Das letzte Haus links

While I think that people tend to get a bit hyperbolic when they talk about The Last House on the Left, I do think it's a fairly good film, especially given what the filmmakers were trying to do and considering their lack of experience, the era and the budget. Also, despite a filmic precursor, it just may be the earliest example of the horror subgenre of "brutal, realist tragedy" (that's more a description than a name, but I haven't spent much time trying to come up with a catchy moniker). However, it has flaws that would be difficult to overlook in a "distanced" (rather than "objective" or "unbiased", neither of which I think are possible) assessment of the film.

The story, although claimed as true, is an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's Jungfrukällan (aka The Virgin Spring, 1960). Roughly, it is the story of Mari Collingwood (Sandra Cassel). We see Mari at home with her almost-hip parents. Mari is about to head out to a "Bloodlust" concert in New York City with her new friend Phyllis Stone (Lucy Grantham). Mom and dad are harassing her about her clothing, which is thin enough to show off a bit of flesh, but they're not so un-hip as to make her change. Meanwhile, we learn from a radio that four convicts--"murderers, dope-pushers and rapists"--have just escaped from prison. At the same time, director Wes Craven slowly reveals the quartet--Krug Stillo (David A. Hess), Junior Stillo (Marc Sheffler), Fred "Weasel" Podowski (Fred J. Lincoln) and Sadie (Jeramie Rain). They're holed up in a New York City apartment. Sadie seems to be group property, and that causes some tension. It is suggested that they look for a couple more women. Mari and Phyllis end up at the wrong place at the wrong time. They're kidnapped, and mayhem ensues. But there's a twist that arrives when the convict's car breaks down in an ironic location.

"Frightening", "disturbing", "sick" and various other terms are frequently employed when describing Last House on the Left. Since I find no films scary, I can't vouch for the first term, but the other two would perhaps apply proportionate to how many horror films you regularly watch, and just what kinds of horror films. If you're not used to the genre in its grittier and gorier post-1960s instantiations, you'd likely find The Last House on the Left shocking. If you've seen a large number of films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and so on, don't pay too much attention to the hype. You're not likely to be very disturbed by anything you see here.

That doesn't mean that you'll not enjoy this film. After all, it has been a major influence on the films mentioned above--there is even an important chainsaw scene here. That's especially remarkable when we consider that it was only Craven and Producer Sean S. Cunningham's second film. They had been approached by a consortium of exhibitors who said that they wanted "something as appalling and exploitable as Night of the Living Dead (1968)".

Maybe largely by accident, Craven and Cunningham (along with others, such as assistant producer Steve Miner, who later became much bigger "names" in horror--between these three, we have the helmers of a number of films in the three major 1980s/1990s franchises--Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street) happened upon an unusual cinema vérité style that made the horrific situations depicted seem much more immediate and real. Combined with occasionally graphic and always intense situations of violence and control, the final effect is akin to watching a home video/snuff film. In fact, it was promoted as such in some areas, and the effect was disturbing enough in its time that the film initially received an X rating and was banned for many years in some locales.

But again, focusing on that amounts to hype now, and shouldn't be taken too seriously, lest it lead to inflated expectations. Just as surprising on a first viewing is that The Last House on the Left has an intermittent goofy sense of humor and a "groovy" attitude that is firmly mired in the early 1970s. The two policemen are really comic relief characters (and very funny at that), but there is also a lot of humor surrounding the criminal quartet--this almost becomes a "black comedy" at times. These sensibilities even extend to the music, which has a frequent hillbilly edge and lyrics that supply ex-positional material. Surprisingly, Hess, who plays Krug, wrote the music.

Despite the simplicity of the story and the fact that the 2002 MGM DVD release is the "most complete cut ever" according to Craven, there are problems with the story, whether due to the script or the editing. Too many segues between major plot points are "jumpy". The chase(s) through the woods seems a bit random. It's not very well explained how the convicts end up at a home looking as they do. Two characters find another who was missing, and it seems more like a dream sequence because of its arbitrariness, and so on.

But overall, the story is effective enough. Although many subtexts can and have been read into the film, the most interesting theme to me was that it's largely a "tragedy of happenstance". Craven seems to be expressing a strong belief in chance and coincidence and focusing on the dark side of it. Under that reading, we can maybe excuse some of the narrative jumps more easily.

Although there are a number of similar films that I think are better than The Last House on the Left, including Ruggero Deodato's House at the Edge of the Park (aka La Casa sperduta nel parco, 1980)--also starring Hess in a similar role, curiously enough, this is a must-see for serious horror fans because of its historical importance.

Much as I admire it, I can only watch Wes Craven's brilliant debut feature once every few years; as sheer stomach-churning brutality goes, it makes SALO look like Sondheim. Craven has said he made the movie as extreme as it is as his comment on the obscenity of Vietnam. I've heard that number many a time (Ruggero Deodato blames CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST on the Red Brigade!), but in Craven's case, it's so palpable it's believable. LAST HOUSE may be the first (and is certainly the most far-out) case of a horror movie that eschews suspense, tingles, shock, in the wake of sheer, harrowing barbarism.

Based on Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING, it tells the tale of a couple of young girls on their way to a concert who fall prey to a Manson-like family. Their rape-murders are avenged by a suddenly wised-up couple of parents who, in their restitution, find themselves as blood-bespattered and guilty as their prey.

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is a grindhouse GUERNICA, an outcry over desensitization to violence that leaves you feeling shaken and desolated. It genuinely reupholsters the word "horror." For most, the clarity of Craven's intentions won't be enough to redeem the dire viciousness of what the director puts you through. For me, the ferocity of the movie has a cleansing, Artaudian pureness.

One question: Craven made this film and his masterpiece, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, the ultimate statement on the nuclear family in post-Woodstock, post-Altamont America. He then went on to make a load of occasionally mildly amusing but mostly godawful movies. What's the story?

I first saw Last House on the Left at the age of 18 at the drive in with my best girlfriend. This movie, an early outing by horror maven Wes Craven was so disturbing to me that 26 years later I am still haunted by the images on the screen. The story, of 2 young girls, approximately the same age I was when I saw the film, of being abducted, tortured, raped and then murdered is not for the faint of heart. The brutality and violence was staggering, and the film spoke volumes of the depravity of the human soul. I remember driving home with my girlfriend after watching this, and both of us were dead silent, each contemplating what we had watched and knowing that something like that could happen to us. This movie is one I know without a doubt, that I will never again watch, and now, being the parent of a daughter myself, I could never watch it and then allow her out of the house again. This is not a monster movie, the MONSTERS are human and all too real, especially in today's society filled with Ted Bundy's and The Green River Killer, this movie hits too close to home and leaves the viewer depressed and saddened at what human beings are capable of doing to other innocent people. Watch it if you dare, but be prepared to be left with a very hollow feeling after it is over.

Every horror movie claims for themselves that they kicked off something. Be it the slasher genre, be it the "let's go all in and not censor ourselves", be it the body count, gore, nudity, organs on display or whatever else you can imagine. In this case it is more the idea - although there are some short glimpses of visual and very explicit imagery.

Wes Craven and Sean Cunnigham (who worked together on this and then went ahead to make two of the most iconic horror/movie villains of all time respectively - Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees) may feel like they wanted more or rather be more diverse. Do movies in other genres - but I do think they can be happy with their career. And it started with a very controversial and evil little movie like this one.

The villains here are as despicable as they can get and the one moment where Wes claims they have a point of no return - well let's just say they are already past that way before that moment. So this is raw, it lacks sense in many respects and you can see there was not a big budget involved. But through it all you can feel the effect until today the movie had ... because of its success and because it was rough and did not really follow any rules

Last House on the Left, The (1972)

*** (out of 4)

Craven's notorious shocker is a remake of Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring and deals with two teenage girls going to the city for a concert but being kidnapped by four crazed criminals. The girls and raped, tortured and eventually murdered but the killer's end up spending the night at one of the girl's houses where the tables are turned. I've seen this film countless times in my life and it always disturbed me to the point where I hated the movie with a passion. I always felt the movie was rather poorly made and in the end it was nothing but an exploitation show meant to disturb you. I still feel that way but I've actually doubled my normal star rating because the film actually worked with me this time. My stomach was still being turned and I was disgusted in its vile nature but I reckon that was the whole point. There's still a lot that I don't like about the film including the stupid comedy relief from the two idiot cops. Why Craven decided to throw this slapstick in is beyond me because it really feels out of place especially when it pops up after watching two teens get brutally murdered. Another issue is that the film looks incredibly cheap (it was a low budget) and amateurish but this adds some to its atmosphere and makes the film seem all the more real. The now legendary tagline that "it's only a movie" is something to really keep in mind as the film comes off very realistic as if you're watching a documentary. The performances are all rather mixed but they all suit the film fine and that includes David Hess as the leader of the gang and Marc Sheffler as his heroin addicted son. The dialogue in the film, especially the opening ten minutes, is downright awful but there's still no denying that this is a highly disturbing film that manages to be vile, disgusting and just downright evil.