DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Wes Craven
Starring Sandra Cassell, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln
Release date 20 October 2008

After a night out in a bad neighbourhood, two girls are abducted, raped and murdered by four vicious criminals. When the parents of one of the girls discover what has happened, they exact messy revenge…

It’s strange to think that this notorious former video nasty was based on an Ingmar Bergman picture, but Craven actually sticks fairly closely to many plot ingredients of 1960’s Oscar-winning The Virgin Spring. Of course, The Last House on the Left is a much more graphic affair, and, 36 years after it first burst so controversially onto the scene, it has lost none of its capability to shock.

It was, as Craven recalls on one of the accompanying documentaries here, partly intended as a reaction to the protracted violence of the Vietnam War. To reflect this he shot it in a raw quasi-documentary style that echoed the bloody news footage that pumped out of TV screens every night. And while other directors of the time also pushed the boundaries of screen violence (such as Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs or Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange), Craven went further than most in showing the ugly reality of rape and murder. However, describing The Last House on the Left as any kind of political statement would probably be going too far – its ability to shock lies in its simplicity and crudeness rather than any allegorical nature to the story.

Those who have never seen the film before may be surprised by its strange, often jarring tone, with much of the action scored to David Hess’s jaunty folk music, and some incongruous comic relief provided by a couple of inept cops (played by Marshall Anker and The Karate Kid’s Martin Kove), who prove powerless to stop the violence. The out of place nature of these scenes actually works to make the violence seem all the more inexplicable and terrible when it arrives, and gives the film an added uncomfortable edge.

So is it exploitation or art? The answer is, of course, both. Even here, Craven’s intelligence and talent isn’t in doubt, with the then inexperienced director showing both visual flair and a skill for gripping, visceral storytelling. The movies also boasts some terrific performances, especially from the actors behind the gang members (David Hess, Fred J Lincoln, Jeramie Rain and Marc Sheffler), each of who give very different – but equally chilling – depictions of psychosis and depravity.

Yet the copious amount of nudity and some of the violence (such as the removing of entrails) is arguably designed to titillate as much as make a point – especially when you bear in mind that this was originally intended to be a hardcore porn flick with added violence. Certainly the rape scenes in particular remain very difficult viewing.

Despite this somewhat conflicted nature, The Last House on the Left remains a hugely important entry in the horror genre. It’s an expertly constructed, surprisingly clever and disturbing shocker that is in an entirely different league from most of the rape-and-revenge pictures that came in its wake.

This 3-disc DVD release certainly treats the movie with the respect it deserves. The documentary Celluloid Crime of the Century is fascinating stuff, and sees the filmmakers and cast candidly chat about the making of the picture and discuss what they think of it now. We hear stories of how Sandra Cassell, who played the victim Mari and is notably absent from the documentary, was genuinely terrified on set (little wonder when you hear that Marc Sheffler threatened to knock her down a hill if she screwed up a scene); Jeramie Rain (Sadie) recalls how her parents didn’t speak to her for a long time after the picture; and everyone remembers how crazy David Hess was. And while an ever-erudite Wes Craven says he regrets nothing, Fred Lincoln maintains it’s still the one film he wishes he hadn’t made.

Elsewhere, there’s an excellent commentary from Craven and producer Sean S. Cunningham, a featurette on Hess's score, an excerpt from the early Wes Craven short film Tales to Tear Your Heart Out, an interview with Exploited Films’ Carl Daft (who took the BBFC to court over the UK ban on the movie) and a complete alternate 80-minute cut of the film under its former title of Krug & Company (though, aside from the scratchy picture quality, it’s not radically different). And while all of this has been previously available on the 2-disc edition, it’s worth noting that the BBFC have finally allowed the movie itself to be passed without cuts.

The third disc throws in the feature-length documentary Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film. In many ways it’s a little out of place – although it certainly had an influence on the genre, The Last House on the Left isn’t really a slasher flick (though, of course, Craven went on to make A Nightmare on Elm Street and Cunningham directed Friday the 13th). But we’re prepared to overlook that as Going to Pieces is so damn good (click here to read our full review). Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 8/10
Nothing can ever quite recapture the thrill of watching The Last House on pirate video in the 80s or 90s, but this exhaustive package certainly adds to an understanding of the movie.