Review of The Last House on the Left (1972) by Steve W — 02 Feb 2010

When you see a cult, or notorious film it is sometimes hard not to be let down. Iâ??d recently seen the remake of this classic portrayal of sadism and felt it lacked any bite despite the extreme nature of its set up.

Wes Cravenâ??s original should, by rights top it by default. Itâ??s the original, it got away with more, and itâ??s more graphic etc. well, no itâ??s not really. Gore-wise the film is nowhere near as gruesome as the recent remake, and the version I saw (the UK version) is heavily cut compared to the remake.

But this isnâ??t a dick measuring competition, itâ??s about quality and where as the hapless remake was heading down mediocrity row, the original contains some moments of sheer brilliance. Craven is clearly a talented technician and even as early as this in his career he knew how to control a scene but the films ultimately amateurish nature lets itself down.

Editing flourishes such as the inter-cutting between the parents preparing for their daughters 17th Birthday Party and the violent rape of their daughter is expertly handled, if hard to stomach. Despite these moments of brilliance the film is far from perfect; Cravenâ??s bumbling slapstick police officers crop up every once in a while with horrendous musical scoring.

These interludes ruin the tension and anger the rest of the film creates and itâ??s a real shame these dreadful scenes (a scene with a woman and her truck full of chickens in particular) keep cropping up.

Ultimately, as I first mentioned, this was a let down. It wasnâ??t the stomach churning sadist masterpiece itâ??s made up to be, despite some hard-hitting moments. But it is definitely a product of its time, with its clear rage running through the central protagonists that was regularly expelled against the people of Vietnam.

Sickening but flawed.