Last House on the
Left (1972)
By: David Michael Brown on December 17, 2004.
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| Umbrella Entertainment (Australia). All Regions, PAL. 1.85:1 (16:9 enhanced). English DD 2.0. 84 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: David Hess,
Sandra Cassell, Lucy Grantham, Fred Lincoln
Screenplay: Wes Craven
Music: David Alexander
Hess
Tagline:"To avoid
fainting, keep repeating "It's only
a movie…It's only a movie…It's
only...""
Country: USA
AKA: Krug and Company |
After years in the wilderness, Wes Craven's grim,
sadistic tale of violent retribution The
Last House on the Left has finally been
released in this country. Not available since its
original and banned video incarnation, the film
has lost none of its power to shock and disturb.
The film, a remake of Ingmar Bergman's The
Virgin Spring, follows a group of repellent
criminals led by Krug who kidnap two young teenagers
out to celebrate one of their birthdays. The scenes
of humiliation and torture as the two girls are
slowly and viciously raped and killed are uncomfortable
to watch at best and this is the power of Craven's
film. The cinema verité style of camera work
shows the harrowing scenes in dirty unflinching
close up and the largely amateur performances, especially
David Hess as Krug and Sandra Cassell and Lucy Grantham
as the two victims, Mari and Lucy, makes the death
scenes even more unpalatable. After their murderous
rampage, Krug and friends go to the Collingwood
house where Mari's parents are frantic with
worry. They soon realise that they are playing host
to their daughter's murderers and systematically
kill their houseguest's in a brutal act of revenge.
The resulting blood soaked carnage leaves their
lives shattered forever.
The film had never been legally available in
Australia before the OFLC passed this release
without any cuts but in the UK the BBFC made 31
seconds of cuts to allow the film to be released.
These include Mari's disembowelment and
Krug carving a unique autograph, however, the
brief snips do not affect the overall tone of
the film. More harm is done by the clumsy use
of humour, especially the two bungling cops, one
played by Cagney and Lacy regular Martin Kove,
and the often jarring Country and Western songs
provided by David Hess that accompany many of
the sickening scenes.
Definitely not for everyone; anyone who has discovered
Wes Craven's work through the MTV horrors
of A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream series will be
shocked at the repulsive sexual violence on display.
As a historical footnote on world censorship its
fascinating, as a piece of entertainment its repugnant.
Approach with caution! |
| Video |
| The transfer works wonders with the source material,
having been cut and chopped by censors and projectionists
around the world it's a wonder there is anything
left. Saying that the often soft image isn't
quite up to the standards of the UK Anchor Bay release
or the US MGM disc from which many of the extras
have been taken. |
| Audio |
| The audio, as with the video is good but it's
a shame that Umbrella didn't go the whole
hog with a 5.1 surround mix. |
| Extra Features |
| The many versions of the film are given historical
context in the fascinating documentary Celluloid
Crime of the Century which includes interviews
with most of the cast and the creative crew. The
40 minute feature covers the films inception,
filming and it's controversial relationship
with the censors of the world.
Two entertaining running commentaries add informative
anecdotes to the documentary footage. Firstly
Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham discuss the making
of the film. Then Hess, Fred Lincoln and Marc
Sheffler hilariously reminisce about being in
Krugs gang, the Seventies porn industry and filming
the shocking scenes that got the film banned.
The disc also features an interview with the
Hess about scoring the film. The disc is completed
with the films US and German trailers, TV and
radio spots, a stills gallery and trailers for
the latest Umbrella horror titles including I
Drink Your Blood.
It's a shame the DVD didn't include
the excellent featurette Krug conquers Britain
from the UK release. The short follows the film's
first ever public showing in Leicester in 1980
and features the erasable Hess playing to the
crowd and strumming his guitar. The featurette
also follows the films chequered history with
the BBFC, arguing the case against former head
of the organisation James Ferman and his ridiculous
attempts to save the working classes by banning
films! Ironically the film is unfortunately still
cut in Britain! |
| The Verdict |
| Some will find the film repellent and un-watchable
but no one can deny the quality of the DVD; Umbrella
have pulled together a fine selection of extras
for the films debut Australian release. The film
claims to be fully uncut, a tall order indeed, the
UK release already features the re-edited version
entitled Krug and Company, which
includes alternate footage and after reading David.
A. Szulkin's excellent book on the making
of the film you soon realise that we'll probably
never see a full version of the film, there are
so many alternative cuts and takes out there. Saying
that you really can't go wrong with this,
the shear fact that you can go down to your local
K-Mart and pick up a (pretty much) uncut version
of Last House on the Left is great
in itself. |
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| User Comments |
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2 user comments have been posted so far |
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I thought this film was dated and boring.
The Virgin Spring was much better.