The Last House On The Left
Unrated Collector's Edition
Before horror fans Saw the current wave of shockers featuring fiercely Hostel villains, Wes Craven delivered this "important genre landmark" (Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review) that's thrilling, disturbing, action-packed and filled with unrelenting terror.
On their way to a rock concert, two teenagers (Sandra Cassel and Lucy Grantham) are kidnapped by a gang of escaped convicts. Although they put up the fight of their lives, the girls are drugged, tossed in a car trunk and driven into the woods by the savage, murderous gang... only to wake up to a horror they could not have imagined. Filled with shocks, twists, turns and action, this knuckle-whitening film "never lets us out from under almost unbearable dramatic tension" (Roger Ebert).
Member Reviews
Amateurish but noteworthy - RobBC
A pair of escaped convicts and their accomplices brutalize two young women but get more than they bargained for when one of the girls' parents decide to even the score. Although it stirred up considerable controversy upon its initial release Wes Craven's misogynistic slash-fest proved to be the template for all those "dead teenager" films that followed. With its shoestring budget, hammy performances and odd mixture of gore and lowbrow humour it's about as polished as an 8mm porn flick but it's still a bit of cinematic history and that alone is worth the rental fee.The Last House On The Left... - Chester
This is probably a film that influenced the impressionable, revenge-fantasy filled mind of the young Tarantino; you can see it in the scene where the father has a hard time deciding which weapon to choose. I can understand how, back in the early 1970s, this movie was considered so shocking because, even today, the physical and mental abuse of the teenage girls is hard to watch. However, what keeps it from being truly scary is the Benny Hill-style comedic music interspersed throughout, the bumbling antics of the police, and the poor acting of the ones playing the criminals (who were clearly rejects from the "Welcome Back Kotter" auditions).Not quite sure... - Poet
I am not quite sure what to make of this one. I know that Craven, being a young man back then trying to make his mark, was out to shock. He was rebelling acting his strict religious upbringing. But, this movie seemed to play on too many levels. In the end, it was confusing.
Some moments were pure horror, really well done for the time. Other moments were comic relief, mostly thanks to those two dumb cops. Those those opposites seemed to clash at time in this movie that could have been so much more.
There are also some big plot holes in there. But, this was Craven's first effort and a really acceptable one at that. So, in spite of those flaws, i would recommend it.
Member Reviews
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Amateurish but noteworthy - RobBC
A pair of escaped convicts and their accomplices brutalize two young women but get more than they bargained for when one of the girls' parents decide to even the score. Although it stirred up considerable controversy upon its initial release Wes Craven's misogynistic ...The Last House On The Left... - Chester
This is probably a film that influenced the impressionable, revenge-fantasy filled mind of the young Tarantino; you can see it in the scene where the father has a hard time deciding which weapon to choose. I can understand how, back in the early 1970s, this ...Not quite sure... - Poet
I am not quite sure what to make of this one. I know that Craven, being a young man back then trying to make his mark, was out to shock. He was rebelling acting his strict religious upbringing. But, this movie seemed to play on too many levels. In the end, ...