The Last House on the Left, in which horrific events are filmed in such a way as to seem nearly pornographic, is not the sort of movie I usually see. But on a Wednesday afternoon at the mall in Martinsburg, West Virginia, it was the only thing playing with any promise. I bought a ticket, fully expecting to walk out before the movie ended.

Was I surprised! Although there’s a gagging amount of gore, including an arm thrust into a garbage disposal, there are also an intelligent script and some superb acting, and a level of sensitivity seldom seen in such an exploitation flick.

The Last House on the Left is an updating and remake of writer-director Wes Craven’s 1972 movie of the same title. In fact, Craven is one of the producers of the new film, which was directed by Dennis Illiadis. The basic premise of both versions is the same as that of Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring (1960): Some reasonably innocent teenage girls are accosted in the woods by three bad guys, two adults and one teen. One of the adults rapes and kills (or, depending on the movie, nearly kills) one of the girls. The criminals then hole up in a house that turns out to be the home of the girl they’ve just raped. Her parents at first don’t know who the bad guys are, but once they do, they exact their revenge in terrible ways. Although in Bergman’s film there is redemption -- the father vows to build a church on the spot where his daughter was murdered -- Craven and Illiadis provide no such religious overtones.

The Last House on the Left has a nasty tone, and the violence seems all too real. My reaction to the rape rivaled the level of disgust I felt when, in Deliverance, Ned Beatty is attacked. Watching such scenes begs the question: Why watch them in the first place? But alternating with acts of violence are many scenes of character development and some fine acting. Garret Dillahunt, known to many from his appearances in various television series, turns in a thoroughly three-dimensional performance as Krug, the head bad guy, who is also a father conflicted about his son, Justin (Spencer Treat Clark). Krug first offers the girl, Mari (Sara Paxton), to Justin so that his son can "become a man." But the sensitive Justin will have no part of it, so Krug does the deed.

Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn are excellent and believable as Mari’s parents, who seem willing to go to any lengths to protect their family. These, too, are three-dimensional characters who are driven to overlook their own strong moral sense in a desperate bid to survive and their desire to avenge their daughter’s violation.

Sharone Meir’s expert cinematography and John Murphy’s soundtrack score help create an atmosphere of terror. Without seeming fussy, the camerawork is just busy and interesting enough to keep the viewer on edge, and the music underscores every menacing moment in a meaningful manner. Peter McNulty’s editing is tight and sure. The one big flaw is the entirely unnecessary ending; I won’t give it away, but will say only that it jolted me back to the cheap-shot world of Friday the 13th. Besides, I don’t think a microwave can do that.

I don’t advocate a strict diet of films such as The Last House on the Left. However, it’s very well done, and head and shoulders above most of its companions. It really did make me think about what I might do if thrust into a similar situation.

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