After spending most of yesterday cooped up in my office going thru bank statements and credit card receipts, I was really lookin’ to get out of the house by the time I finished sorting all of my paperwork. David and Kurt (who is staying with us for a few days) were talking about going to see a movie so I thought that would be the best, low-key option. They decided on seeing The Last House on the Left and, since I’m a big horror movie fan, I decided to go along …
… and what a mistake that was. Honestly, I was pretty revolted by the entire movie. I had a real hard time finding any entertainment value in any of it. I also had a hard time seeing the flick as a “horror” film … to me, it was simply a horrible film. The Last House on the Left is a remake of the 1970′s version of the film that takes horror porn to a new level. For the first portion of the film, the viewer is subjected to close-up shots of a teenage girl’s maturing body repeatedly before we are forced to watch her get raped and shot in the woods (that is, after her female friend is beat up, tied up and stabbed in the stomach and in the back). I haven’t been that uncomfortable in a theater in a very long time. There is NO REASON for the film to focus so much on this young girl’s rape … I was so close to walking out. Only the promise of the retribution to come kept me in my seat. As the movie progressed, the parents of the raped girl are allowed to exact their revenge on the people who harmed their daughter … which is where the garbage disposal and the microwave come in handy. I’m sorry, even seeing the bad guys get punished for their heinous crimes did not satisfy me. At the end of the film, I felt disgusted and a bit violated for having witnessed the brutality on the screen. There was nothing scary about this film, it was just disgusting. A movie like The Strangers did it better … there was suspense and actual horror without all the gore. Even the gore I don’t mind so much … but the brutality of rape for entertainment purposes has no business being on screen. Had I known about that scene, I would’ve opted out of seeing the film in the first place. I simply cannot endorse or suggest that others see this film. Tho, considering what I read about the brutality in the original film … it sounds like they cleaned up this remake.
Blah!!!
Tonight, Kurt leaves us for a while so David and I will have our last night together before I leave for SXSW tomorrow evening. Not sure what the plan is but I’m sure we’ll think of something ;)
Ive heard this is really good from other sources, but when you said Watchmen was good, you lost my trust on movie reviews.
darling, what were you expecting? it’s a remake of a movie about a brutal rape/murder and its aftermath/retribution….did you think it was going to be Twilight 2? I adore your blog but i cannot believe you were naive enough to think this was going to be an “easy” movie….stay home, sweetie, with that adorable boyfriend of yours, and watch a couple of dvds. I might suggest the Donald Strachey Mysteries from heretv.com — ON THE OTHER HAND DEATH just came out on DVD. ahem. xo
Deliverance? This movie had the same concept of rape/revenge and it was Academy Awards nominated. I do not see how this is different as that movie was just as disturbing.
@Shawn, he’s seen the original, most people have, but there’s a way to do things without showing a rape for entertainment value. They did it in the original, it was uncomfortable, and horrible, but they still didn’t show it al, just enough to get the point across.
Things are getting to violent for the shock value. When you get teenagers going “Aw man sick xD” while someone being brutally tortured or raped, it makes you worried about the state of mentality we have.
Theres a big difference between liking the original, well done movie, and being compared to a Twilight fan because you don’t want to see someone being raped.
^ Said it all.
There are already many voices to the public about the brutality of rape — rape crisis centers for one….they represent REALITY. This film is a profit-making device. Come on, people don’t make horror films to educate the public about violence. It’s about what some people find entertaining.
I think if you really understand rape and violence watching it exploited for entertainment sake is unacceptable and not at all entertaining. There is a difference between portraying violence effectively (which films do) and exploiting it. It takes a lot of talent to the former. The latter takes…whatever the director and producers of LHOTL have.
Didn’t mean to hurt feelings, Kendra. But as a parent HOW THE EL DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT Watchmen HAS A GRAPHIC SEX SCENE? Every site I read mentioned it, salivated over it, showed pix of it. Rant over.
I guess we don’t read the same sites.. :)
I think it’s problematic that our society keeps reinforcing the idea that violence solves violence. Violence has NO place in society!
thanks trent. i have no desire to see that kind of violence in detail in a crowded movie theater. there is NO entertaiment value in rape. no matter good the rest of the movie may be.
Speaking of disturbing movies, have you seen Requiem for a Dream? Creeeeepy.