The Last House on the Left (1972)

Future Nightmare creator and Scream weaver Wes Craven's film debut is a primitive little production that rises above its cut-rate production values and hazy, grainy patina via its grimly affecting portrait of human evil infiltrating a middle-class household. The story is adapted from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, but the film has more in common with Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as it charts the descent of a harmless married couple into methodical killers. A quartet of criminals--a distorted version of the nuclear family--kidnaps a pair of teenage girls and proceeds to ravage, rape, torture, and finally brutally murder them in the woods, unwittingly within walking distance of their rural home. The killers take refuge in the girls' own home, but when the parents discover just who they are and what they've done, they plot violent retribution.

Along with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Craven helped redefine American horror with this debut--all three movies portray modern society crumbling into madness and horror. But, unlike his fellow directors, Craven gives his film an uncomfortable verisimilitude, setting it squarely in the heartland of modern America. While at times it's awkward and inconsistent, with distracting comic interludes, his handling of the brutal horror scenes is unsettling, and the death of the daughter is an unexpectedly quiet and lyrical moment. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Last House on the Left

The movie was recommended to us and was a huge disappointment. It was definitely a B rated movie. The music DID not fit with the plot or the scenes. We ended up selling it to the person who recommended it. May 10, 2008

snuff anyone?

Snuff flick...
The chic that gets it with a knife slowly by the tree is hot. May 9, 2008

Very disturbing, sick & sadistic torture movie

This ranks right up there with I Spit On Your Grave. I can't conceive how some fans of cult/horror films would possibly find something like this entertaining & want to put it in their collections.
It is NOT entertaining or enjoyable in the least. Almost an hour & a half of two young women being raped & tortured by pathetic scumbags is not my idea of a good movie. It is unnerving, unsettling & very sad. I would have given it zero stars if I could, but that wasn't an option, I guess. I strongly recommend not buying this film, it is well beyond redemption. In any case, don't say you weren't warned. April 29, 2008

The Last House on the left

The Last House on the Left I think it was really cool movie and it seemed kind of weird and scary at the same time I hope a lot of people will watch this movie they will think twice before asking the wrong person if they have any weed. April 28, 2008

Great Revenge Movie

If you are into Asian revenge movies you will probably love this movie as I did. You have to take into consideration this movie is an old one and the quality of the film reflects that. However, as a whole, it is very good.

Two attractive young girls are on their way to attend a rock concert. They make a detour to try to score some pot. They unwittingly approach the son of an escaped convict to see if he has any drugs. The son leads them back to a hotel room where his father, a male friend (another escapee) and a woman are hiding from authorities. Both girls eventually are raped and murdered with one of the girls getting gutted with a knife in one nauseating scene. The film has a relevant message and that is, "don't do drugs!" One of the victims is an innocent young girl who makes a wrong choice and ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time which costs her her innocense and her life.

I don't classify this as a horror film because it doesn't really fit that genre as much as it does the revenge genre. The movie starts out rather slow and meandering but then the pieces of the plot start falling together like a string of dominos and is rather riveting.

If you like revenge movies, this is a good one. Don't hesitate to add it to your collection.
April 24, 2008

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