Title: Last House On The Left

Year: 1972

Director: Wes Craven

Review by: Paul Johnson

The films of Wes Craven have always courted controversy for their graphic depictions of violence. However, in a career that has spanned thirty years, none have provoked as much outrage as his directorial debut Last House On The Left.

Originally to be titled Sex Crime Of The Century, the film was intended to be an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman�s art-house classic The Virgin Spring (1960) - itself an adaptation of a fourteenth century Swedish ballad concerning the violent retribution of a noble father against the men who have raped and murdered his daughter. Craven and producer Sean S. Cunningham, have always claimed that their film was made as a reaction to the sanitised violence to be found on screen at the time. As a low budget exploitation picture neither envisioned Last House being the success it turned out to be, and so felt none of the constraints that mainstream cinema of the time did concerning the treatment of violent subjects. As a result the makers did not shy away from a graphically realistic depiction of rape, murder and revenge.

The film opened in the United States on 23 August 1972, and immediately the floodgates of protest erupted. The distributors, Hallmark Releasing Corporation, turned the controversy surrounding the film to their advantage by promoting the film under the tag line, "To avoid fainting keep repeating, it�s only a movie�" Several press releases were made by Hallmark to further play to the controversy, such as "Last House On The Left � Can A Movie Go Too Far?" These press releases attempted to validate both the film itself as well as the critical reactions to it on the basis that audiences were reacting to the actions of the film�s villains, and that these actions were meant to be degenerate and inspire a sense of loathing towards them.

The success of Last House On The Left inspired a large number of copycat films. The most notorious of these, Aldo Lado�s 1974 film L�Ultimo Treno Della� Notte (released under several titles including Last House On The Left II and The New House On The Left), joined Craven�s original on the infamous video nasties list in the United Kingdom during the early 1980�s.

As well as providing Wes Craven with his directorial debut, Last House On The Left features a number of themes that would recur in his later work. The conflict between the civilised family and the degenerate would be revised in Craven�s next feature, The Hills Have Eyes (1977). Virtually all of Craven�s films, beginning with Last House on The Left, have featured surreal dream sequences � most famously in A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984).

Producer Sean S. Cunningham went on to direct Friday The 13th (1980) and produce a number of other successful films (including House, directed in 1986 by Last House On The Left production assistant/assistant editor Steve Miner). The film also provided David A. Hess with a career virtually reprising his role as Krug Stillo in exploitation films such as Hitch Hike (1977) and House On The Edge Of The Park (1979).

In the early 1970�s Last House On The Left changed the nature of the horror movie. Horror was no longer confined to the realms of the Gothic castle or haunted forest, it had a home in suburbia. Even now, thirty years later, it makes for uncomfortable viewing and is still banned in a number of countries. Last House On The Left remains far more than, "only a movie."

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