Skip to main content

The Last House on the Left (1972) - Wes Craven



I don't know what it is about the seventies, they always have the most inappropriate music to accompany some graphic scenes. It's almost a tactic that makes the scenes that much creepier. I'm not complaining. I like an Axe Murder to Marvin Gaye anytime. I hadn't watched this one for a few years and finally picked it up to watch for the 31 Movies of Halloween. This feature has a pretty strong reputation of being hard to watch or almost too hard-hitting. So you know I was interested. 



Phyllis and Mari go to a big concert unsupervised in the big city. Only thing is, they don't come home. They run into a group of psychopaths that kidnap they young ladies. The gang humiliates, rapes, and murders the girls in the forest, then seek refuge in Mari's own home. Clumsily dropping clues that they had killed the girls, leading to the Mari's parents plotting the gang's demise. 

This low budget feature from Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Craven, holds up to the title of being hard-to-watch. Movies like this one that tend to be more realistic appear to come off as more graphic. While a movie about a serial slasher like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers is pretty unbelievable. This one is so steeped in reality that it really adds to the terror. 


The actors are very believable. David Hess is terrifying as the leader of the gang, Krug. You root for Mari (Sandra Peabody) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) but ultimately you have them ripped from you. It's rough. Your heart really gets into the movie and is rightfully ripped out. It helps that you can cheer for the good guys and revel in the bad guys getting their comeuppance. 

Director: Wes Craven
Country: USA

Did ya know...
When fledgling director Wes Craven took this film to the MPAA, they slapped it with an "X" rating. Wanting an R for wider release, Craven went back and removed ten minutes of footage. However, this still wasn't enough and the film still got an "X" rating. Once again Craven removed footage, this time taking out 20 minutes. It still wasn't enough. Finally, Craven put all of the original footage back in, got an authentic "RATED R" seal of approval from the film board from a friend of his, put it on the film and released it.
When distribution companies Hallmark and Atlas International released the movie in Germany, they attempted to pass it off as an actual "snuff" film (i.e., a real murder staged for the camera).



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the old Sleepy Hollow tale is really interesting. He adds his own flair of course. He delves very deeply into the original story by Washington Irving. The casting is usual for Burton. Johnny Depp of course in your lead. Helena Bonham Carter, thrown in for some flavor. The score is done by Danny Elfman. It's literally just the Ichabod Crane story run through the Tim Burton machine. But in a good way. Sleepy Hollow has a problem with a guy, running around, taking people's heads. Like, a lot of people. The town sends word for assistance and the nervous  Constable Ichabod Crane reports. He starts to unravel clues that take him down an incredibly strange path. With the Horseman still murdering patrons, Crane tries finding who's next before they lose their head.  I've always been a big fan of the Disney cartoon,  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad . This movie is a far cry from Bing Crosby and quaint animations....
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Le Manoir du Diable (1896) - George Melies

According to Wikipedia in August of 2011, Le Manoir du diable by Georges Melies is the first horror movie. Well, actually its a short film (about three minuets or so) but film was really hard to come by in that time so this counts as a film to me. The plot of the film is basic, you have your hero being tormented by demonic things in a crazy castle room... However, that plot isn't what brought the crowds. The thing that drove the popularity of these films was the fact that you were seeing motion on screen. I suggest going and seeing Hugo. That film is spectacular. It answered so many questions that I had. It really sets the scene and the tone. The film has strong christian overtones and actually ends with Christianity prevailing over the "tides of darkness". I provided a link at the bottom of this review for anyone that would like to see this pioneer in Horror Film. The movie uses very, very early "movie magic" that is an abundance of smoke and m...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »