Movie Review Last House on the Left

The Last House on the Left (2009) 

Directed by Dennis Illadis 

Written by Carl Ellsworth

Starring Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn, Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt 

Release Date March 13th, 2009 

Published March 12th, 2009

I am curious just what the makers of the new Last House on the Left felt as they watched the final product of all of their hard work. What exactly did they see when they screened it? What did they feel they had accomplished with this movie? And most baffling of all for me, what did they think would make anyone want to see this?

Honestly, how can they have filmed scenes like those contained in Last House on the Left and thought boy I can't wait to put this out into the world. What is the intended effect? Shock? To induce vomiting? To merely disgust and appaul? Can those really be a goal? What kind of audience would seek out such an experience?

Last House on the Left is a nasty bit of business that, I'll grant you, is not nearly as nihilistic and vile as Eli Roth's Hostel movies or anything directed by the perverted mind of Rob Zombie, but it is certainly a distant relative.

Last House on the Left is a 'reimagining' of Wes Craven's bizarre 1972 Last House on the Left, one of the progenitors of the modern debased and debauched horror genre. That film however, for all of its incredible depravity is a cultural artifact, coming as it did as a sign post on the road to the end of the peace and love generation. In that it had some merit.

The new Last House on the Left has no such cultural cache and instead plays like it's killing movie cousins, as a mere demonstration of death and the many disturbing variations that horror filmmakers can invent on the subject of death. The more grisly and authentic the better for these twisted souls.

The movie ostensibly stars Sara Paxton as Mari Collingwood, a 17 year old on vacation with her parents Emma (Monica Potter) and Dr. John Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn) at a lovely lakeside cabin. Mari decides to head into a nearby town to visit an old friend, Paige (Martha MacIsaac, Superbad) and tells mom she may be spending the night.

Once in town, the girls meet up with Justin (Spencer Treat Clark) , a quiet young kid who promises good weed. They follow him back to his hotel. Unfortunately, they are soon joined by Justin's dad Krug (Garret Dillahunt). Krug is an escaped con and a disturbed sadistic soul. He and his cronies Sadie (Riki Lindholme) and Francis (Aaron Paul) decide to take the girls hostage.

They take Mari's car and a trip into the woods. There Paige is murdered for trying to escape and Mari is brutally raped and left for dead floating in the lake. With a storm brewing and no car, the four make their way to the closest house, what they don't know is that the closest house is the very lake house owned by Mari's parents. Oh and Mari's not dead.

This horrid set up turns into what I am sure is supposed to be a cathartic revenge fantasy with mom and dad going biblical on the baddies who hurt their daughter. Instead, Last House on the Left plays as a meditation on ugly stupid violence and the demonstration of death.

So while I am sure director Dennis Illiadis means for us to take pleasure in seeing the bad guys punished his mode and method of eliminating the bad guys is so convoluted and overblown that one can only witness and never really feel that visceral sense of repulsive, lower brain excitement that comes with righteous vengeance.

Worse though is the films centerpiece the murder and subsequent rape and near murder of Paige and Mari. Does anyone really need to see someone raped on screen to understand the horrific nature of the crime? More to the point, what is the audience supposed to take away from the brutal screen reenactment of such a crime? Are we meant to vomit, to wretch. Why is that necessary?

Rape is merely a plot point in Last House on the Left and not something to consider with thought and care. It's used as a way of demonstrating the evil of these characters and why we are later in the film supposed to delight in their elaborate demise. It's a crass manipulation and one not worthy of the film spent capturing it.

Last House on the Left is a shameful exercise in degradation as titillation. We are meant to be cheered by this movie because of the revenge plot but it's all so clumsy and dull witted that it shines an even brighter spotlight on how disturbed the filmmakers were when they so artfully captured Mari's horrific attack. That part they took great pains to capture. The rest they slapped together with spit and tape.

If that doesn't demonstrate the frightening place Last House on the Left occupies in the modern horror movie canon nothing I say can.

Movie Review: Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone (2010) 

Directed by Deborah Granik 

Written by Deborah Granik, Anne Rosselini 

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Sheryl Lee, Tate Taylor 

Release Date June 11th, 2010 

Published July 4th, 2010

In the meth soaked outer reaches of the Ozarks, where cable TV and cell phones are out of reach, there lives a culture that remembers the Hatfields and McCoys not as cartoon caricatures but as blood relatives. Blood has mixed beyond where it likely ever should have in this area creating some uncomfortable familial bonds but the barriers that exist between families are still deeply protected and immersed in this conflict through birth is Ree (Jennifer Lawrence).

Ree Dolly has spent most of her 17 years trying to ignore the drug addled world around her. Ree lives day to day struggling to survive in a world without money or the comforts that money can bring. She lives by charity and wit; the gifts of a loving neighbor are accepted not with bruised pride but with a grateful resignation while when charity is not forthcoming hunting squirrels is a proper alternative.

This could be Ree's life for good until she meets the right meth cooking dealer and settles into her own life of addiction and solitude. No time to think about the future however as Ree has problems in the present. Her meth dealing dad has put their house on the line to get out of jail and has now gone missing. The law informs Ree that if dad does not show up for court the house will be taken away as collateral for his bond.

Now it's up to Ree to search the deep black heart of the Ozarks forest for her missing father all the while overturning stones that many don't want turned over. What begins as an impoverished character study evolves into an odd detective story where an amateur gumshoe stumbles into trouble investigating a crime that no one wants to see solved but them.

“Winter's Bone” holds a good deal of fascination throughout its 100 minute run time. Star Jennifer Lawrence gives Ree a hard won determination that captures the audience and holds it enthralled and in support John Hawkes delivers a character with born to lose tattooed on his very soul. Hawkes plays Ree's meth addicted uncle Teardrop and brings such an authenticity to this raw souled wretch that you feel his every appearance on screen like sandpaper on your skin.

Writer-director Deborah Granik captures these performances beautifully and matches the stark portrayals to her stark visual style in a marriage of overwhelming ugly truth. The muted colors match the muted wants of the characters in its desolation. Ree’s motivation is simple and straightforward, she just wants to not be homeless, as are the motivations of the people preventing her from what she seeks.

The background, the decaying trees and icy, windblown exteriors of home and pick-up truck alike match the lives of these characters in both their simplicity and minimalism. These characters aren’t going anywhere and are resigned to that fact but Ree at least will make the most of what little she has. Ree’s sad existence beyond this pseudo-detective story is communicated in devastating fashion by the barren surroundings. This will likely be the only important thing Ree ever does and the downcast settings underline that fact and give the film an all encompassing melancholy.

Yes, “Winter’s Bone” is as bleak as my description but that does not prevent it from being a gripping story told with exquisite skill and determination. Jennifer Lawrence is a revelation while John Hawkes has been an actor on the edge of a breakthrough as a character actor guaranteed to one day win Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. This might just be his year and indeed Ms. Lawrence’s as well.