With Rogue Pictures’ The Last House on the Left only weeks away, legendary horror director Wes Craven has been in the spotlight talking about a slew of upcoming projects. Beyond the break you can read all about his thoughts on the remake of his first film, what he thinks of Funny Games, violence in society and the Elm Street remake.
Last week Rogue Pictures gave B-D the first look at their remake of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Following the screening, I was treated to a special one-on-one interview with one of my all-time favorite directors, Wes Craven, who had all sorts of great things to talk about. Unfortunately, a lot of our audio was lost in the midst of the loud bar, but below you’ll find some of the bits and pieces we were able to string together. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to go in depth and learn more from the master of horror.

Something that had always stuck in my head was that Wes Craven had stated on a commentary track for the original THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT that he never wanted to revisit that experience ever again. It perplexed me why he’d produce the remake.

“It was taken to such a different place and had access to very, very seasoned actors, great actors,” he explains. “$90,000 doesn’t go very far in 1973 or whenever it was – we were kind of inventing how to make movie my making one. [With the remake] I wasn’t there every day… I took a step back; I looked at dailies everyday and everything. Dennis just took it to such a wonderful place and the actors look so good. It wasn’t like going back it was like going forward in a way.”

The original film was a reflection of the Vietnam War, which made me wonder what exactly the new film could be reflecting upon. Unfortunately a lot of the audio was inaudible, but he did explain that it’s a reflection on America and the invasion in the home with TV. But he also had a very logical thought to add.
“I think any film that’s made with passion by the actor and the director is a reflection of the time. It’s the reason why it gets made and the reason why certain actors are attracted,” he explains.

Speaking of violence on film, I needed to know what he thought of FUNNY GAMES, which was a brutal attack on our genre, the genre Craven helped create.

“I feel like he needs to get laid,” he jokes with a big smile, “he’s like an unhappy young man. You can say `ok, it’s all corrupt and throw the actress off the back of the boat in (inaudible),’” he continues, “I didn’t think we pulled that many punches in LAST HOUSE originally. In a way I sympathize with what he’s doing … I watched FUNNY GAMES, if it’s so cruel and so hard, I understand what he’s trying to do, but at the same time it’s like even at the worst of times people find ways to have a moment of tenderness or laughter or something. I don’t mind that he made it. It just felt like dogma; like it was done by people who take their religion too seriously [and] are willing to burn people at the stake for it.”

The age-old question is, does violence on screen cause violence in real life?

“I’ve been doing this 40 years and I’ve never had anything ugly happen from a fan,” he explains with a smile. “I’ve had nothing but sweetness and complements from people saying `you gave me nightmares as a kid, thank you!’ ”

But while the conversation was mostly smiles, Craven is still (understandably) sour about the ELM STREET franchise.

“I have no ownership of it,” he explains. “I’m close friends with Sean Cunningham and seeing the thing he sort of came up with, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and I just got a bad deal. I was broke and everybody else thought it was interesting and all. Bob [Shaye] says `sign here, trust me were friends’… and here we are.” He also injected how hurt he is and that it does sadden him to see his film being remade.

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT hits theaters March 13.