The rape scene just went way too far for me.

1/5

A surprisingly compelling horror flick with a throwaway ending.

more of the same

a little pointless. aja's worst.

The parts I didn't like about the original have been improved slightly in this version. Sure, it's grimy as hell and wallows in its own sadism and filth, but it works for this simple but uncomfortable story. It's not high art, but effective enough as a remake.

So deep is my disdain for the 00's wave of remakes to my favorite horror classics, it took years until I gave this a chance. The original is Wes Craven's only great movie, and one of the finest horror movies of all time. The remake - actually not as bad as I had expected. It is pretty tense and gory, but suffers from the ills of most 00's fair: Exaggeration, realism spoiled by over-stylization, and the addition of politics ("you made us what we've become" - give me a break).

In all things considered, probably the best horror remake of the decade, unless I'm forgetting something. Very finely directed. The cinematography is stellar. Make-up effects are thoroughly realistic and gruesome. The entire film is not at all a bad achievement. If anything, aside from a few "Oh come on,"-style plot holes, the film's only real drawback is that at times, it's nearly too difficult to even watch. One of the most brutal films I've ever seen.