One of the best horror films to arrive in theaters this year was The Last House on the Left, the remake of the classic Wes Craven film from 1972. Since the film will be arriving on both Blu-ray and DVD today from Universal Home Entertainment, Bloody Disgusting’s David Harley took some time to break down the Blu-ray release and tell you if it’s worth a snag. I’d bet it is…
If there’s been one film this year that completely surprised me, it’s Dennis Iliadis’ remake of The Last House On The Left. Now in its third incarnation (fourth if you count David DeFalco’s Chaos, which started out as a remake and ended being something just eerily similar but not quite the same), the story of a few young girls being brutally tortured and raped by assailants who unknowingly come under the care of one girl’s parents still holds up as a tale of morality and parental instincts.

Although not as grimy and grungy as Craven’s 1972 film, Iliadis’ version is just as rough tonally, if only done in a more minimalistic way. What the film lacks in on-screen brutality when compared to its direct predecessor, it certainly makes up for in intensity thanks to psychotic performances from Garret Dillahunt, Aaron Paul and Riki Lindhome.

Perhaps the most important ingredient in the film’s success is the thought provoking insight into how far you would go to protect someone you love. Even though it falls apart in the third act, with a final sequence that is too preposterous to fit in tonally with the rest of the film and its inclination to rely on hide-and-seek mechanics a bit too much, the film is bound to cause a discussion or two amongst friends as to whether or not the parents truly became as bad as the villains through their vengeful proceedings. And although I do admit that the ending is as silly and out of place as they come, that final act of revenge does indeed put the parents on the same level of depravity as the villains, since it’s thought out and mean spirited and not spontaneous and amateurish like their other attempts. The father, specifically, becomes a professional psychopath by the film’s end credits.

Universal Home Video’s 1080p/VC-1 Blu-Ray encode is flawless and among their most impressive releases to date. Muted colors and grain are kept as they were when the film went theatrical, keeping the disc’s presentation extremely faithful. Blacks are deep without becoming inky and texture and dimensionality are very evident throughout. Best of all, no DNR, banding or artifacting can be seen in the film’s presentation. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is almost as impressive, balancing the score, dialogue and sound effects effectively. Every sound comes through clear and crisp, with the only real problem – dialogue coming through too softly – occurring during one or two scenes only.

With a film so great and a presentation so phenomenal, it saddens me that not as much care was put into the bonus features on the disc, which included A Look Inside (2:41), a meager EPK that doesn’t give any real insight into the making of the film or provide any notable interviews snippets; Deleted Scenes (8:58), most of which are unbearably boring to sit through; and a digital copy which can be watched on your computer or iPod. A commentary with Iliadis and Craven would’ve been a dream come true, as would a featurette that discussed the differences between all the different versions of the film. And for the curious, the four minutes of extra footage included in the unrated cut is mostly exposition, with a few extra seconds of gore.

Despite having seen this same storyline numerous times, Iliadis’ The Last House On The Left managed to be one of the best remakes of the decade and a film that I actually prefer over Craven’s origin. Although not as poetic as Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, the film has a few quasi-art house scene presentations and is certainly a harrowing (in a good way) experience worth sitting through over and over again.

Film: 4/5
Blu-Ray: 3/5