Stylistically, think FUNNY GAMES meets HARD CANDY and a dash of OLD BOY & PANIC ROOM...with a rebellious, dangerous, 70's-era cinematic heart that would make EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULL take note. The film should employ a disturbing realism in its depiction of sex violence, both graphic and implied, but it should be visualized in a stylish, artful way (including CinemaScope), which will work stronger and against the easy, hand held conceits to make things more "real". The immediacy is in the starkness of the shots, the use of composition or longer takes to accentuate the reality of the horrible acts, yet still not lose the old-fashioned themes the original folk story used as a cautionary tale. The film will be "Visual Verite". One of the girls is given an injection of air, which kills them slowly and its presented in brutal, long detail. The other girl (the main parent's daughter) is raped while her father is mere feet away, then slicing her face off, which the shocked girl then walks into the neighbors pool in a stunned daze, to which the leader of the gang shoots her in the back of the head (they either don't give a shit that they make a noise or create a diversion sound-maybe one of them kicks a trash can-but she's essentially executed. Both “Gage” (the leader) and “Kelso” met while on their tours in Iraq, the genesis of this criminal “gang”. They are damaged goods and lost souls, which could have affected their dark hearts and spun them into a downward spiral that climaxes in this film. It’s a relevant concept that mirrors some of the post-Vietnam cultural themes from the first film’s world was surrounded by, yet it’s a subtle idea not pounded into the audience. One character idea that should be notes is that the other girl, not the main family's brood, should have a prevalent family as well, even if its just a scene where they call concerned to the main girl's parents. By giving this girl a life, her death will not be so throwaway. She has a life too, and we need to give even the subtlest back-story that will make her death all the more harrowing. The two acts of sexual violence have to be dangerously brutal and unflinching, similar to films like SCHINDLER'S LIST, MUNICH, MAN BITES DOG, et al....we need a reason for the parents to go insane and their grief and rage. Trauma and anguish can only go so far with great performances by the actors. We want the AUDIENCE to want to exact revenge as well as the parents, and the only way to do this is to at once get to know our gang in a neutral way, but then show how nihilistic these people can be, where the massacre of two girls is like throwing out trash, which will only fuel the parents (and our) desire to strike back. If we make the viewer both sympathize with the girls and the parents, the story will be more compelling amidst the intensity. The film has to be cast cleverly. While the gang should be comprised mostly of fresh faces and great character actors, not "stars"(let this film make them iconic if played effectively), the parents need to be totally recognizable actors, people we don't want to see suffer, and more shocking to see them out for blood-thirsty revenge. The girls also have to be people we do not want to see suffer, not celebrities per se (like a Hilton or Lohan) but young girls we will grow to love and hate to see suffer, and the casting needs to reflect this idea that when they suffer, we hate it, we cringe, we feel for them.... The issue with telling this story in modern times is that the world has gotten smaller, communication and technology has made being lost or out of touch with the world more difficult (not to say that is a entirely a bad thing in the real world, but...) and having the story take place primarily in the woods is almost a cliché as time has progressed. Frankly, the woods aren’t as scary anymore. What if most of the action took place in and around the LAST HOUSE more, or simply based itself in a suburban enclave, the LAST HOUSE being at the end of a suburban dead-end street in Anywhere, USA. By putting the horrible images on our doorstep (or in our backyard), we make the brutal sexuality & violence both more relevant and more disturbing. By placing the action close to home, we can affect both teenagers and parents in a more relevant way, which is what good horror provides; safe danger...we need to make the suburbs SCARY and DANGEROUS again. STAYING SCARY, JOE LYNCH Director-Wrong Turn 2 WRONG TURN 2 - EXCLUSIVE INTERNET TRAILER THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT CONCEPTS, IDEAS, THEMES & Video Presentation BY JOE LYNCH
The title THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and the reputation the name brings is synonymous with “dangerous cinema” & “avant-garde intensity”. The original film’s unflinching approach to a classic folk tale of innocence lost and rightful (?) revenge was important to the horror genre, but also to the culture at the time. This retelling of the story needs to retain the danger and provocative themes, characters and style established by the original film, while still disturbing in its relevance to the uneasy times we live in, where even in our own domain, we are not safe from real evil. With the effective mix of modern concepts applied to a classic story, great performances by both the family and the gang, a relevant twist on the location and a clever yet un-flinching approach in the depiction of violence, this film will be worthy of audiences saying ......“It’s just a movie…it’s just a movie…”
 
This movie needs to be “dangerous”.
VIDEO PRESENTATION