The Last House on the Left (2009)★★★★☆

I’m really tired today, so I’m happy to say that this one is mostly an improvement on the original. I’ll keep this short.

This version focuses more on the story and on character development than on exploitation. There are still some disturbing scenes, but this one has an R rating, so it’s not nearly as graphic.

It was nice to see some familiar faces, albeit under questionable circumstances. Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn were great as Mari’s parents, and both of the abducted girls were believable.

Also, the bad guys in this were somehow more human than in the original. There was a reason behind almost all of the torture, beyond just entertainment. It definitely made for a more interesting story, if not a scarier one.

The music was a bit more thematically appropriate than in the original, but I think that made it less scary. Overall, this one is pretty good. I’ll leave it at that.