not overly done or thrown in for no apparent reason other than shock value (as was the case in the unofficial 'Last House on the Left' re-make 'Chaos' directed by David DeFalco). Nowadays there really is no way to re-create the grainy, almost documentary like filming style of the original which is one of the main elements that added to the general feel of the film, but these filmmakers did an exceptional job of making the viewer curl in disgust at the actions of the villains and cheer and applaud the violence that befalls them. If you enjoyed the original you will most likely enjoy this one as well...just make sure you watch it and avoid the aforementioned "Chaos".