LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT
PLOT-A murderous gang rape and kill two young girls, only to unknowingly find themselves in the company of one girl's parents afterward.
VIOLENCE-Lots! There's bloody stabbings, ass-kicking, rape, a dick is bitten off, a guy gets chainsawed, one person shoots themselves, and a person plays with someone else's guts.
SEX/NUDITY-The two girls are both shown naked, but are the subject of extreme humiliation and rape before being brutally murdered. Nothing sexy about that, my friends.
WHY I LIKED IT-Along with I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, this is one of the most brutal rape-revenge movies to come out of the 1970's. Add to that the fact that it was directed by a young Wes Craven and produced by a young Sean S. Cunningham, and you've got yourself a masterpiece of raw horrific filmmaking. Based on Ingmar Bergman's classic VIRGIN SPRING (which was itself based on a 14th-century Norwegian folktale), LAST HOUSE is filmed very realistically and the effect on the viewer is highly intense. These guys had no idea they were making one hell of a movie here. Craven and Cunningham went on to father two of the largest horror franchises of the 1980's (NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and FRIDAY THE 13th, respectively) and become genre masters, but they never quite made anything else like LAST HOUSE. And I doubt they ever will again. Some parts of it really are hard to watch, as it was shot almost like a documentary. And of course, it could really happen. This is one of the only movies I've seen that makes you think you're getting to know the main characters, then horribly offs them halfway through. They don't make it, they don't overcome the bad guys. Man, what a movie. Very well done and highly effective for sure.
DOWNSIDE-The idiotic music! Man, nothing dates a movie quite like a bad soundtrack of contemporary music. I think part of the deal was that David Hess (who plays lead bad guy Krug) would be in the movie if they let him sing all the songs on the soundtrack. The music blows, I'm sorry. Maybe it was cool in the mid-70's, but not now. It takes away from the feel of the movie.
MEMORABLE SCENES-One of the innocent girls, knowing she is probably going to be killed, walks zombie-like into a nearby lake as the bad guys watch. She stops when she's hip-deep in the water, and is shot in the back of the head by Krug. Not once does she look back.
DVD NOTES-I can't believe I got this disc for only $9.99! Amazing considering I have paid a lot more for a lot less. Not only does the movie look and sound great (and is the most complete cut available thus far), but there are a bunch of great extras. You get commentary by Craven and Cunningham (which stays lively and informative), a newly-produced documentary featuring interviews with several of the film's stars, a set of original trailers for the film, and a bunch of outtakes and lost footage (all with no sound). Definitely a solid purchase.
(September 2002)