John and Emma Collingwood are on vacation at their lakeshore house when, by a bizarre twist of fate, they give shelter to the sociopaths who have just assaulted and nearly killed their daughter. Upon discovering the truth, they exact a chilling revenge on her attackers...

Bloody-Disgusting: How did you land the role in Last House?

Garret Dillahunt: The director, Dennis Iliadis (although I like calling him by his proper Greek name, Dionisius) had seen ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, apparently, and called me in for a meeting. I don't know what he saw in Ed Miller that made him think I could pull off Krug, but I'm glad he did. I had to meet with Wes' approval after that, and then we were done.

BD: Were you familiar with the original before you took the role? When did you see the original film?

Garret: I wasn't familiar with the original prior to shooting. Particularly surprising since I like so many films from the '70s. BADLANDS, ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE, SCARECROW...always on my favorites list. Film is a lot like literature in the sense that I feel like I'm always reading yet there are these great, unexplainable holes in my library. Not much Faulkner, for example. It's the same with film. There are just so many I haven't gotten around to, and yet I see a shitload of movies. We all watched THE VIRGIN SPRING together, though. And I thought that was pretty amazing and ahead of its time. In some ways we owe more to that film. I watched the original LHOTL later, after I was free from the fear of being improperly influenced by it.

BD: The original is pretty brutal and hard to watch, do you feel that was the goal of the remake too? What do you think they were trying to accomplish and what were your goals?

Garret: Was that the goal of the original? To be brutal and hard to watch? I'm not sure, I guess, what our goal was other than to tell the story in our hands well and true and complete. The result is certainly brutal...relentlessly so. I felt like I'd been mugged after the first screening. I'll say I think it is certainly a timely film (again). People are angry right now in this country. Good, hard working people feel like, through no fault of their own, outside forces have come into their lives and torn them apart. They feel violated and disrespected and powerless. Those forces are given a face with Krug and Co., and this normal, American family decides to take some power back. That decision is not without cost--psychic and otherwise.

BD: Can you talk about the dynamics of the father and son relationship you have with your son? And maybe talk about if you see some connection to the Collingwood family's relationship.

Garret: Well, Krug and Mr. Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn) have both fathered children. There the similarity ends, pretty much. Heh. I really appreciated the inclusion of this storyline in the script. It fleshes out the character so much and, actually, made it easier to play him as I felt sorry for him. I think he is a guy who'd benefit from LOTS of psychotherapy. He loves his son, but doesn't know how to raise him properly. He has twisted ideas about what being a man is. He's quite intelligent, yet makes horrible decisions. He has been beaten up by life and has responded to those setbacks in the most unhealthy of ways. Everything is a slight..a personal attack that he cannot get around. When we meet Krug, he is already lost. He just doesn't know it yet.

BD: How was it playing Krug? He's so violent and you're such a nice guy. Did Terminator help get you ready for this role?

Garret: I was happy to get away from TERMINATOR, actually. Krug, if anything, is a rage-aholic, and on the show I have no emotions at all. I was happy to get the chance to play someone so completely different. It's what I like best in this career--change. I loved playing Krug. It was physical and challenging and, although I have a bad temper, it's far from me. I am all about "the story", and someone has to be the bad guy in this story, and you'd better not be afraid to go all the way with it.

BD: Did you model your Krug after the original, or is he his own beast?

Garret: I'm sure you can guess, since I hadn't seen the original LHOTL, that this is my own beast. Even if I had, it would be impossible to do it exactly the same. If two people play Hamlet, it's completely different even if you think you're doing exactly the same thing because the actors themselves are different. There's just no way around it.

BD: How difficult was it to shoot the rape scene?

Garret: Thankfully, Sara and I had worked together once before, on a much fluffier piece, and gotten along great. I like her very much and feel very protective of her. The rape scene required a lot of focus, stamina and probably a modicum of denial as well. It really was a day that revolved around Sara's comfort, and properly so. She had to go to a dark, dark place and she did. It could only help if she trusted me, and I worked hard the entire shoot to earn it. It was a long day of flailing and fighting and shoving her in the dirt and then helping her up, making sure she was covered and warm and safe... Twisted process. She'd argue, but this succeeded as a scene because of her and it was the sweetest thing in the world when she hugged me at the end of the day, filthy, covered with pine needles and scratches, said, "Thank you. That could have been awful and weird." I think I said "I'm so sorry, baby." Then I left her the fuck ALONE, for her sake, but partially cause she choked me up a little bit.

BD: Was this a tough shoot in terms of how nitty gritty it is? Did you do all of your own fights?

Garret: It was a tough shoot, in the most enjoyable way. I wanted this to be good. I wanted to work hard to make it good. We all did. It's the greatest thing when you have a group of like minded people focused on the same thing. Ego goes out the window, and the group as a whole is elevated.

I love fights. A bad fight can ruin a whole movie for me, so you can bet I was keen and picky about that last chunk of the movie. We had a great fight team there in S. Africa, and they put together some great choreography. I like it messy, and dirty and believable, with a solid framework but room to bounce around inside that parameter. The stunt coordinator, Anthony "Mo" Marais, said he'd never let actors do so much of their own fights before. Took that as a great compliment. I did NOT, however, go through that second story window. That was gorgeous and insane. Tyrell did that, god bless him. I videotaped it and when it was over, he's giving me a wide grin and a thumb's up as they're picking slivers of glass out of his back. Fucking nutjob.

BD: What's next? More horror?

Garret: I'm answering these questions from a hotel in Branson, Missouri. A first for me... Working on a film called WINTER'S BONE, based on the novel of the same name. Ozarks and meth cookin'. BURNING BRIGHT will come out sometime later this year, I think. Tigers...Briana Evigan...need I say more? For the future...all I need is a story that interests me--I don't care the genre. Horror? You bet.

BD: SPOILER WARNING: What are your thoughts on the microwave ending? Was it fun to shoot?

Garret: I'll be interested to see how the public responds to the microwave. We shot it at the very end, appropriately, and I remember getting slivers on my back as Krug was slid up that workbench into the microwave.