Last House on the Left And the Future of Independent Film Making an independent film is a lot like having a kid.
The sexy part is coming up with the idea and the money.
Shooting the film is akin to giving birth - both exciting and painful.
Then you have your bouncing baby movie - and you have to raise the little bastard.
In 2008 the independent film industry watched in horror as the world economy crashed and a few of the larger semi-independent distributors such as PictureHouse and Warner Independent closed their doors.
Major studios began picking up fewer and fewer independent films and the ones they pick up tend to be independent in the way that "Slumdog Millionaire" was independent.
In other words they cost 15 million dollars, or more, and have star actors, or a star director, and were made in affiliation with a studio.
What happened to the independent film? Where had the guts in the industry gone? Why weren't there terrific films like, "Reservoir Dogs," "Sling Blade," and edge of your seat horror, like the first "Halloween" being produced anymore? Then I happened to see the new version of "Last House on the Left" and I think I might have part of my answer.
The new version of the film is certainly entertaining and in many ways vastly superior to the earlier version of "Last House on the Left," which was Wes Craven's first film.
The new version has better actors, a more logical and realistic story line, and every element of the film looks great.
What it lacks is the gritty realism of the original film.
The 1972 version of "The Last House on the Left" meanders through its story telling.
In the original version Mari Collingwood leaves her parents, John and Estelle, at their lake house to attend a concert with her friend Phyllis in New York.
In the city the girls get abducted by Krug Stillo and his gang of rapists, murderers and drug addicts.
Krug recently escaped from prison where he was incarcerated for murdering a priest and a nun - yep, a priest and a nun.
Phyllis is raped by Krug, and his bi-sexual girlfriend, Sadie, as well as their fellow thug, Freddie, but remains resourceful and defiant.
She also does her best to protect her more naïve friend Mari and tries to engineer their escape.
Phyllis' defiance awakens Krug's sadistic tendencies and the girls are forced to perform humiliating acts for the pleasure of their abductors.
In a last attempt to escape Phyllis is murdered.
In a surprisingly heartbreaking scene Krug also rapes and murders Mari.
It's so sad that even Krug seems to momentarily feel the horror of what he's done.
Then, lo and behold, Krug and gang end up at Mari's parents' home.
The parents eventually discover their daughter's dead body and ascertain that Krug and his friends are responsible.
From that point on it's a guessing game - will Mari's parents be able to seek revenge for their daughter's brutal murder - or will they become victims of Krug themselves? In one of the film's more memorable scenes Mari's mother bites off Freddie's...
ahhh...
protuberance.
Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left" has major problems with logic, storyline, acting and editing - it's violent, exploitative, and yet it packs a visceral punch that the newer version of the film can't touch.
In the modern incarnation of the "Last House on the Left" most of the sexual violence has been removed from the film.
While the basic outline of the story remains the same - in the remake of the film a feistier Mari Collingwood survives the brutality that Krug has inflicted on her.
The bad guys still show up at the Collingwood's home and once the Collingwood's discover their wounded and raped daughter carnage creepily ensues - although no one's schlong gets bitten off.
It's a well-crafted and well-acted watered down version of the original film.
It's a kinder and gentler "Last House on the Left.
" It's what horror films in America are threatening to become - moments of extreme violence punctuating films whose characters become harder and harder to care about.
Watching the remake of "Last House on the Left" was an illuminating experience.
The creators of the new version of the film made the bet that their audience no longer wanted the raw exploitative experience of the original story.
They decided to largely remove the sexual component and the heroism of Mari Collingwood's friend Phyllis.
The perversions of the earlier film were hard to watch, mostly because the character of Phyllis was so brave, and that bravery made us care about the girls in a way the new film does not.
The newer version of the film created a story where less is at risk because the two victims are only victims.
The Phyllis character (now named Paige) is no longer resourceful or heroic.
We don't feel who the Mari character is in the way we do in the 1972 version.
In the newer version Krug and his gang are angrier too, and not having nearly as much fun being bad as the characters did in the older film.
All of which leaves the audience very little stake in the film.
If independent film, and independent horror are going to survive, filmmakers have to have the courage to offer something to compete with the unending parade of sequels, and tired Hollywood films where modern horror has more to do with losing your life, and less to do with losing your soul.
Personally I like the idea of going back to what made horror great.
The first "Last House on the Left," the first "Halloween" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
" I also like the modern throwbacks of the genre: "Red Canyon," "Hard Candy," and "The Devil's Rejects.
" So maybe future of independent horror should look to the spirit of the past greats and let it inspire us to become truly innovative, not simply a carbon copy of a thousand other films.