Stephen King Names This 42%-Rated Wes Craven Remake "The Best Horror Movie of the New Century"

Stephen King is not just a writer, he is a leading authority on horror. His opinions on horror movies are generally taken seriously, but sometimes his assessments raise eyebrows.

Stephen King Had Nothing But Praise for Dennis Iliadis' 'The Last House on the Left'

In the updated edition of his book Danse Macabre, King called the 2009 remake of The Last House on the Left "the best horror film of the new century."

He compared the movie to Hitchcock's Psycho, but it has a mere 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics panned it for its excessive violence, and viewers largely ignored it.

Stephen King called The Last House on the Left "the most brutal and uncompromising film to play American movie theatres since Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer," placing it on par with Psycho.

According to King, both movies operate on the same fear mechanism – the fear of the Other who kills.

However, while Hitchcock's heroine falls into a trap due to her own mistake, Iliadis' character simply finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time – and King finds this to be even more frightening.

Stephen King said:

“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.”

What Is 'The Last House on the Left' About?

A family goes to a country house to relax. Their teenage daughter runs away to a neighboring town to meet a friend. There, the girls meet a strange man who offers them a drink and a cigarette.

Suddenly, escaped criminals appear – cruel, cynical, and ready for anything. They rape the girls and try to kill them, one of the girls dies.

While fleeing, the criminals come to the very house where the parents are staying. The unsuspecting mother and father give the criminals shelter. When the truth is revealed, the parents take justice into their own hands.

Here's Why King Is Right (And Why He's Wrong)

Dennis Iliadis' movie has its merits – it's genuinely brutal, but not gratuitously so. It demonstrates that parents' revenge must be proportionate to the crime. Aaron Paul is both convincing and repulsive as one of the rapists.

The emphasis on the fact that the villains are ordinary people who could live next door works in the genre's favor.

However, comparing this movie to Psycho is like comparing graffiti on a fence to the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. Hitchcock's violence occurred in the viewer's mind, not on camera. In Iliadis' work, the violence is exaggerated and shown in close-up, it lacks the psychological depth that makes classics timeless.

King may have overrated The Last House on the Left because of its uncompromising nature. However, he's right about one thing: in 2009, The Last House on the Left was a rare example of horror unafraid to push the envelope.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'The Last House on the Left'?

• The Last House on the Left has 42% from critics and 52% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 6.5/10.

• On Letterboxd, The Last House on the Left scored 2.9/5.0.

Where to Watch 'The Last House on the Left'?

The Last House on the Left is available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.