The Last House on the Left (1972)

Two teenage girls head to a rock concert for one's birthday. While trying to score marijuana in the city, they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychotic convicts.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Wes Craven

Stars:

Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sandra Peabody	...	Mari Collingwood (as Sandra Cassell)
Lucy Grantham	...	Phyllis Stone
David Hess	...	Krug Stillo (as David A. Hess)
Fred J. Lincoln	...	Fred 'Weasel' Podowski (as Fred Lincoln)
Jeramie Rain	...	Sadie
Marc Sheffler	...	Junior Stillo
Richard Towers	...	Dr. John Collingwood (as Gaylord St. James)
Cynthia Carr	...	Estelle Collingwood
Ada Washington	...	Ada
Marshall Anker	...	Sheriff
Martin Kove	...	Deputy
Ray Edwards	...	Postman

Storyline

On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Mari Collingwood tells her parents that she is going to the concert of underground band Bloodlust in New York with her friend Phyllis Stone. She borrows the family's car and heads with her friend to a dangerous neighborhood in the city. Meanwhile, the sadistic and cruel escapees Krug Stillo and Fred 'Weasel' Podowski are hidden in a hideout with their partners Sadie (Jeramie Rain) and Krug's addicted son Junior Stillo (Marc Sheffler) after killing two guards and one shepherd in their runaway. The two girls seek marijuana near the theater and meet Junior that offers some Colombian grass to them. They go to his apartment and are subdued by the criminals that rape Phyllis. On the next morning, they hide the girls in the trunk of their convertible and head to Canada. However, they have a problem with the car's rod and they stop on the road close to Mari's house. When Phyllis tries to escape, the gang stabs her to death and shots Mari after ...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | female pubic hair | female full frontal nudity | female frontal nudity | maniac | 

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Taglines:

It rests on 13 acres of earth over the very center of hell...!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bad company

Filming Locations:

121st Street and 2nd Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,100,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,000,000, 31 December 1972

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sean S. Cunningham Films,The Night Co.,Lobster Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min 64 min (heavily cut) 91 min (original cut) 82 min (R-rated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Sean S. Cunningham's station wagon is used when Lucy Grantham and Sandra Peabody are driving in the beginning.

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Goofs

The bulletin on the police radio identifies the escape vehicle as a "dark green 1958 Cadillac convertible", when in fact it is a 1962 model.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Postman: [to dog] Hello, Cassie! Hiya, girl! Hello, there! Now, let's see.
[looks through mail]
Postman: Ah, it looks like Mari's getting cards from half the civilized world. Mari Collingwood. Mari Collingwood. Mari Collingwood. You'd think she's the only kid to reach the age of 17. Of course she is probably the prettiest piece I've ever seen.

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Crazy Credits

In the 1980s, the American video versions contained additional text after the film had ended, reading: "Coming soon to a theatre near you. From the producers of Last House On The Left, and the director of Friday the 13th Part V, ... The Last House On The Left, Part II. You won't believe your eyes!" (No sequel ever materialized)

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Alternate Versions

The film has had a controversial history with the BBFC. It was first submitted for cinema in 1974 and refused a certificate, and eventually became one of the most notorious of the video nasties during the pre-cert video days, ending up as one of the official 39 titles. When the BBFC's new and more relaxed guidelines came into force in 2000 the film was again submitted for a cinema certificate. However a recent prosecution against the film forced the censors into requiring around 90 secs of cuts (mostly to the stripping, rape and stabbing scenes) which the distributor declined to do, forcing the BBFC to reject the film. It was again submitted in 2001 for a video/DVD certificate though the BBFC asked for a lesser 16 secs of cuts. The distributor again refused and the BBFC again rejected the film (for a 3rd time) which led to a legal challenge from Blue Underground. After viewing the film the independent Video Appeals Committee not only sided with the BBFC but requested the cuts total be expanded to 31 secs, the edits being made to the stabbing scene, Mari's chest being carved with a knife and a pan shot of Phyllis being forced to urinate in her jeans. The film was once again submitted for DVD in 2008 and finally passed fully uncut.

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Connections

Referenced in Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

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Soundtracks

Now You're All Alone
Written and Performed by David Hess

User Reviews

A landmark horror film which is still as powerful and disturbing as ever.

'The Last House On The Left' is easily Wes Craven's most important movie. It was one of the most notorious movies of the early 70s but seems to be half forgotten now, despite being a groundbreaking horror film that opened up territory that had previously not been seen on screen. Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead' deserves some acknowledgement as being the most realistic horror movie up until that point (the late 60s), but even that had a supernatural element, something 'Last House On The Left' eschews. Craven took the contemporary setting and natural performances of NOTLD and added some graphic violence and a confrontational rape sequence, most likely inspired by Peckinpah's 'Straw Dogs' released the previous year, and made it into something quite unlike anything seen before. This made it the father of all subsequent serial killer dramas. 'Last House...' is still a very nasty and disturbing movie thirty years after it was originally released. Craven was a beginning as a film maker and the budget was minimal, so the movie is rough and crudely made at times, but the best sequences have an almost documentary feel which gives it an appearance of realism that makes it sometimes really difficult to watch. The acting in the movie is variable. Mari's parents and the comic relief cops (who include Martin Kove later to appear in 'Death Race 2000' and countless action movies!) are pretty awful, but the two girls (Sandra Cassel and Lucy Grantham) are both very natural and believable, and Craven REALLY lucked out with Krug and his gang who are all very, very good. Krug is played by David Hess, who also composed and sang the songs on the soundtrack, something which makes him pretty unique! Hess wrote Elvis' 'All Shook Up' and 'I Got Stung' and yet his performance as Krug is totally convincing. Krug is still one of the creepiest and most repellent killers ever seen on screen. Comedian Marc Sheffler gives an interesting performance as Krug's junkie son, Fred J. Lincoln (now a porno director I believe!) is excellent as the aptly named Weasel, and Jeramie Rain is surprisingly good as Sadie, who brings to mind some of Manson's girls. These four actors are outstanding and really help make the movie into an unforgettable experience. Their scenes in the woods with the girls are still as powerful and disturbing as ever. 'Last House On The Left' is hardly the kind of movie you "enjoy" but I think it's a very important movie, and still the best thing Wes Craven has been involved with. It's really quite difficult to believe that Craven made something so uncompromising and nasty as this! I highly recommend 'The Last House On The Left' to anybody interested in the development of horror, screen violence, or disturbing movies of any kind. But be warned, it is NOT easy viewing and may be difficult for many people to take. I think it is worth it as it's still an extraordinary piece of work!