The Last House on the Left (1972) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 18

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You should pick a different house to trick or treat at this year.

The Last House on the Left is an exploitation film that might be the first slasher film. It doesn’t quite have the villainy of Leatherface or Jason, but it was on the cutting edge of a new trend in realistic depictions of violence on screen.

Before Viewing

Aside from a hoaky narration, the trailer sets up the conflict. Two girls from the country travel into the city and meet with four killers who are all trying to have a “good time.” The narrator keeps repeating that the different characters all lived at the “Last House on the Left.” And then a couple of parents get involved. The dad has a chainsaw! Look out! What did happen at The Last House on the Left?

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

A brief title card indicates that the following is based on true incidents and the names changed to protect the survivors. Mari Collingwood (Sandra Peabody) is going out to see a band, called Bloodlust, with a friend, Phyllis Stone (Lucy Grantham), for her 17 birthday. After an awkward conversation with her father John (Richard Towers), a physician, about her not wearing a bra and warning her to be safe in the city, mother Estelle (Cynthia Carr) gives her a peace-symbol necklace. The girls drive from the wooded area in Connecticut where they live, to New York City for the concert. The radio mentions the escape of two convicted “murderers, dope pushers and rapists” with their two accomplices.

In the city, these escaped criminals take refuge in an old apartment. They are priest and nun killer Krug Stillo (David Hess), his illegitimate son Junior (Marc Sheffler)–who Krug has hooked on heroin, child-molestor and peeping-tom Fred “Weasel” Podowski (Fred Lincoln), along with a “young, animal-like woman” Sadie (Jeramie Rain), who is attached to both felons. Phyllis wants to score some grass and approaches Junior on the front stoop to see if he’s selling. He takes the girls into his room, where Krug and the others assault the girls.

Back at home, John and Estelle decorate for Mari’s birthday. John tries to get frisky with his wife as she bakes and frosts a cake. In the city, Weasel, Sadie and Krug violently rape Phyllis as Mari is forced to watch. They hold the girls overnight and place them in the trunk of their car the next morning. They drive out of the city but the car breaks down in a wooded area. When the girls get out of the car, Mari realizes they are on the road outside her house. Unfortunately the psychopaths lead them the other way, deeper into the woods.

The Sheriff (Marshall Anker) and his Deputy (Martin Kove) take a statement from the Collingwood’s about their daughter who never returned home the previous night. As they leave they notice the stopped car, but have other urgent matters to attend to. After forcing the girls to “make it” with each other, Phyllis manages to escape when Krug returns to the car. Weasel and Sadie chase her. Phyllis gets within sight of the highway but is stopped by Krug, and then stabbed by Weasel, before being gutted by Sadie. Later the two police officers realize it was the killer’s car they saw outside the house after hearing an APB on the radio. They head back toward the Collingwood’s but run out of gas and are forced to walk.

Mari tries to make friends with Junior who stayed behind to guard her. She gives him the peace necklace and begins calling him Willow. Krug, now very upset, returns and carves his name on Mari’s chest before shooting her three times at the edge of the lake. The killers wash themselves off and discover the Collingwood’s house. Explaining their car broke down Estelle invites them in and John asks them to stay for dinner. They pretend to be traveling salespeople and spend the night. After dinner, the quartet finds a picture of Mari and realizes this is her house. Estelle happens to overhear them talking about her murder and tells John.

That night John sets up several traps. Estelle seduces Weasel by pretending to be interested in him. They go outside where she has oral sex with him, just before biting off his penis. John bursts into the room where Krug and Sadie are sleeping, with a shotgun, winging the killer. Junior, having symptoms of withdrawal, takes a shot at Krug with a pistol, but Krug berates the junkie to kill himself, which he does. John grabs a chainsaw and comes after Krug who flees into an electrocution trap. Sadie runs outside where Estelle tackles her. The two women wrestle and Sadie falls into the pool. As she gets out, Estelle takes the switchblade dropped by Weasel and slits the woman’s throat. John comes for Krug with the chainsaw just as the Sheriff enters screaming, “For God’s sake, don’t!” Blood spatters everywhere as Estelle comforts John. The deputy calmly takes the chainsaw from the father’s hand.

“We don’t wanna off someone first night out. I mean, it’d be a shame to get this floor all messed up with blood.” – Krug

The Last House on the Left is an important movie in the history of horror cinema. It was the first film written and directed by Wes Craven, who is considered to be a master of modern horror. He was responsible for launching no less than three successful franchises including The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. It was also produced by Sean S. Cunningham who is probably best known as the director of the original Friday the 13th (plus several others in the series), as well as House, and My Boyfriend’s Back. But what makes the film notable to a lot of horror historians is the graphic subject matter. The film predates the release of the movies most commonly cited as the prototypical slasher films which started the trend in the 70s and 80s, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Black Christmas, both from 1974. The Last House on the Left is much more of an exploitation film than either of those movies. However, it was intended to be even more.

The film plays like an ABC Afterschool Special mashed up with a horror film, with a touch of 70s porn on the edges. This last part is very important, as Cunningham had conceived the film to have both hardcore violence and sexual acts depicted. His two previous films were basically soft-core sexploitation films that had much nudity in them. The studio that released the film, Hallmark Releasing (unaffiliated with the greeting card company), offered Cunningham and Craven money to make a horror film. So using the template of his previous films, Cunningham set out to make an apparently very similar film, but with lewd acts surrounding the violence. This explains elements such as the horny behavior of John Collingwood towards his wife, as well as the various other sex acts and rape scenes that go mostly unseen. In some cases the lack of overt sex acts actually makes the violence more horrifying, relying on sound effects only.

The way that violence plays out in the film is unlike anything that has come after it. The Last House on the Left plays the scenes in a cinema-verité style where the camera is a passive observer, almost like a documentary. It does not include the lurid shots from the killer’s POV as Halloween and many others would make popular. It doesn’t even seem to glorify the violence. It just lets it stand as is. It presents Krug and his gang as morally and socially lacking, doing what they want, when they want. He’s a father that hooks his son on heroin, and raped a pair of nuns. He’s about as bad as one can get. Everything surrounding these characters is meant to be reprehensible. Yet, the girls are not without sin either, but in the range of bad behavior and vices, they are basically angelic when compared to the killers. With the amount of violence leveled against the girls, as well as the low-budget nature of the film, the near-documentary style of filmmaking, and the title card indicating that the events of the film are true, it’s no wonder that rumors began circulating that this was a snuff film (a film which depicts an actual killing). It was often whispered about in the same breath with, and probably inspired films like, I Spit On Your Grave, Faces of Death, and Cannibal Holocaust.

As a grindhouse type of exploitation film, The Last House on the Left checks a majority of boxes. It has the sex (opening with a nude shot of Mari in the shower, plus other nudity). It has the violence (plenty of depraved acts against the two girls by Krug, Sadie, and Weasel). And it has a revenge subplot. Rather than having the girls attacked and then getting their revenge, which was a more common occurrence, the film sends Mari’s parents as the angels of retribution. They mete out payback to each killer for their part in the death of their daughter. John gets a chance to go full Kevin McCallister as he puts shaving cream outside the door to their room, and sets up live wires connected to the doorknob and under a wet rug, which electrocutes Krug. He goes even further by taking a chainsaw to him, in front of the sheriff no less. What might happen to this grieving couple? Would it be considered a case of self defense? The sheriff obviously knew about the killers, which is why he and the deputy were intent on returning to the house. So maybe it would be a case of justifiable homicide.

The Last House on the Left is not for the faint of heart. It is intense and unrelenting in its depictions of baser human traits. But it also is a 50 year old film that was low-budget when it came out. Compared to modern films that deal with similar subject matter it appears tame, and in some cases even boring at times. It is historical in the fact that it was Wes Craven’s first directorial film, but there’s very little that he would take from this film and use in his future endeavors. It seems more like a student film where a lot of footage was shot and then cobbled together as best they could. There are several continuity errors, such as John mentioning the need to get their phone fixed. Yet later they are able to call the sheriff, but then when Krug and his crew show up they mention that the phone is still out. The tone of the scenes with the deputy (a pre-Karate Kid Martin Kove) and sheriff is too broad comedically. It appears these scenes were meant to balance the horrific killings and other acts, but they come off like a Laurel and Hardy short intercut with horror film. It doesn’t really work. The Last House on the Left is a film that might need to be seen at least once, to say you’ve seen it. But there’s not much that recommends a second viewing.

Assorted Musings

• The use of the title card, indicating that the events are based on real incidents, is reminiscent of the title card for Fargo. Neither film appears to be based on any actual incidents as seen in the film. But the use of such a card lends credibility with an audience, allowing them to further suspend their disbelief into the weird acts that follow.
• Speaking of Fargo, Fred Lincoln looks like a 1970s Steve Buscemi, if Steve Buscemi was also an adult film star.
• Wes Craven was such a fan of the character Krug, that he named his most famous creation after him: Freddy Kruger.