I'm going to be completely honest with you and say I was ready to give up on this movie about 40 minutes in. I was bored, I felt like I've seen this cliche of a plot so many times before and I was left thinking to myself why do film makers continue to make bad movies? Like I said that was about 40 minutes in. Then the movie kicked into gear and really grabbed my attention. It was like a tale of two movies.
I will note that I have not seen the original 1978 version of the film so I have nothing to compare it to. I have heard though that the film was very graphic and controversial and rightfully so if the rape, well multiple raping scenes were anything like they were in this film. So going in I had a clean slate and could just enjoy the film for what it was. Now usually when you think of revenge, especially from a female (I'm just saying) fear or panic wouldn't be the first emotion to enter your psyche. But after seeing what Jennifer, played by Sarah Butler did to these guys, hell if I ever piss off a girl again.
The savageness in which she went about her revenge, picking each guy off one by one was both brutal to watch and highly entertaining. For those scenes alone this movie ended up being one I'm very glad I didn't give up on. Now the acting, brutal in its own right was very bad but that's not what horror movies are about anyway. It just stood out like a sore thumb especially during the earlier scenes in the film.
This movie reminded me a lot of The Last House On The Left but a lot more violent in its nature. Another revenge movie but lighter in a way. However, Jennifer in this movie didn't hold anything back while getting her revenge and it really made up for the bomb that was let off in the first half of the film. This movie probably wont make any top 10 lists but I will say that in the future I will never completely judge a film until the final credits role.
Or at least I will try.
3 out of 5 stars
How can you write about this without having seen the original? The original 'The Last House on the Left' any early work by none other than Wes Craven accompanied the original 'I Spit on Your Grave' dir Meir Zarchi in ushering in a new wave of horror films that crossed over into heavy exploitation. They were also a reflection of a complex greater social response to the feminist movement which had a militant edge at that time. These films acted as a safe way to fantasize about the collective anxiety in opening up long suppressed gender and class conflict.
ReplyDeleteI like these remakes, they are successful renditions of the pre existing works and continue to be alarming - both narratives well and truly push the boundaries of sexual violence and sadistic brutality. However in the current environment I don't think they serve the same social role as their predecessors. I fail to see any role for these in the greater world of horror cinema except as part of the parade of remakes. So I think they will go largely unremembered in any significant way.