What with all the hoopla about Platinum Dunes’ planned remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street – without Robert Englund, it seems – it’s been easy to overlook another mooted Wes Craven remake in the works, this time the revamp of his first movie, the notorious Last House On The Left.
The Rogue Pictures redo of the controversial film, which involves rape, murder, and brutal revenge for good measure, has been in the works for well over a year now. Today, though, it really accelerated, with the announcement of a cast.
Rhys Coiro, Martha MacIsaac, Riki Lindhome and Garret Dillahunt have signed on to the movie, which will be produced by Craven and directed by Dennis Iliadis.
Of those actors, the only one you might have heard of is Dillahunt, seen most recently as Deputy Wendell in the Coens’ masterful No Country For Old Men. A man with a growing reputation as a character actor, the 43 year-old will play the movie’s central villain, Krug, leader of a gang which kidnaps and tortures a young girl, and then feels the wrath of her vengeful, suburbanite parents.
Ordinarily, we’re dead-set against horror remakes, but early Craven films are very rough around the edges, while Alexandre Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes remake showed that, especially with Craven involved, modern versions of his work can really pack a punch. We’ll keep an eye on this one.
Filming starts in March in South Africa.