The Last House On the Left: This film was directed by one of the masters of horror Wes Craven and this was the first film he ever directed. It is about two teenage girls who are going to a concert for one of the girls birthdays. They soon find themselves in a tough situation when they end up at an apartment that is housing four fugitives. The girls must fight for their survival as the group brings them to the woods to perform some very inhumane acts on them.
As the film starts we learn that it is the lead character, Maris', birthday. She is a pretty young girl that lives with her parents. Their house is almost out in the middle of no where, and the house just happens to be "The Last House On the Left". Go figure. Mari tells her parents that she is going to a concert with her friend Phyllis. Since it's her birthday, they give her the ok. So Mari and Phyllis go walking by the lake near Mari's house, where they reminisce and hang out before the concert. They soon get in their car and make there way towards the city where Phyllis lives so they can get ready before the concert.
As the girls get to the city they are look to score some "grass". In the city they figured they should be able to get some quickly before the concert. They meet with a guy who brings them to his apartment to get them some "Colombian grass". When the girls show up they meet the four fugitives.
Then we meet the fugitives: Krug Stillo, Junior Stillo, Fred "Weasel" Podowski, and Sadie. Soon they are possessed by the four and held against their will. Phyllis tries to fight back but is easily out matched. The fugitives then begin to "have their way" with Phyllis and there is nothing Mari can do to stop it.
Mari's parents are now worried because their daughter hasn't come home yet. They contact the police so they can and figure out where she is. The police come to the conclusion that she had fun on her birthday and she'll be back that night. Guaranteed.
That same morning the group of fugitives put Mari and Phyllis in the trunk of their car and drive off. They make their way towards Canada when their car stops. They don't know whats wrong with it, so they take the girls out of the trunk and into the woods. But Mari sees her parents mailbox, so her house is very near by. They go deeper into the woods and find a spot for them to sit and relax.While this is going on, the cops leave Mari's house. they see and odd car parked out front, but they realize they have more important things to do then worry about some car. So they just drive away. Later on they hear on the radio a car being describe exactly like the one in front of Mari's house. They spend the rest of the film trying to get back to the house.
Now the Krug, the leader of the group, decides to have a little fun with the girls. He tells Phyllis to pee her pants. She really has no choice in the matter so she does. Then they tell the girls to essentially "have intercourse" with each other. Neither one of them wants to do it but the criminals have them in a situation where they have no other option. After their fun is over, Phyllis tells Mari that she is going to make a break for the road. Krug left the group for a minute so she thinks she has a better chance. She breaks from the group and Weasel and Sadie decide to go after her. Junior stays back to watch Mari, who tries to be his friend and convince him to let her go.
The chase goes on through the entire woods. Phyllis avoids Sadie and Weasel multiple times. She then comes to a clearing where out of no where Krug steps in her way. The others come soon after. Finally Weasel stabs her in the back, and they turn her around and continue to stab her multiple times until she's dead.
Mari, after some serious negotiations with Junior, finally convinces him to go with her towards her house. But the opportunity is short lived when they run into Krug, Sadie, and Weasel, who are just fresh off of their killing of Phyllis. Krug has had enough of their attempts to escape so he pins Mari on the ground and starts to cut her chest with a knife. He then proceeds to have sex with her, against her will. When he's done, he stands and and the whole group has some sort of epiphany. They look at themselves in shockand are almost disgusted with what they have done. Mari slowly makes her way to the water for one last chance to get to her house. Krug pulls out a pistol and shoots Mari in the middle of the lake, putting her out of her misery. The group washes up and makes their way to the house.
Mari's mother introduces the group to her husband. They have all changed their names to avoid being caught. They say that there car is broken down and the parents decide that they can stay at their house, in Mari's bedroom. This is when they find out that they just killed the daughter of the people whose house they are staying in. Soon the other looks in one of the fugitives briefcases and finds bloody clothes. The parents then make their way out of the house and they find Mari still barely alive laying in the grass beside the lake. This is when they know that the people in their house are the fugitives.
Mari's father soon starts to set up traps around the house. There is shaving cream on the floor, trip wire and electric wires underneath a wet floor rug. The fundamentals in a "How To Stop A Killer" starter pack. While he does this, Mari's mother takes Weasel out back and starts to perform oral intercourse. He enjoys it for a short time, until the mother bites down as hard as she can, ultimately killing him.
Krug then wakes up from his slumber and falls through each one of the traps that was set. Soon he and the father get in a fist fight and start fighting throughout the house. The mother is outside and is attacked by Sadie. Inside the house Junior pulls out a gun and points it at Krug, telling him he will shoot. Krug then convinces Junior that he is going to "blow his brains out". After commanding this three or four times Junior does it off screen.The father runs downstairs and gets a chainsaw. Now he has the advantage over Krug. The fight goes on until finally the father starts to attack Krug with the saw. The cops from earlier walk in and witness the whole thing. Blood splatters on the face and all. While this happens, the mother grabs a knife from Sadie and cuts her throat, and she falls dead into their pool. She makes her way back into the house to be with her husband. The carnage is over. The camera fades to black.
Pros:
- The main thing that I loved about this movie was how real Wes Craven made the movie seem. He took regular, everyday people and turned them into innocent victims and violent killers. It wasn't like a slasher film where the killer can't be stopped. These killers were human and had real emotions that were shown throughout the whole movie.
- The acting was great. They all were very believable and brought a lot of emotion to their respective roles.
- The music was amazing. It went from being very happy, to very creepy in a matter of seconds.
- The only real con I had about this movie was some of the unnecessary shots of the cops trying to get back to the house. I didn't talk about them because they were kind of irrelevant, but there were shots of them trying to get to the house that were just unneeded. Them flagging downs cars to give them rides. It really slowed down the tempo of the film.
Now on a scale from A-F, I give "The Last House On the Left" (1972) an... A!!
This movie is one of the pioneer films that paved the way for horror films in the 70's and years afterwards. This was Wes Cravens first film, which eventually lead to other horror classics he directed such as The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. The human aspect that the movie had made you feel like this could happen to anybody. A real masterpiece in the horror genre.
Thanks for reading everyone and come back anytime for everything that is horror!
Photo References:
- https://carlyheartsmovies.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/enhanced-buzz-20106-1371150870-32.jpg
- http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/images/3684b.jpg
- http://lonewolfchild88.deviantart.com/
- http://lifebetweenframes.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-only-movie-in-memory-of-david-hess.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_House_on_the_Left_%281972_film%29
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi_ytK4rInMAhXJez4KHYt8Dq0QjB0IBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbesthorrordecades.com%2Fthe-last-house-on-the-left-movie-review-1972&bvm=bv.119028448,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNEWJqgbBt1hcGXqFZ4VaWhiYcqceQ&ust=1460559006941420&cad=rjt
