One of the single worst screenplays I have ever read was one of the New Line Cinema drafts for The Last House on the Left remake. So it came as no surprise to me that New Line let the pile of crap go and moved on with their better franchises. Thank god I've heard the script has been completely re-written, which could be why Rogue Pictures has closed a deal to remake the 1972 horror film that started Wes Craven's career. In addition, it was reported in the following article that Shocker and People Under the Stairs remakes are soon to follow. Read on for the skinny...
Variety reports:
Craven, who wrote and directed the original, will produce the remake with longtime partner Marianne Maddalena and Sean S. Cunningham. Latter produced the original. Rogue co-president Andrew Rona and Craven forged a relationship while Rona was co-prexy of Dimension.
Craven and Rogue are eyeing an early 2007 start date.
Rogue will retain worldwide rights for the redo, which follows the same storyline. A pair of adventurous teen girls are kidnapped, raped and murdered by a gang of thugs. The killers unwittingly hole up in the home of one victim's parents, who, upon realizing what their guests did, devise gruesome revenge.
Craven said that of all his films in talks for a remake -- "Shocker" and "People Under the Stairs" redos are in the offing -- the original "Last House" is still the most unsettling.
"I'm far enough removed from these films that the remakes are a little like having grandchildren," Craven said. "The story, about the painful side effects of revenge, is an evergreen. The headlines are full of people and nations taking revenge and getting caught up in endless cycles of violence."
Craven and Cunningham got $90,000 to shoot the original from drive-in theater owners in Boston who wanted cheap second films for double-feature bills. The R rating was self-imposed, since Craven had never heard of the MPAA.
"I had been teaching college and never intended to make horror films," Craven said. New project marks the third remake of a Craven film that the director is producing. "The Hills Have Eyes" and a sequel that is in pre-production were remade for Fox Searchlight.
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Craven, who wrote and directed the original, will produce the remake with longtime partner Marianne Maddalena and Sean S. Cunningham. Latter produced the original. Rogue co-president Andrew Rona and Craven forged a relationship while Rona was co-prexy of Dimension.
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