Friday, January 30, 2015

Last House on the Left (1972)

Genre: Horror
Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David A. Hess
Running time: 84 minutes (Uncut), 91 minutes (Original)


This one sure is not for the faint of heart, but what a powerful knockout punch of a film. It tells the story of two late teen girls who go out on the town for a concert. In the process, they get kidnapped, tortured, rape and killed by a gang of escaped psychopathic convicts. After committing their crime, the thugs have to take refuge in a house nearby for the night because their car broke down. What they come to find out is that the people who take them in are the parents of one of their victims. And, unbeknownst to them, the parents find out the truth before morning comes.

Wes Craven reportedly wanted to make his film more graphic than it actually is, but he had to do some heavy editing considering the era it was shot in. In spite of the restrictions of the time, the torture and rape scenes are still hard to stomach. The acting and some of the sound effects may be a bit campy, but that is to be expected with the exploitation horror genre. It will certainly not leave any emotionless.

Craven would get his wish when the movie would be redone by someone else, with new actors and especially more freedom, in 2009. Still, the original remains a film to be seen by fans of this particular genre. It will stay with you for a couple of days, for sure. For the time it lasts, if you can stomach it all, you will not want to miss a beat…and a single drop of blood.

Rating: ««««

 

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