Review of The Last House on the Left (1972) by Timothy S — 24 Jul 2014

No matter how despicable today's horror movies can be, they have nothing on the film's of the 1970's. Horror movies during that era broke new ground and got away with things that would never make it to theaters today, and "The Last House on the Left" was the granddaddy of them all, a mind-numbing and shocking picture that feels as real as movies get.

The actors are not professionals and the feel very natural on the screen, and the story is simple and regrettably plausible for any era. First-time writer and director Wes Craven casts quite a spell with this raw and emotionally draining film, and what makes it all the more horrifying is that Craven actually introduces us to the killers.

Even if their motivations are driven simply by the desire to be evil, they are not nameless, faceless psychopaths. David Hess is quite powerful as Krug, and his troupe of disturbed followers are equal to him. Unfortunately, there are several key problems that prevent the film from being even better, most notably the music and the film score that are jarring and really take you out of the moment. Hess did the score and write some music for the film, but the way Craven uses it is wildly inconsistent and mostly inappropriate. There is also some terribly embarrassing comedy in the form of two bumbling policemen who simply have no business being in this.

Things really start to break down in the final act where several key issues are glaringly mishandled, such as the parents finding their daughter and their decision to exact revenge. There's not so much as a discussion about it before-hand. Taking the time to booby-trap the house first also seems a little out of character for a person in this situation. "The Last House on the Left" is a powerful film that suffers from tone shifts that disrupt its power. There are, however, a number of terrifying moments here.