Review of The Last House on the Left (1972) by Michael C — 10 Jun 2009

I really applaud this film as a horror flick. Not because of the acting; some of the performances are alright, though there are some laughably bad acting moments as well. And not from the plot, which was lifted from the Ingmar Bergman classic "The Virgin Spring" (which I have yet to see but should be arriving through my Netflix within 24 hours).

The reason I love this film is for one simple reason; I found it creepy, unnerving, and ultimately, quite scary at times. And most film enthusiasts do not get frightened by horror films, not because of any desensitivity, but we have either a) seen the same scenes played out enough we know how the makeup, special effects, and all the other elements work, and often it is so elaborate we know as gruesome as it is, the violence doesn't feel grounded in reality.

Likely one of the things that actually helps the film in this instance is the low-fidelity way it was shot, giving it the feeling that this is some uncovered snuff film no one was meant to see. Adding to the horrors is the cheesy, "groovy" hippie music and dialogue that accompanies much of the film, and to hear it abruptly stopped when horrific things are happening on the screen.

....let's just say it brings the joys of "peace and love" to an immediate halt and makes the dark reality thrust its way on the screen. I haven't seen the remake, but I am certain it is probably not as potent as this film, as the censors would not be able to handle it, and even though I like the film, it is almost a bit much for me to be able to handle.