Okay, I know I'm going to come under some heavy flack for this, but The Last House on the Left left me...unperturbed. Yes, it was horrible and the drool of the man as he held his face way too close to the girl was a very bold move to make, but overall I was not really disgusted or upset at what was happenening. Most likely this is just because I've been kind of desensitized for some reason, but I can completely understand how moviegoers at the time would have been shocked to suddenly see that happening on the screen.
Also, afterwards when the girl went into the river, she went walking in so deep that I thought she was going to drown herself, until the guys shot her. Had she still lived after her raping, I wonder if she would have eventually tried to commit suicide...or would that have gone way too far for audiences to take?
It’s saddening to admit that my reaction to that scene was much the same. After seeing the remake first, the original did not evoke in me the intense amount of repulsion, disgust and anger that the remake did. I found the newer version of the scene to be much more realistic, and much more emotional.
ReplyDeleteFor a couple of seconds, the scene is presented from a distance. I thought this decision was especially brilliant, because it momentarily detaches the viewer from the facial expressions of both the characters, and allows for a more abstract contemplation of the act itself; as a monstrosity, in my opinion.
I have to agree with you Heather, the scene we watched from "The Last House on the Left" didn't really bother me either. I was also wondering what would have happened if she wasn't shot, since I too thought she was going into the pond to drown herself.
ReplyDeleteTo Madalyn and Alex,
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see the remake of the film; how long was the rape scene in the remake versus the original? Did the newer one seem longer and more drawn out, or was it as (somewhat unbelievably) quick as the original?
Alex...I really do wonder what would have happened? Would they have raped the other girl too? They seemed somewhat guilty about it afterwards, but it would have been an effective way to get both girls to "shut up."
I'm sorry - I was totally repulsed by the rape scene and could not watch it. This could be due to not only the rape but the gang carving into her skin. Maybe I should have watched though as Madalyn points out the artistic shooting the director uses.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I really thought she was going to drown herself. I can't imagine why else she would go into the pond. To go for a swim and get her wounds infected and then go through more pain? - I don't think so.
A couple of thoughts: first, I think it's not that useful to speculate about what may or may not have happened in the story if 'X' had not occurred; ry to focus on the story as it is presented.
ReplyDeleteSecond: the "realism" of the remake is an ironic illusion; the crude production values of the original are actually far more "true to life" (and Craven even intentionally wanted a kind of cinema verite/documentary look and feel to the film). The more sophisticated and artful lighting, sound and photography in the remake lull us with what we experience as the artificiality of Classical Hollywood cinema (remember this description from the reading excerpt from the book 'Women and Film' I handed out? Maybe it's time to look this over again.)