Last House on the Left



Now, here is a rarity among horror classics: it’s both a fairly recent film, and it’s a low-budget movie. Yet, it still manages to deliver. Anyone who knows movies will recognize the story as being lifted from the Ingmar Bergman film, “The Virgin Spring”. In that movie, a young girl is raped and murdered by two men. Later, the men and their little brother stop by the girl’s home, and offer the lady of the house a blood-soaked dress. They claim it belonged to their sister, but the lady recognizes it as belonging to her daughter! So, the father takes revenge. In a shocking move, he even kills the small brother.

In this film, it’s the same story, only updated to modern times by writer-director Wes Craven. A young girl, Mari Collingwood (Sandra Cassell) goes off to a concert with her friend Phyllis (Lucy Grantham), leaving her parents in the rooming house that they run. Naturally, she runs into a group of very bad people, and is raped and murdered. Later, the gang comes to the rooming house, and the wife/mother recognizes the necklace that the woman in the group is wearing.

While made on a low budget, the film still manages to deliver on some real thrills and chills. But, be warned, this is not a film everyone will enjoy. Mr. and Mrs. Collingwood take nasty revenge on Krug (David Hess) and his friends Weasel, Junior, and Sadie (played by Fred Lincoln, Marc Sheffler and Jeramie Raine). They’re killed via castration, a gunshot, a slashed throat, and decapitation by chainsaw, respectively. The target audience is clearly teens; so bear that in mind before you decide to give this a viewing.

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