LA Seduction review – remake of 60s cult flick dials up the misogyny

The original at least reflected its era but this updated story of a woman targeted for sexual assault by a couple of drifters is a nasty pulpy mess

This leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. It’s a remake of the psychosexual home invasion thriller Private Property, which starred Warren Oates – a cult classic that was out of circulation for decades after its release in 1960. (Memorably, Jackie Kennedy described it as an “awful, sordid thing”.) Depressingly, the new version seems to preserve its deeply misogynistic 1960s attitudes towards women. It’s a nasty pulpy film, in which the big question for the plot is whether a young woman is going be violently sexually assaulted and murdered at the end. Will-she-or-won’t-she? It’s a grim watch.

That woman is Kathryn (a woodenly pouty performance by Ashley Benson). She’s an aspiring actor married to a successful movie producer. While he’s at work, Kathryn spends her days cleaning their fancy home in the Hollywood Hills while wearing super-tight denim shorts. Then one day a new gardener replaces her usual guy. This is Duke (Shiloh Fernandez), who charms Kathryn by fixing stuff around the house. “I’m good at most physical stuff,” he says, wink wink. We are supposed to buy Duke’s seduction, but the sexual tension is Baltic.