Last House on the Left is a revenge flick sure, but it's also study on pure maternal instinct and revenge. It is also a remake of the 1972 film by Wes Craven, which in turn is a remake of the art film, Virgin Spring (1960) by Ingmar Bergman.
Two cute girls, teenagers are hanging out, find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time when they go to the apartment of a boy named Justin (Spencer Treat Clark) to smoke some pot and chill out, when his family comes back who are wanted in the connection with some local murders. Now they can't let the girls go. From there things get steadily worse until the girls are left brutalized.
The convicts having driven out to the middle of nowhere find their way to a small cabin to recuperate, until the happy couple waiting for their daughter to bring the car home realize these are the men who hurt their daughter, and they aren't going to take it lying down.
In the feel of Hostel, extreme violence in retribution ensues, and that's pretty much the entire flick. You might recognize Garret Dillahunt who plays the lead baddie, Krug from the prime time series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Michael Bowen ("Lost", Magnolia, Jackie Brown), Joshua Cox ("Strong Medicine"), Sara Paxton as the daughter (Summerland), and Riki Lindhome as the friend (My Best Friend's Girl).
The pacing is strong, and somehow the film works a lot better than say a movie like Hostel for reason of solid directing, acting, and simple but effective script.
