“I swim. I love to swim. I can do it one more…” These were the simple, yet powerful words Mari told out loud to herself to snap back into reality. Dissociation no longer served her. The present was now and it was time to escape from her kidnappers and rapists, fast.
The Last House on the Left (2009) was the elevated remake of the controversial 1970’s movie and, contrary to initial expectations, the 2000’s version had way more violence, gore, and sex; all that and an unquestionably better story, too.
Mari and her parents were on vacation at their summer home by the lake. Their plans were easy: relax, cook, enjoy family time. Dad was a doctor, mom was in academia, and Mari was a regular teenager with a strong passion for competitive swimming. They loved each other and knew their time together was precious, but Mari being a teen and all asked for permission to go into town to visit an old friend, her mom said no but her dad said yes so away she went, taking their car with her. (She should have listened to her mother.)
Mari and her friend, Paige, weren’t looking for trouble, just a good time, after all, nothing much happened at their small, sleepy town. Here’s when they came across Justin, a handsome and rather shy boy who offered to exchange weed for a favor, you see, he was under twenty-one and could not legally buy the pack of cigarettes he wanted so the friend, conveniently working as the general store cashier, took the offer.
Mari drove Paige and Justin to the place where he was staying, the local motel. Things were going well, the three of them smoking, getting high, being silly, having a good time, until Justin’s dad arrived with his posse. Mayhem. Total chaos. Game over. The end.
Justin’s dad, Krug, did not play around and decided they needed to take the girls into the woods to kill and dispose of them, you see, they did not want to create a mess at the motel since Krug had just escaped from police custody and authorities were looking for him. They needed to stay under the radar. So to the woods they went.
Here’s when everyone’s true colors came to the surface. Krug was a vile criminal, a kidnapper, a rapist, a murderer, someone who did not care for anything or anyone, not even his own son; his two crime partners were sadistic followers, mere sheep, expendable; Justin was not a threat, quite the opposite, he tried to stop his dad from hurting the girls and was humiliated for it, you see, Justin was more than shy, it seemed that he was emotionally stunted, traumatized, even. Then the girls, Paige was a fighter but did not play her cards well and ended up getting killed quickly; Mari was a fighter also, but she had the foresight to let things play out so when the time came, when it was just right, she could make a run for it, and so she did.
Unfortunately, Mari got shot as she was triumphantly getting away, swimming as fast as she could. Fortunately, she was left for dead at the lake, underestimated for being the girl who’d just been kicked, punched, raped, and shot at, not taking into consideration her extraordinary physical ability for endurance and survival — she was an athlete, damn it!
The bullet in her back only injured her. Although she was bleeding because of it, Mari was still able to swim to shore and crawl into a backyard, her backyard. Thankfully, her doctor dad stabilized her until they could take her to the hospital, well, not before they took vengeance on the people who did this to her… oh, wait, didn’t I mention this already? As luck would have it, Krug and company were now posing as a family in distress and were taken in by her generous parents… it was a lot to process, to be honest.
It was so satisfying watching both parents working as a team, fighting against Krug and his two goons, making them pay for attacking Mari; while also protecting Justin for having helped her and for having given the gang away.
The Last House on the Left remake was a story of bad and good luck, of affluent people not being shielded from pain and suffering, of affluent people not being afraid of causing pain and suffering, of justice being served, of athletes proving they are physically superior, of swimmers being cool as hell.
(Shoot, this movie made me want to go to the gym more often & join a team or something.)
In Love and Fear,
—Marath
P.S. The end credits song, “Dirge” by Death in Vegas, hit just right:
© 2016-2023