THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT

(director/writer: Wes Craven; cinematographer: Victor Hurwitz; editor: Wes Craven; music: David Hess; cast: David Hess (Krug Stillo), Jeramie Rain (Sadie), Sandra Cassell (Mari Collingwood), Lucy Grantham (Phyllis Stone), Gaylord St. James (Dr. John Collingwood), Cynthia Carr (Estelle Collingwood), Fred Lincoln (Fred ‘Weasel’ Podowski), Marc Sheffler (Junior Stillo), Ada Washington (Ada); Runtime: 83; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Sean Cunningham; MGM Home Entertainment/Hallmark Entertainment; 1972)

“It makes for an unpleasant watch.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The legendary film that introduced Wes Craven (“The Serpent and the Rainbow”/”Vampire in Brooklyn”/”A Nightmare on Elm Street”), in his directing debut, as the master of the exploitation horror film. It’s inspired by the folklore film by Ingmar Bergman, “The Virgin Spring.”

Four vicious drug-addicted psychopaths (David Hess, Fred Lincoln, Marc Sheffler and Jeramie Rain), three prison escapees and their girlfriend, kidnap, torture, rape and brutally murder two teenage NJ girls, Mari (Sandra Cassell) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham), who were going to a rock concert in NYC and mistakenly tried to score grass from a stranger while still in New Jersey. They are taken to a house and brutalized in the nearby woods by the monsters. When the gruesome foursome seeks refuge, they conveniently show up at the doorsteps of one of the victim’s homes. Her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Collingwood (Gaylord St. James & Cynthia Carr), get their savage revenge on the killers.

It makes for an unpleasant watch.

The offensive cult film has become a landmark in bad taste graphic shockers.

REVIEWED ON 2/9/2016 GRADE: C+   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/