Stephen King was thrilled with the remake of the famous 70s horror: “On par with The Silence of the Lambs.”

Famous writer Stephen King eagerly shares his film taste, both on his private Twitter profile and in articles and interviews. In one of them, the author mentioned a film that, according to him, can rival The Silence of the Lambs.

He was referring to The Last House on the Left, specifically the 2009 remake featuring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul. Dennis Iliadis’ film was a refreshed version of the 1972 classic directed by Wes Craven, telling the story of Mari, who was assaulted during a vacation at a lake house. After its release, King described the more contemporary version as follows:

“Easily the most brilliant remake of the decade, and not just because the 1972 original was such a crapfest. This beautifully photographed — but hard to watch — movie is the standard by which all horror/suspense films should be judged: The acting is superior (Aaron Paul is especially fine), the story makes sense, and, most importantly, [the film’s] moral compass points to true north. We don’t want these creeps back for six or eight sequels; they are monsters, and we want them dead. This film is on par with ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’”

Although King was impressed by the film, critics didn’t entirely share his opinion. Today, the 2009 version of The Last House on the Left has a score of 43% positive reviews out of 169 registered on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the production performed well financially, earning over $40 million with a budget of $15 million.