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The Last House on the Left (2009) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for The Last House on the Left can be found here.

Yes, this film is a remake of the 1972 Wes Craven-directed movie The Last House on the Left. The original itself was heavily inspired by Jungfrukällan (1960), a movie with a very similar plot-line but not as graphic as depicted in Craven's film. In 2005, Chaos was released but due to rights issues it was not labeled as a remake of either Craven's film or Jungfrukällan, but instead self-labeled itself as an original. Chaos was a failure both critically and financially, thus prompting Craven to want to produce a remake of his original movie, which in part was also due to the success of the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes remake. Rights to the original The Last House on the Left reverted back to Wes Craven 30-something years after being released, so he was now legally able to go ahead with the project on his own.

SYNOPSIS for The Last House on the Left: John & Emma Collingwood are on vacation at their lakeshore house when, by a bizarre twist of fate, they give shelter to the sociopaths who have just assaulted and nearly killed their daughter. Upon discovering the truth, they exact a chilling revenge on her attackers...

BREAKDOWN:

[DR. JOHN COLLINGWOOD] 45, father of Mari and husband of Emma Collingwood. Overworked, and having recently lost a son, John agrees to take time off with his family at their lakefront Summer home. After offering both shelter and medical care to four stranded travelers (Krug, Justin, Sadie and Francis) John finds his daughter seriously wounded and struggling for life, then realizes his houseguests were the ones who assaulted and left her for dead. Cut off from help, John has to find the inner power to exact an equally brutal revenge on his daughter's attackers...LEAD (8)

[MARI COLLINGWOOD] 17-18, daughter of John and Emma Collingwood - a natural beauty, she's an expert swimmer with a tireless work ethic and a bright, lively nature. Still mourning her brother's death, Mari reluctantly accompanies her parents to their vacation house, an isolated lakefront house filled with difficult memories. While visiting her childhood friend Paige, the two girls fall into the clutches of three deadly criminals: Krug, Sadie and Francis. Mari is raped by Krug, and is then shot while attempting to escape. Barely alive, she manages to make it back home, only to realize her murderous kidnappers are "guests" in her parents' house... LEAD (6) PLEASE SUBMIT 18 (OR EMANCIPATED) TO PLAY YOUNGER.

[EMMA COLLINGWOOD] 41, confident, strong and very attractive, she's a determined woman still recovering from the shock of her son's death. Intent on recapturing her family's happiness via a trip to their lake house, Emma faces her worst nightmare upon discovering that the people her and husband, John Collingwood, gave shelter to had earlier that day assaulted and nearly killed their daughter Mari. Forced to fight for her family's survival, Emma proves to be a surprisingly ferocious enemy... LEAD (7)

[KRUG] Early 30s, a handsome, charismatic man with hard features and a heart of stone - Krug's a ruthless sociopath on the lam after a prison escape that left two cops dead in its wake. Intent on going into hiding as quickly as possible, Krug stops to pick up his teenage son Justin, only to find him with two young girls who must now be disposed of. Partnered with Sadie and Francis - Krug kills Paige, then rapes Mari Collingwood and shoots her, leaving her for dead. Charming his way into John and Emma Collingwood's house during a storm, Krug's clueless they're Mari's parents, and that they're about to stage their own revenge... LEAD (1)

[SADIE] 20ish, a sadistic beauty, Sadie is Krug's lover and twisted surrogate mother to his son Justin. Sadie busts Krug out of a prison transport van (with the maximum possible loss of life) but is afterward conflicted as to whether or not Justin's teenage friends Paige and Mari need to be eliminated. Initially kind to the girls, Sadie turns vicious when she's targeted in their desperate attempt to escape. Later, after being given refuge in the Collingwood's guest-house, the tables are turned, with Mari's parents intent on her destruction and Sadie finding herself desperate to survive... LEAD (4)

[JUSTIN] 15 (18 to play younger), the darkly innocent son of Krug who considers him a weak-willed disappointment. In fact, he's a normal, ethical kid horrified by his father and his murderous entourage. When Justin strikes up conversation with Mari and Paige, he exposes them to his fugitive father, inadvertently getting one killed - the other attacked and left for dead. Terrified of Krug but determined to do the right thing, Justin ultimately finds it within himself to help the Collingwoods survive their encounter with his lethal father... LEAD (22) PLEASE SUBMIT 18 (OR EMANCIPATED) TO PLAY YOUNGER.

[FRANCIS] Early 30s, Krug's brother, Francis is a street smart sociopath, an eager-to-please wing-man who breaks Krug out, then goes on the run with him and Sadie. He's unpredictably violent. Overshadowed by his brother's charisma, he's desperate to impress. Francis bites off more than he can chew when he tries to assault Emma Collingwood, facing a dauntless woman with brutal vengeance on her mind...LEAD (4)

[PAIGE] 17 (18 to play younger), a gorgeous hell-raiser who always speaks her mind, Paige works at the resort town's general store. Childhood friends, Paige and Mari have a history of getting into trouble together - years later, Paige hasn't changed a bit. Shutting up shop to smoke dope with Justin, Paige winds up trapped (along with Mari) when Krug arrives - and realizes she's scheduled to be his next victim. A fighter who never gives up, Paige fights for her life to the very end...LEAD (18) PLEASE SUBMIT 18 (OR EMANCIPATED) TO PLAY YOUNGER.

The first song is "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" by F*ck Buttons. The second song is "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Taken by Trees. This is a cover of the same name by the band Guns N Roses.

Mise-en-scene - This film takes place in 2009 rather than 1972 or the 14th century, like the original films.

Name Changes - Phyllis is now named Paige. Junior Stillo is now named Justin. Fred/Weasel is named Francis/Frank. Estelle Collingwood is now named Emma.

Setting - The Collingwoods live in the lake house seasonally, instead of year-round like in the original.

Added Storyline - Mari had a brother named Ben who died about a year earlier. Mari is a good swimmer, a dedicated athlete, and she uses her sport to deal with her emotions over her brother's death.

The film opens by showing Krug's escape and murder of the two police officers. In the original, that scene was only mentioned over a radio conversation and never shown.

Plot Devices - Mari's necklace was an engraved pendant from Ben, rather than a charm given to her by her mother for her 17th birthday.

Plot Points - Justin meets the girls at Paige's job, a convenience store. In the original film the girls met Junior while he was outside his apartment.

After he offers them weed, he had no intentions of letting the gang have them. In the original film Junior purposely invited the girls into the apartment so his father could have them, hoping his father would feed his heroin addiction.

The gang takes Mari's car (an SUV) to the woods, rather than taking their own car.

[The gang makes it to the Collingwood house late at night and a storm prevents them from calling for a cab since all the power and phone lines are down. In the original film they used the house as a place to stay until morning with no real reason.

Justin finds Mari's picture on the fridge and purposefully leaves the pendant for the parents to find, as he feels bad for Mari. In the original film, Junior discovers a picture of Mari but does not reveal his family's identity to the Collingwood's.

The gang stays in the adjacent guest house instead of in rooms at the end of the hall.

Rape/Torture/Violence - The rape/torture scenes are much more toned down in the remake. There is no "forced peeing scene" or "forced lesbian scene". Also, there is no disembowelment of Paige like there was of Phyllis in the original. The entire tone of these scenes is much less graphic and more tasteful.

The death scenes of all characters are entirely different.

Mari lives and makes it back to the house, where the doctor treats her wounds, saving her life. In the original film she is dead and in the lake. The Collingwood's overhear the gang talking about the murdered girl in the lake, so the Collingwood's go down to the lake and discover Mari's body there.

Justin is stabbed with a fireplace poker by Krug, but is saved by the doctor. In the original film Junior commits suicide.

Dropped storylines - There are no storylines involving the bumbling police officers or the chicken lady, as those scenes were campy and lighter than the tone of the 2009 film wanted to be.

Justin does not suffer from a heroin addiction, where in the original Junior was a heroin addict controlled by Krug who fed the addiction.

Mari and Phyllis went to see a rock concert in the original film. Here, Mari just wanted to say hello to Paige, whom she hadn't seen in a while.

The Collingwood's initially thought Phyllis was a bad influence on Mari. In the 2009 film, they do not as explicitly state a problem with Paige, although she is depicted as the least sensible of the two.

To put it simply, the Unrated version that has been released on DVD/Blu-ray, runs approx. 4 minutes longer than the theatrical version. And yes, there are some scenes, that can be labeled "unrated", especially the rape sequence has been prolonged but most of the changes are story extensions that are more or less useful for the movie. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here..