The Last House on the Left
Rogue Pictures | Release Date: March 13, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
6
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Hinges on humiliation and vengeance, which makes it like most other modern horror titles. Its focus on sexual assault, however, puts it in a different, more primal league. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Iliadis is more visually sophisticated than Craven was in 1972 and works hard to sustain the mood and tension while still hitting the audience with blunt scenes of wincing violence. (It gets grisly and grotesque enough for gore hounds.) Read full review
75
PremiereOlivia Putnal
The storyline was actually believable, surrounding a family willing to do anything to save one another. A horror film turned feel-good. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
Horror fans anticipating grisly laughs are in for a jolt. Because the new Last House, though terrifying, is never, ever fun. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
A warning: One scene in the middle is almost outrageously cruel and graphic. If you're the type of person who has to be reminded, "It's only a movie," stay away. This is the most depraved and dreadful piece of screen horror since last year's "Funny Games." Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The remake of The Last House on the Left breaks the template, taking the 1972 original into an interesting new direction, with bold camera angles, good actors and a script that heaps on just as much character development as carnage. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Adheres sufficiently closely to the original template so as not to offend purists and manages to pack an intensely visceral punch of its own, most effectively in the extended setup. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Replacing the earlier movie's more depraved sequences with sustained tension and truly unnerving editing, the director proves adept at managing mayhem in cramped spaces. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
There's a huge change that turns the nihilistic carnage of Craven's original into something suffused with old-fashioned family values, so that we can relax and enjoy watching the bad guys get beaten, skewered, dismembered by garbage disposals, and tortured with microwave ovens. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The wheels fall off toward the end but, until that point, Illiadis does an excellent job of generating and maintaining an intense sense of dread. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Look at the performances. They're surprisingly good, and I especially admired the work of Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn as the parents of one of two girls who go walking in the woods. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad Derakhshani
The best in the latest crop of slasher remakes. Admittedly, that is faint praise. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The remake is plenty scary, though any moral inquiry into the cost of revenge seemed to fly over the heads of the screaming, laughing crowd I saw it with. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Like the current hit "Taken," Last House 2009 packs a vicarious jolt that might feel cathartic to certain moviegoers. Read full review
50
Washington PostMike Mayo
In the end, like virtually every other remake that has been released recently, it's polished and predictable. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineJason Buchanan
The result is a glossy, engaging suspense film that jettisons much of its predecessor's sadism and subtext in favor of crowd-pleasing revenge violence. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
This new House tries to sustain a grave, heavy sense of threat. It fails, through its villainy. Read full review
40
VarietyDennis Harvey
If the original could be accused of having a real point (even a subtext), the uninspired redo has none whatsoever. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
It's now a straight-up crime and retribution flick, capped off by the dumbest wolf-feeding coda a 13-year-old ever dreamed up. Read full review
30
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
The rape scene is, admittedly, as brutal as any I've seen in recent memory, but much of what Iliadis shows us is a direct riff on the original. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Why remake Craven's original at all? Oh, yeah, I forgot: Reheated depravity sells. To avoid existential despair, keep repeating: It's only a remake; it's only a remake; it's only a remake. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Audiences with a brain cell left have only one choice: Look for the first exit on the right. Read full review
25
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Not only is it plodding and completely predictable, the carnage is rendered slowly and quasi-reverentially, making the whole brutal experience come off like torture porn. Read full review
10
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
A shockingly mundane disappointment taken on its own and a deeply misguided refraction of the original. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This remake is merely vile (and dull). Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
One sickening piece of garbage. Read full review
0
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's a gore sundae with an S&M cherry on top. Read full review
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