THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT(18).

Horror/Thriller. Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt, Aaron Paul, Riki Lindhome, Spencer Treat Clark, Martha MacIsaac. Director: Dennis Iliadis.

IN 1972, writer-director Wes Craven – unknown at the time –shocked audiences with his grisly rape revenge thriller, The Last House On The Left.

Very much a product of its era, the film tackled controversial subject matter on a miniscule budget and reflected the prevailing anti-authoritarian mood in a country bitterly divided over Vietnam.

If audiences were stunned by Craven’s vision, censors were horrified, banning the film in the UK for many years – it finally became available on video in its uncut form in March 2008.

For the film-maker, this incendiary debut sparked a glorious and highly-lucrative career, awash with seminal moments such as The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Scream and their sequels.

The 21st-century remake of Craven's notorious vision, directed by Dennis Iliadis, trails wearily in the footsteps of updated versions of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween and Friday The 13th.

It is a pointless revisit to a landmark in modern cinema, spruced up with impressive make-up and special effects as two parents declare war on the thugs who brutalise their daughter.

Mari Collingwood (Paxton) and her friend Paige (MacIsaac) flirt with shy teenager Justin (Clark), who promises the girls a share of his drugs stash if they follow him back to his motel.

The chilled-out mood is shattered when the friends are attacked by Justin’s father, escaped criminal Krug (Dillahunt), and his cohorts: brother Francis (Paul) and girlfriend Sadie (Lindhome).

Paige is stabbed to death and Mari is raped and left floating in the river.

Miraculously, Mari manages to paddle home to her parents John (Goldwyn) and Emma (Potter) in the middle of a storm.

John, who is a doctor, hurriedly stabilises his daughter’s condition, then he and Emma realise the people sheltering in the guesthouse are Krug, Francis, Sadie and Justin.

Fake blood runs over in Iliadis’s re-imagining of The Last House On The Left, including a very gory moment with a sink waste-disposal system, which is where, arguably, the film belongs as well.

The rape sequence is especially harrowing, justifying the 18 certificate for its brutality.