MovieChat Forums > The Last House on the Left (2009) Discussion > It's unbelievable how much better this i...

It's unbelievable how much better this is than the original.

posted 9 years ago by honeymoonavenue
20 replies | jump to latest

I have never seen such a huge improvement from original to remake. The difference in quality is astonishing, and I am beyond impressed that the filmmakers managed to take the plot of Wes Craven's original film and skillfully craft it into a genuinely spectacular film.

While I do love Wes Craven, his original film was terribly made, and was merely a cheesy exploitation film with corny music and cheap direction.

The remake took a more sophisticated approach and not only added plenty of depth and new clever ideas, but provided an artistic quality to it, displaying stylishly somber cinematography, a gloomily and gorgeously haunting atmosphere, outstanding music, an engaging screenplay, and layers of genuine emotion.

It's a perfect example of how a remake should be done and truly is a beautifully made film.

[–] HorrorMetal (838) 4 years ago

I feel like the first half of the original is better, but the second half of the remake is superior.

[–] ADBruno1985 (3321) 3 years ago

Agreed to an extent. I hate that Mary and Justin both predictably survived whereas they died in the original. But I chalk that up to the sensitivities of a modern-day audience, they demand a happy ending. They could've gotten away with killing Justin but killing Mary would've been seen as too brutal probably

[–] Kowalski (61034) 3 years ago

LMAO

[–] blue1981 (6638) 3 years ago

I have to be in a really bad mood to watch this movie and even then I still won't watch the rape scene.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

The difference in production values between the original and the remake is extreme. Similar to Evil Dead (2013) and The Evil Dead (1981).

Low budget film with amateurish aspects up against a modern Hollywood production.

[–] ADBruno1985 (3321) 2 years ago

Completely agreed, this one is superb by far.

That said, budget and quality, especially for a director's debut film, which is also horror. He wouldn't have had the budget, and the quality plain wasn't available. And who knows, at that point, maybe he didn't have as much say about some things in it. I'm not saying this is the case, but just to pull a hypothetical example from the air, maybe he didn't want the hokey cops but the studio forced it. Thank goodness they were nowhere in the remake.

My main issue with the remake is that Mari and Justin should've died. But of course modern American audiences can't handle bleak endings in mainstream, so they had to give her life and him redemption.

[–] SandyR (7510) a year ago

One of the most perfectly incorrect opinions ever. Nice work.