D V D C R Y P T

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT

Directed by Dennis Iliadis
Written by Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth
Based on the original film by Wes Craven
Music by John Murphy
Cast: Garret Dillahunt, Joshua Cox, Riki Lindhome, Aaron Paul, Sara Paxton, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn & Martha MacIsaac

2009/114 mins/Color/Dolby Digital 5.1
1.85:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Universal DVD

"If bad people hurt someone you love, how far would you go to hurt them back?"

Four criminals on the run encounter a pair of nubile female teens in a small mountain town. After murdering one and brutally raping the other and leaving her for dead, the cons seek refuge at a nearby summerhouse. What they don't know is that the very home is inhabited by the parents of one of the victims. Upon learning that their houseguests raped and tortured their daughter, the couple exacts a revenge that arguably exceeds the excesses of the sociopathic gang.

Based on the classic and highly controversial 1972 film of the same name. I've got to admit that this remake wasn't as bad as I expected. The last act is pretty mean, bloody and gory. My main problems with it is that like most remakes these days, they felt like they needed to over explain everything, leaving little to the viewers to figure out by themselves. And as Krug, Garret Dillahunt is simply no David Hess.

Supposedly, one of the reasons Wes Craven agreed to remake his first film was because of the money involved. In 1972, he did not have the budget to film every piece of the story he wanted to tell. Now with a larger budget he'd be able to tell the story like he wanted to. The biggest change from the original was keeping Mari alive, as the character is found dead in the original film. The film grossed around $42 million worldwide, making it not as successful as the original was back in the days.

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image looks good with deep blacks and rich colour saturation. There's an English, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. The English track is loud, crisp and clear and makes good use of the directional sound FX. English, Spanish and French subtitles are available. The film is available in both Theatrical or Unrated version, the later running four minutes longer.

We get a couple of deleted scenes that doesn't bring anything new. 'Inside Look' is a rather useless 2 minutes promo featurette on the film. There are also trailers for Sam Raimi's DRAG ME TO HELL and others Universal movies. Sadly, these are the only "extras" available. The film is separated in 20 chapters stop. The disc features animated menus with music, comes in a keep case and without a booklet or inlay card.

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