CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Last House on the Left Cast. Piss Your Pants!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Last House on the Left Cast. Piss Your Pants!

post #1 of 32
Thread Starter 
post #2 of 32
My interest just went up slightly on this. Dillahunt was bonechilling on Deadwood. Let's hope he can bring that quality to this film. I'm not a fan of the original, so this might be a step up.
post #3 of 32
Dillahunt's great when Milch is writing for him. Versatile cat, but everybody's gotta work.
post #4 of 32
I AM a fan of the original, and the "nearly killed" language set off my "lame-o" alarms as well. Softening this movie is such a Goddam disservice; its impact was DUE to its unsettling brutality. It isn't a classic for any other reason. We don't get to spend too much time with or find out too much about any characters, the acting is marginal at best, the kills aren't overly stylized and well done as far as gore goes. Take the brutality away from it, and you've got just another kinda violent re-make of an old movie. This re-make shit is getting really disturbing. They seem to be remaking any movie that somone felt compelled to call a "classic" at any point in time, without stopping to ponder WHY it's a classic.
post #5 of 32
even more disturbing than the "nearly killed" wording, is that so far there has been no mention of any bad guy actors cultivatlng a HESS FRO. are they taking this project seriously or what?
post #6 of 32
I hate to sound like like some bloodthirsty asshole, but why the softening up? Is everyone going to realize the error of their ways by the end, too?
post #7 of 32
Wasn't she "nearly killed" in the early cut of the original film? Or did her parents find her not quite dead, and she expired after? My memory of the DVD supplements is hazy.

Also, why the hell is this shooting in South Africa? I hate when genre movies are arbitrarily made there, or in South America or some Eastern European country. Only Guillermo Del Toro gets a pass on that.
post #8 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Jim Slade View Post
Wasn't she "nearly killed" in the early cut of the original film? Or did her parents find her not quite dead, and she expired after? My memory of the DVD supplements is hazy.

Also, why the hell is this shooting in South Africa? I hate when genre movies are arbitrarily made there, or in South America or some Eastern European country. Only Guillermo Del Toro gets a pass on that.
They found her body and brought it up to the house. But there was no "nearly" about it. Once she aimlessly wandered into the lake they shot her in the head. One of the best scenes in the movie because a) it was just coldblooded and horrible and b) you really got a sense that the baddies felt almost bad for what they had done. Like they started to think they had gone too far. It didn't last long, but that little itsy bit of humanity made it all the more disturbing.
post #9 of 32
And then Martin Kove's wacky sheriff antics brought some much-needed levity. Last House on the Left is an awful piece of cinema with not one lick of artistry behind it. I am all for remaking anything Wes Craven ever did.
post #10 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by JGButler View Post
They found her body and brought it up to the house. But there was no "nearly" about it. Once she aimlessly wandered into the lake they shot her in the head. One of the best scenes in the movie because a) it was just coldblooded and horrible and b) you really got a sense that the baddies felt almost bad for what they had done. Like they started to think they had gone too far. It didn't last long, but that little itsy bit of humanity made it all the more disturbing.
I'm referring to the outtakes on the DVD though. Is my memory faulty? She gets shot in the lake but they find her body on the shore, which implies she was able to crawl out of the lake. The IMDb trivia page (which admittedly can be apocryphal) bears this out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
And then Martin Kove's wacky sheriff antics brought some much-needed levity. Last House on the Left is an awful piece of cinema with not one lick of artistry behind it.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it artless, but it is tonally all over the place, alternating between what's now called "torture porn" and wacky comedy, and simultaneously pretentious and amateurish.

Hopefully the remake won't have any plot-specific folk or bluegrass songs on the soundtrack.
post #11 of 32
More curious: why no mention of The Virgin Spring? Which also kills the daughter character.

I guess sleaze sells more than class.
post #12 of 32
I just had to pop in the Last House DVD to check. When Mari's parents find her (on the grass by the lake, implying she crawled out on her own), she is clearly alive (chest moving, her head rolls back and forth), but her father says "she's dead" in a line that was clearly looped in later (his lips don't move at all).
post #13 of 32
It's not shot, directed, performed, edited, or looped well at all. It only ever skims the unsettling horror of, say, the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I can't get behind this flick at all, and I've given it a shot every decade since the 80s.
post #14 of 32
Dillahunt should be above this. Isn't there a play he can be in or something?
post #15 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
It's not shot, directed, performed, edited, or looped well at all. It only ever skims the unsettling horror of, say, the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I can't get behind this flick at all, and I've given it a shot every decade since the 80s.

I agree about TCM, one of my favorite films, period. And yeah, Last House fails on many levels but I still have some appreciation for it.
post #16 of 32
Thread Starter 
TCM not shot well? That's crazy talk.
post #17 of 32
Whoah, tiger. LHOTL is not shot well. TCM is one of the best shot horror films of the last 40 years.
post #18 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Riviello View Post
TCM not shot well? That's crazy talk.
Huh? No, I meant that TCM is waaaay better than Last House, is all. Daniel "what are you guys talking about? I still have a head!" Pearl is a fantastic cinematographer.
post #19 of 32
I'm guessing this will be 2/3 Saw, 1/3 revenge chick flick.
post #20 of 32
THE VIRGIN SPRING is proof that the movie doesn't have to be extremely violent, gory, or use crude language to be effective. I doubt that this version of the story won't fall victim to all the faults of other cash-in remakes of classic horror staples, but that's the nature of these productions.
post #21 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilTwin View Post
THE VIRGIN SPRING is proof that the movie doesn't have to be extremely violent, gory, or use crude language to be effective.
No, a film certainly doesn't have to use these devices. But I think part of what Craven was trying to do was capture the feeling of the time (crime and drugs running rampant in cities, especially NY, your kids aren't safe, etc.), by using the violence & crude language deranged, drug addled criminals like these would actually use to bring the point home. The American society of the 70's was still a bit uptight in its attitudes, and stuff like this (even the language) would serve to frighten the strait laced suburban audiences he was trying to freak out. The use of such devices, while not necessary, shouldn't always be derided IMO.
post #22 of 32
I don't know when you hear interviews from people involved in the making of it, it doesn't seem that Craven put nearly as much thought into it as you're giving him credit for. The way they tell it he wanted to make a violent porno movie and they talked him down to just making a violent horror movie.

I'm not really sure how I take what they say though, cos that whole cast come off as creepy douchebags in real life interviews as well.
post #23 of 32
I guess that's always possible. But I'd argue that he was still unconsciously capturing the essence of the 70's and the boundary pushing that was going on all over by wanting to make such a violent film in the first place. It was emblematically a product of its time, even if Craven had no intention to set out to make it so.
post #24 of 32
Last House On The Left should not be remade. Simple as that. Of course, it will be terrible. Despite its cult following, the original is far from a classic. It's not the type of film that needs to be recreated so that a whole new generation of filmgoers can appreciate it. It just won't work. It doesn't have a timeless quality to it. Hate or love it, the original should stand on its own. It's a cheap and filthy little explotation film. It would make far more sense to do a completely new film with a 70's / early 80's era feel to it than in trying to make some low-budget cult film over in 2008. It's like remaking some obscure Japanese rubber monster film or some violent kung-fu flick like "The Street Fighter". These movies are products of their time. They don't need to be retold with a bigger budget and a more polished look to them.
post #25 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Jim View Post
Last House On The Left should not be remade. Simple as that. Of course, it will be terrible. Despite its cult following, the original is far from a classic. It's not the type of film that needs to be recreated so that a whole new generation of filmgoers can appreciate it. It just won't work. It doesn't have a timeless quality to it. Hate or love it, the original should stand on its own. It's a cheap and filthy little explotation film. It would make far more sense to do a completely new film with a 70's / early 80's era feel to it than in trying to make some low-budget cult film over in 2008. It's like remaking some obscure Japanese rubber monster film or some violent kung-fu flick like "The Street Fighter". These movies are products of their time. They don't need to be retold with a bigger budget and a more polished look to them.

All this is, of course, true. However, I'd like to go on record as saying there is nothing wrong with cheap, filthy little exploitation films as a source of cheap, easy entertainment thrills.
post #26 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by IggytheBorg View Post
All this is, of course, true. However, I'd like to go on record as saying there is nothing wrong with cheap, filthy little exploitation films as a source of cheap, easy entertainment thrills.
I'm not saying that there is and if I gave off that impression, I apologize. I actually enjoy "Last House" for what it is but there is zero reason for a remake.
post #27 of 32
Oh, I didn't think you did give off that impression at all. It is apparently I who must apologize. I just wanted to wax eloquent for a line or two in praise of exploitation.
post #28 of 32
I've always hated LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

But I never saw it in a drive-in, cut to shreds and re-titled, and thus never got the full effect.
post #29 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by IggytheBorg View Post
Oh, I didn't think you did give off that impression at all. It is apparently I who must apologize. I just wanted to wax eloquent for a line or two in praise of exploitation.
Yes, I'm a big fan of explotation flicks myself. I just hate pointless major studio remakes of them.
post #30 of 32
Ditto. If you're going to do a remake, at least have some kind of point. hard to say exactly waht that means, as most films that are classics or cult favorites don't need to get remade at all. But every so often, a remake comes along that gets it right (the examples so often cited are 'the Fly", "The Thing" and "The Blob"). I think the effects improvements between the times of the originals and the remakes had a lot to do with the remakes' success, but that shouldn't be the only reason for doing a remake, and I'd argue it wasn't with those films. LHOTL, by contrast, isn't an alien monster film that would benefit a great deal from an effects improved revamp. Sure, you could make it bloodier, but there's no real point to doing it JUST for that reason. I honestly wonder, then, what they hope to accomplish. And I'm not being flip, I actually mean: what are they setting out to do?
post #31 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by IggytheBorg View Post
I honestly wonder, then, what they hope to accomplish. And I'm not being flip, I actually mean: what are they setting out to do?
It's like remaking I Spit On Your Grave or Cannibal Holocaust. They're trying to turn low-budget explotation flicks into mainstream projects. Apparently, they never heared that old expression about turning a ho into a housewife.
post #32 of 32
Agreed. What the hell good is making a PG 13 version of a film like this, which succeeded to cult status BECAUSE of its shocking content? Put some lipstick on that pig. . .
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Creature Corner Main
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Last House on the Left Cast. Piss Your Pants!