The Last House on the Left

MOVIE #1,215 • 🍿🍿🍿 • 10.31.23 50 MOVIES IN 32 DAYS! Wow, I was led to believe this was a classic albeit controversial one, but this film is borderline bad (and through the lens of time: hardly controversial). It's disjointed at best and deeply flawed on many levels at worst. It's Halloween Day and for the end of Spooky Month, I thought, what better that a double feature from one of the master auteurs of the genre: the first two films by Wes Craven. On a personal note, I'd like to give myself a little pat on the back for basically getting all of these out on time. I got deeply backtracked in August while being away for nearly a month and I thought there was no chance I'd get to watch everything that I had planned.

But I did it. I watched the movies. I don't like the word "hero" but... I digress. Let's get on with why The Last House on the Left is such a mess.

On a base level, this movie is a tad boring and shot/edited awkwardly (the fist fight at the end is god awful). I mentioned it earlier but it's simply not very salacious in the year 2023 (note: an onscreen rape is always difficult to watch — I'm not minimizing that — but there have been many worse put on celluloid in the interim). I like the idea of revenge but never for one second did this couple seem like they would spontaneously pull this shit, let alone go full Home Alone. And I'm sorry but the husband's shoddy booby traps wouldn't work for one second lol…


But the worst part of this BY FAR are the tonal shifts to comedy, mostly involving a couple of idiotic, bumbling cops. And the music — in general, but especially here — is simply baffling…


I don't mind the police being portrayed as buffoons but I'm struggling to see how this works at all in a movie like this. By the time we get to the freeze frame which cuts into more goofy music over the end credits, well, that says everything you need to know about this one. Didn't understand the hype one bit.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,214 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,216 ⫸

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The Last House on the Left is a 1972 American exploitation horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. It stars Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, and Marc Sheffler. The plot follows Mari Collingwood (Peabody) and Phyllis (Grantham), two teenage girls who are going to a rock concert for Mari's birthday. While searching for marijuana in the city, they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychopathic convicts. It was released on August 30, 1972.