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3-Minute Intro: The Last House on the Left

October 22, 2008 6:22 pm Andrew 3-Minute Intros, Horror

Screened: October 15, 2008
Format: DVD - MGM (2002)
HorrorFest 2008

Wes Craven’s shocking 1972 directorial debut, The Last House on the Left, arguably remains the acclaimed horror film-maker’s most uncompromising and disturbing feature film. The story is simple and horrifying: two teenage girls are kidnapped and brutalized by convicts, who then fall into the clutches of the girls’ vengeful family. The film’s graphic depiction of violence, much of it sexual in nature, ignited widespread condemnation and motivated theatrical bannings nationwide. However, the film also discovered an enthusiastic audience for its realistic scares, an audience that craved the gritty horror offered by the likes of Last House and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Few of these viewers were aware that Last House was loosely based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 medieval drama The Virgin Spring.

Craven, a native Ohioan from a strict Baptist upbringing, wanted The Last House on the Left’s horrors to convey the same sense of dread and revulsion that he perceived in contemporary news footage from the Vietnam War. The director delivered in this respect, as the film underwent numerous rounds of editing for its United States release, and was effectively banned in the United Kingdom until 2002. Legend has it that Craven actually distributed the film illegally with a bootleg “R” rating, and that he had to establish a team to restore prints that were returned chopped up by theater owners. The film’s slipshod, over-the-top promotion contributed to the gruesome hype. This included its last-minute title: “The Last House on the Left” was evidently selected for its sinister sound, and not because it had anything to do with the film.

Producer Sean Cunningham later established the Friday the 13th franchise, and Craven of course went on to direct such genre milestones as The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. The unflinching brutality evident in The Last House on the Left has led some critics to deride it as a gutter product, while other praise it as an under-appreciated exploitation masterpiece. Craven himself is said to regard it as one of his best films. Defenders of Last House on the Left insist that its brazenly realized themes of humanity’s fundamental cruelty and the debasing nature of revenge remain relevant today.

One Response

  1. Sam Juliano Says:
    October 25th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    Oh yes Andrew, I always have known that this crude, disturbing film was an exploitative rip-off of THE VIRGIN SPRING, but of course it took that whole charade to a new level of human depravity. But in essence it’s poorly made (Craven didn’t blossom until after this amateurish effort) and too incredulous to inflict too much mental depression. It did however “inspire” a number of imitations, one worse than the other.