Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
When athletic teen Mari Collingwood opts to hang out with her friend Paige in town rather than spend an evening in with her parents vacationing at the family's remote lake house, it marks the beginning of a night no one is going to forget.
This 2009 remake of Wes Craven's 1972 exploitation film is a competent but largely by-the-numbers update. The plot follows the rape-and-revenge structure faithfully, delivering solid tension and some genuine brutality, but adds little thematically beyond its predecessor. Acting is serviceable, with Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter grounding the parental revenge arc credibly. Cinematography is polished and professional for a genre entry, with the rural lake setting used effectively, but nothing visually distinctive. Novelty suffers as this is a remake of a well-known film within an already well-worn subgenre, bringing minimal fresh perspective. The ending is arguably more satisfying and viscerally cathartic than the original's, offering a darkly memorable microwave moment that lands well with genre audiences.