Claim: The Last House on the Left is based on an earlier movie by Wes Craven.

The Last House on the Left is a 2009 American horror film directed by Dennis Iliadis and written by Carl Ellsworth and Adam Alleca . It is a remake of the 1972 film of the same name , and stars Tony Goldwyn , Monica Potter , Garret Dillahunt , Spencer Treat Clark , Martha MacIsaac and Sara Paxton . The film follows the parents -LRB- Goldwyn and Potter -RRB- of Mari Collingwood -LRB- Paxton -RRB- , who attempt to get revenge on a group of strangers , led by a man named Krug -LRB- Dillahunt -RRB- , that have taken shelter at their home during a thunderstorm .   The film rights were picked up by Rogue Pictures in 2006 , with the remake being the first film produced by Wes Craven 's new production studio Midnight Pictures . Craven , who wrote and directed the 1972 original , was interested to see what kind of film could be produced on a large budget , as the limited funds in 1972 forced him to eliminate scenes he had wanted to film to tell a complete story . Alleca 's original script included elements of the supernatural , which prompted the studio to reject it and bring in Ellsworth to perform a rewrite . One of the elements director Iliadis wanted to avoid with this film , given its graphic nature , was turning it into torture porn -- a subgenre of horror popularized by the Saw franchise . For Craven and Iliadis , The Last House on the Left primarily illustrates how even the most normal of families can be driven to evil acts if pushed too far .   The film was released on March 13 , 2009 , and took the top spot away from Watchmen with $ 5.6 million in weekend revenue . The Last House on the Left was met with mixed reviews from critics . Audience opinion ranked the film at a `` B '' level , from a scale of `` A to F '' ; the film would ultimately gross $ 45,286,228 worldwide .