Stephen King Feels This Controversial Horror Remake Is Just As Good As Silence Of The Lambs

Dennis Iliadis' 2009 revenge film "The Last House on the Left" is about Mari (Sara Paxton), a young woman who, while hanging out with her friend Paige (Martha MacIsaac), is brutally kidnapped by a group of recently escaped prisoners (Garrett Dillahunt, Aaron Paul, Riki Lindhome, Spencer Treat Clark). The prisoners attempt to drive off with their victims, but there is a fracas in the car when Mari and Paige start to fight back, causing them to accidentally crash into a tree. In revenge, the prisoners stab, sexually assault, and then shoot their captives.

Seeking shelter, the prisoners arrive at a local lake house ... not knowing that it belongs to Mari's parents (Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter). Of course, it's only a matter of time before the latter duo figures out what's happening and discover what the prisoners did to Mari (who, as it turns out, is still alive). Will the parents have the temerity and the wherewithal to apprehend or murder their daughter's attackers?

"The Last House on the Left" was a remake of Wes Craven's 1972 film of the same title, updated for a modern aesthetic. Iliadis' film is slick and painterly, while Craven's low-budget outing is harsh and gritty and generated plenty of controversy back in its day. Both films were also extrapolated from Ingmar Bergman's 1960 movie "The Virgin Spring," wherein the parent characters were placid, pacifist Christians, and their daughter was murdered outright. Bergman's film turns blood revenge into a moral dilemma, which is not an assumed horror movie requirement. Craven's flick, in comparison, has an element of moral outrage and nihilism, pointing out that horrible people hurt others for no reason. Iliadis' movie, however, is more of a potboiler and ends with someone getting their head blown up in a microwave oven.

Hence, it was a tad surprising when horror author Stephen King listed the "Last House on the Left" remake as one of the best films of 2009 in a piece he wrote for Entertainment Weekly. He didn't stop there, either, going so far as to compare it favorably to Jonathan Demme's own controversial horror classic, "The Silence of the Lambs."

King, as mentioned, was asked by EW to write a list of the best films of 2009, and his choices were ... unconventional. Some of his films received widespread critical acclaim and even garnered awards attention; he was fond of "District 9" and "The Reader" and even wrote that Kathryn Bigelow's eventual Best Picture Oscar-winning "The Hurt Locker" was the best movie of the year. But it was clear that King liked salacious exploitation films and broad genre movies as well, as he also sang the praises of silly clunkers like "Law Abiding Citizen," "2012," and the remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123." King may be a master of horror, but he doesn't always have the most refined taste.

That said, he did stand up for "The Last House on the Left," arguing that it improved on Wes Craven's original film considerably. He appreciated that there was no moral dilemma in the remake, liking its philosophy that blood revenge is natural and expected. He also praised Sharone Meir's cinematography and the acting from Paul, writing:

"Easily the most brilliant remake of the decade, and not just because the 1972 original was such a crapfest. This beautifully photographed — but hard to watch — movie is the standard by which all horror/suspense films should be judged: The acting is superior (Paul is especially fine), the story makes sense, and, most importantly, 'Last House's' moral compass points to true north. We don't want these creeps back for six or eight sequels; they are monsters, and we want them dead. This film is on par with 'The Silence of the Lambs.'"

King seems to have missed the point of Craven's film, which is that blood revenge is neither easy and expected nor a moral necessity (which was also the thesis of Bergman's "The Virgin Spring"). But he certainly loved the grim horrors of the movie and the catharsis of watching the bad guys be slaughtered. He was one of the few critics to enjoy it, though; the film only has a 42% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes otherwise.