‘Last House on the Left’
Sean S. Cunningham Films, 1972

starring: Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David Hess and Fred J. Lincoln
written and directed by: Wes Craven

the plot: Mari (Cassel) and Phyllis (Grantham) are two small-town girls eager to venture to the “big city” for a concert featuring their favorite band, BloodLust. Phyllis looks to score some weed before the show and soon the girls fall in with Krug (Hess), a sleazy drug dealer/murderer who leads a gang of degenerate criminals. Krug and his crew ambush Mari and Phyllis and subject them to all sorts of brutality, first in the city and then later in the countryside. Mari and Phyllis end up dead and as the gang tries to cover up their crime, their car breaks down. Stranded in the same small town their victims hailed from, they soon become targets for revenge.

why it’s good: “Last House” isn’t a great film, but it’s important for a number of reasons. First, it launched the careers of Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham, both of whom would go on to horror super-stardom in the 1980s with the “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th” franchises, respectively. Second, “Last House” was also one of the first, and most successful, in the wave of grindhouse exploitation films that characterized much of 1970s horror—films that horror directors of today are busy remaking like mad. Historical importance aside, “Last House” is notable as a horror flick simply because it’s gruesome, seedy and better than average at making a viewer feel uncomfortable. Marketers in Germany tried to bill it as an actual snuff film—a tactic that seems both savvy and morally bankrupt. The violence in “Last House” is balanced with a kitschy, silly music score and some comedy antics from a pair of bumbling sheriffs, making it easier to remind yourself that, true to the film’s tagline, “it’s only a movie.”

why you should own it: Die-hard  aficionados probably already own “Last House.” All others are advised to rent it. MGM’s excellent DVD features commentary by Craven and Cunningham (both of whom are still rather uncomfortable with the effectiveness of the film), deleted scenes, and a pair of making-of featurettes.