Just perfect...

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Thriller ?! For movie to be a thriller it must have plot, suspense, tension, mystery, something... This movie is linear, predictable, vulgar simple... but Craven was able to do something I never seen before - he made explicit and credible scenes of rape, torture and brutal violence boring, without any tension and without leaving any impression on viewer. Horror ?! The only scary thing in this movie is fact that it is scary stupid. Disgusting - yes, but there's no trace of horror or thriller. Acting and directing irresistibly reminds of low-budget porn. And scenes of nature followed by pleasant, even merrily music definitely don't contribute to tension, but departing this movie from genres it should represent even more.I didn't rate it 1/10 only because it was inspired by Bergman and because I did succeed to watch it till the end without my brain leaking through my ears.

Wes Craven's first film is without a doubt one of the most brutal, intense and shocking movies you'll ever see. Before our eyes a catalogue of atrocities are carried out through the grainy eye of the unblinking camera. To make matters worse, Craven makes us get to know and care about the characters before the violence begins, which of course makes the eventual bloodshed all the more worse. Indeed this film made me queasy while watching, and it's not an easy film to sit through. It might be a good film, yes, but its definitely not enjoyable. Would you want to watch it again? I don't think so.The film's low budget merely adds to the overall gritty feel of it. The only thing out of place is the inappropriate cheerful music which keeps popping up all of the time, we could have done without this. All characters are three-dimensional and understandable, even the psychopaths. Yes, they're psychopaths, but these people could be real, such things really do happen in real life. David Hess went on to carve himself a niche in these type of roles, as to portray a cold-blooded sadist was something he did with frightening realism. Cassel and Grantham are likable and heart-breaking as the subjects of the violent attacks, scenes hard to watch. Everybody in this film puts their heart into it.Craven even experiments with manipulation of the viewer, in the final scenes getting us to cheer on a chainsaw murderer. The film questions violence and the primitive way in which it is a part of human nature. I wouldn't really recommend this film, see it if you have to. One viewing is way more than enough though.

Many years before they would both begin slasher franchises that would compete with each other, debuting filmmaker Wes Craven and producer Sean S. Cunningham collaborated on this ugly but compelling bit of cinema. The filmmaking is undeniably crude, but the subject matter is effectively upsetting. "The Last House on the Left" offers up the kind of experience that one doesn't easily shake, and may engender very personal love-it-or-loathe-it reactions. The performances aren't slick and polished, but they're still right on the money. One feels for the victims and feels the need for a shower just watching our Manson Family-type antagonists.Two teenage girls, Mari (Sandra Peabody), and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham), are on their way to a rock concert when they make the impulsive - and fatal - decision to try to score some grass. This brings them into contact with prison escapee Krug Stillo (David Hess) and his grimy associates, Fred 'Weasel' Podowski (Fred J. Lincoln), Sadie (Jeramie Rain), and Krugs' illegitimate, junkie son Junior Stillo (Marc Sheffler). This gang of lowlifes puts the girls through a nightmare of torture and degradation, but their comeuppance comes from an appropriate source due to an incredible coincidence.An acknowledged reworking of Ingmar Bergmans' "The Virgin Spring", this features some very potent violence and gore. For our victims, it plays like a bad dream that seems to have no end. To provide us with some respite from the horror, Craven creates a film that is unfortunately mixed tonally. The comedy relief from incompetent cops Marshall Anker and Martin Kove is simply too silly. Also, Hess's score is a little too upbeat for a chase scene that should be more harrowing.Peabody and Grantham are appealing, even if their characters don't act too sensibly. It's also not hard to feel bad for Junior, who is just pathetic. Richard Towers and Cynthia Carr are okay as Maris' parents, but the show entirely belongs to the villains. Hess in particular proves to have a real presence, and a real knack for playing the most degenerate character imaginable.There's one very memorable gag involving Carr and Lincoln, and a delicious final fight between sadist and avenger.Future director Steve Miner was an assistant editor, production assistant, and bit player (as one of the hippies taunting the cops).Seven out of 10.

Jesus, this may have been Horror in the 1970's... but we were laughing most of the way through it.Completely two dimensional characters, pathetic actors that were never seen again, and the storyline was full of plot holes and completely implausible.For some reason, while all sorts of mayhem is going on, the police characters are written as comedic? It was also meant to be a horror movie, where in effect, its actually a crime/thriller.Production value wise, it looks like it was made using a $120 voucher from Kennards Hire.Not recommended.