I decided to just let the story unfold around me. When I saw the running list of blurbs from horror dignitaries such as Stephen King, Joe Hill, Adam Nevill, and Paul Tremblay, I went out of my way not to read anything about the novel itself. Stripped of that sociological context, the extreme brutality here can’t help but feel more than a little exploitative, especially where the film’s female victims are concerned.Īnd though Iliadis does a good job of establishing a brittle tension, things unravel somewhat during those retribution sequences in which Dad and Mom, not possessing the trained skills of, say, Liam Neeson’s character in “Taken,” pull off a few clunky, giggle-inducing maneuvers.I predict that Catriona Ward’s THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET will be a literary horror novel that everyone will be talking about. According to Craven, he was responding in part to the effect of violence on a society that was being exposed on a daily basis to graphically numbing battle footage coming out of Vietnam.

The inherent problem in remaking a film like “Last House on the Left” is that it originally was made in a very specific place in time.

Working from a script by Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth that makes just a few key departures from the original, Iliadis maintains a tight rein on the grisly early proceedings, in which two young women (Sara Paxton and Martha MacIsaac) are beaten, raped and left for dead at the hands of a psychotic prison escapee (Garret Dillahunt) and his equally damaged accomplices.Īs fate would have it, the sickos subsequently take shelter at the lake house belonging to Paxton’s parents (Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter), who soon identify them as their daughter’s assailants and proceed to exact a fitting vengeance. Given its arrival in a marketplace that hasn’t exactly been hurting for horror, Rogue Pictures’ Friday the 13th release should open solidly but well short of the mark set by the decidedly campier “Friday the 13th.”Įntrusted with the new edition, and with the blessing of producer Craven, is Greek filmmaker Dennis Iliadis, whose hard-hitting 2005 film “Hardcore” dealt with teen prostitution in Athens.

Jeremy Renner Shares Positive Messages During Road to Recovery: 'The Body Is Miraculous'

The last house on the street review