The Last House on the Left: Old vs. New

Hey Guys!
Today I have one of my rarer posts for you. Still movie centered but this time I’ll compare old and new version on one flick! This time it’s The Last House on the Left I’m looking into!

 

The Plot:
Two girls are out having a good time when they encounter a rather cute looking guy. It soon turns out they never should have spoken to him. He’s the son of a recently escaped serial killer, who happens to stroll around the corner.
Needless to say, it doesn’t end good for the girls.
However, something worse is yet to come…

 

Old vs. New:
Before I begin with the actual review, I have to explain that it’s the two most recent versions (1972+2009) I will talk about. While doing some research I found out that the 1972 version is based on a Swedish movie (1960) which is based on a folk tale. But that’s for another post…

So, let’s start the Wes Craven’s directional début. The original movie was shot with a rather small budget and I have to admit it clearly shows. It feels like one of those trashy 70’s horror films we all know aplenty. You can clearly tell that the story (and the actors) have potential but it just didn’t turn out in the best way. The plot is frightening and many of the scenes will most certainly give you the creeps. But there simply are better horror movies of that time.

The new version was actually produced by Wes Craven’s production studio. He wanted to see what would have been possible with the right budget. I honestly hadn’t expected that it would show that much. Many of the scenes look almost completely alike just with more money to back it up. The new version has some great actors who give a terrifying performance but ultimately it’s not more intense than the original film. It doesn’t come across as trashy but didn’t leave impressed either.

Summing up, I have to say that both versions aren’t exactly the best of the best. However, the story is intense and Wes Craven gave us two decent horror flicks.

 

Did you see any of the two versions? Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments!

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