Cynthia Carr, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln

A pair of teenage girls are headed to a rock concert for one's birthday. While trying to score marijuana in the city, the girls are kidnapped by a gang of psychotic convicts.

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54% liked it

21,622 ratings

Critics

65% liked it

31 critics

Unrated, 84 min.

Directed by: Wes Craven

Release Date: August 30, 1972

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DVD Release Date: August 27, 2002

Stats: 1,880 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,880)


  • March 18, 2009
    Raw and tough to watch at times, but the cinematography and score are so opposite of what you'd expect from a horror film that the reality of the entire situation is even more terrifying.
  • January 26, 2009
    Krug Stillo: We don't wanna off someone first night out. I mean, it'd be a shame to get this floor all messed up with blood.

    Further proof that the 70s were a wonderful time for horror films, although this is less of a horror film and more of a series of unfortunate and fucked ...( read more)up events involving two teenage girls and a group of escaped psychotic killer convicts.

    Wes Craven's first feature film is one that is designed to make you feel uncomfortable. It features nasty characters doing horrible things to innocent people. The acting and dialog of some of the characters is somewhat hokey early on, but its low budget and gritty approach makes it both forgivable and still disturbing.

    The twist in the third act further turns the story on its head and certainly brings the movie into its appropriate cult classic horror status.

    Cheap, engaging, and disturbing.

    Krug Stillo: Listen to daddy. I want you to take the gun, and I want you to put it in your mouth, and I want you to turn around and blow your brains out. Blow your brains out, BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!
  • January 10, 2009
    Two teenaged girls are kidnapped by a gang of lowlifes and raped and abused. Zero suspense, zero comic relief, zero art, only a willingness to depict naked sadism in loving detail.
  • October 10, 2008
    "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" are two films that received a unanimous critical bashing when they were first released, but are now looked upon as ground-breaking horror masterpieces. That is also a classification that could be used to describe Wes Cr...( read more)aven's "Last House on the Left", but after 27 years, the film still hasn't quite gotten the respect it deserves, and its greatness only seems to be recognized primarily among horror fans. While it is certainly not Craven's most polished film, I still consider it to be his best, and indeed, Craven has acknowledged many times that he doesn't even want to ATTEMPT to equal it. "Last House" was the first movie that aimed to show an audience what the REAL effects of violence were and the low-budget, documentary-like realism that Craven brought to the proceedings allows it to pack a bigger punch than a thousand professional studio films ever could. Yes, the movie has more than its fair share of flaws, but it is a measure of the film's power that one can easily overlook them. The most flawed masterpiece of all time may be a strange way to describe a film, but that would be an accurate way to describe "Last House on the Left".

    As virtually everyone knows, the basic plotline is a reworking of Ingmar Bergman's "Virgin Spring", but Craven does a superb job of translating the story's details to a 1970s setting. Two teenage girls, Mari (Sandra Cassel) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) go into the big city for a rock concert, only to encounter three of the most memorable villiains in film history: Krug (David Hess), Weasel (Fred Lincoln) and Sadie (Jeramie Rain), who are also accompanied by Krug's heroin-addicted, guilt-ridden son, Junior (Marc Sheffler). The gang of escaped convicts kidnap the girls and proceed to rape and murder them, but when they seek shelter at the nearest house, they are stunned to find that their hosts just happen to be Mari's parents - who unleash violent tendencies that they would have never thought possible once they discover that they are housing their daughter's killers.

    The long, painful section of the film where the killers torture and murder the girls is where "Last House on the Left" impresses the most. Before these scenes, the villains have been presented as normal, funny, almost likable individuals, which makes their despicable actions all the more shocking. Craven shoots the scenes of degradation with the raw feel of a documentary, and while this is mostly due to his minuscule budget and lack of filmmaking experience, it lends an uncomfortable air of authenticity to the events. He also demonstrates his ability to toy with the audience's emotions by intercutting the horror with slapstick scenes involving two inept cops who run into all sorts of misadventures while searching for Krug and his gang. While the idea of mixing the violence with humour is an effective one (and works well during some of his climactic scenes), the cop scenes are done in such broad, over-the-top fashion that they provide way too much of a contrast with the film's disturbing moments. However, when the girls' death scenes do occur, they are protracted and extremely intense, and during the rape and murder of Mari, the killers actually give off expressions of shock and remorse for what they have done. Back in 1972, this approach to screen violence was unheard-of.

    The outstanding work of the unknown cast is what makes the film as effective as it is. Cassel and Grantham make extremely believable and sympathetic victims, though the real acting honours go to the villains. Hess (who also composed the film's dated but often effective score) is truly remarkable in his role, making Krug into one of the most unforgettable screen psychopaths, and he is almost matched by veteran porn director Lincoln's surprisingly effective turn as Weasel, presenting him as a humorous, laid-back character that is capable of shocking, cold-blooded violence. But while the film is often quite disturbing, it also has plenty of entertainment value. When the violence is not being displayed, the tone is very tongue-in-cheek, as Craven provides plenty of sharp dialogue and effective bits of black humour. In particular, the infamous scene where Weasel meets his painful revenge from Mari's mother, and the dynamite dream sequence that precedes it, manage to be both shocking and oddly entertaining at the same time. But it is the film's anti-violence statement that makes "Last House" so memorable, as Craven does not allow his characters to feel any satisfaction for their vicious actions. This is easily one of the ten most important horror films of all time, and a real personal favourite of mine. It demands to finally be recognized as the true groundbreaking achievement that it is.
  • August 20, 2008
    Set the bench mark when release in 1972.A truely gritty and unpleaset movie .
    This movie is very badly dateted now and might put off a lot of horror/movie fans but if so still worth checking out for Wes Craven first movie.
  • November 21, 2009
    Yes that movie is a classic I love it great movie
  • November 20, 2009
    This is a raw film. Like rough near documentary raw. Actually, scratch that, documentaries don't attempt at style like this one does and doesn't have several unfunny comical cop duo things to soften up the rape scenes.

    I saw this in a theater with an original print from 1972 whi...( read more)ch is apparently the only one in North America. It was a decent print and I haven't seen this film before. Like most horror films of the 1970s for me, it's another lackluster effort that got some sort of a cult audience somehow. It's not scary as it is trying to be disturbing which just comes off as lame to me when the film wants to have it both ways and try to find a meaning in it all.

    It sounds like i'm trashing this film and in a way I am, but the film also isn't boring or made me just want to leave like it's rip-off's such as Death Weekend do. This is decent trash but I refuse to place it next to better 1970s efforts like The Exorcist or Halloween. Oh, did I mention this movie has a theme song at the end where someone sings what happens in the film? Who takes this film seriously.
  • November 18, 2009
    Probably one of the most well made grindhouse movies i've ever seen. The acting was actually decent and the plot was really well thought out. If only Wes Craven could have continued this in his recent movies. The blood and violence was gruesome, just the way it should be.
  • November 17, 2009
    i loved this film however i was told it was really scary and so gory n the descriptions n views of what happend were relli high depth but i didnt think it was but it was a brill flm
  • November 13, 2009
    Wes Craven seems incapable of mediocre or average, he always produces brilliance or shit. This, his debut, veers towards the former. It reminded me of I Spit On Your Grave, and though the acting is woeful, the villains are sadistic, cruel bastards - including a woman, which is a ...( read more)nice touch. Craven plays around with the tone by having police officers who belong in a Bennie Hill sketch, and cheerful music while interspersing happy scenes with brutal ones. It's definitely a must-see for those who appreciate what Craven is capable of.

Critic Reviews


October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A tough, bitter little sleeper of a movie that's about four times as good as you'd expect. full review

View more The Last House on the Left reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • gargouri2001
    March 17, 2009
    watch the full film with high dvix quality at http://xtshare.com/movie/viewfilm.php?Id=151&view=The-Last-House-On-The-Left

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The Last House on the Left Trivia


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