The Last House on the Left (1972) DVD Review
The Last House on the Left (1972) DVD Review
Roll out the welcome mat
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I feel like I've completed my 12th Step: After a lifetime of loving horror movies and making a living at parleying that love into a career over the past several years, I have finally seen one of the most sobering scary movies of all, 1972's The Last House on the Left.
There are a few reasons I hadn't seen it before: I've never caught it on TV while channel-surfing, and I never actively sought it out because I thought I wouldn't like it. Brutal, naturalistic, documentary-style horror isn't my favorite, and I've been disappointed by a few acclaimed genre classics (yeah… I don't like Mondo Cane, Night of the Living Dead or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre very much).
But I saw the remake of this movie a few weeks ago [read the review here], and my curiosity was piqued… fortunately, MGM Home Entertainment knows all about timing and the value of a dollar. Yet another "collector's edition" hit the shelves a few days ago, and I got a copy. I slipped the disc into my player, thinking of everything bad I'd heard about The Last House on the Left (clunky grind-house approach, failed comedic scenes, and ludicrous music). While those things are indeed creaky, the story and acting is so powerful that this movie still succeeds in spite of its limitations.
The exploitation aspect is more sad and emotional than disgusting; the bumbling law-enforcement officers didn't bother me; and the music, while jarring and horrifically dated, does have its moments (still, on the latter… I wouldn't mind a little revisionist filmmaking. It'd be interesting to view a special DVD bonus feature using an alternate, less intrusive score).
The story, as I am sure everyone knows (if not, spoilers follow), is about the clash of two families: One Manson-style, the other classic nuclear. Through intercutting in the beginning (and some rather heavy-handed hints given via radio "voiceover"), we meet each of them separately and then wait for them to converge and clash.
Mari (Sandra Cassel) is your typical 17-year-old high school student… she's sweet, but a little rebellious and kinda sexy. Her parents, John and Estelle (Richard Towers, Cynthia Carr), baby her and let her do what she wants… even when Mari asks if pretty-please, can she go to the Bloodlust concert with the town tramp Phyllis (Lucy Grantham), they say yes. And even give her the car for the night, plus pocket money… which is to become pot money. The girls run into the wrong dealer, a boy about their age named Junior (Marc Sheffler). Junior, it turns out, is on the lam with his extended family: cold-as-ice killers Krug (David Hess, who also did the music), Sadie (Jeramie Rain), and Fred the Weasel (Fred Lincoln). When the slightly shady young ladies meet the hardened criminals, it's no contest and the girls both lose their lives.
That would be it, in most horror movies. But in '72 it was turbulent times and writer/director Wes Craven and producer Sean Cunningham had some parallels to draw: War is hell, and revenge is sweet… until it loses its flavor. As in the remake, Mari's parents turn into McGuyer-like killers, but in the original it's so much more justified. No more likely or believable mind you, but I bought into it much easier because of three things the remake doesn't have: the grainy, shaky cinema verité feel; Mari's death; and the impending arrival of the police.
The naturalistic acting and approach draws you into the characters, even though there's not much depth to them (and we don't need it — the whole brother's death back-story and Mari's competitive swimming is totally extraneous in the new movie). I think the parents need to know that their daughter is dead in order to become so vengeful, and I also felt as silly as the local sheriffs were made out to be, those characters are needed to add suspense to the situation and to be there to bear witness to John and Estelle's loss of control. As a result, the original is deservedly a landmark and it has more blunt-force trauma than today's retelling/reselling.
The acting is undoubtedly uneven. Craven and crew got most of their cast from porn, or no previous experience at all. A real standout, in a good way, is Rain as sadistic Sadie. She's not only extremely beautiful, but also quite talented — it makes one feel a loss to know she never pursued acting (she married an actor — Richard Dreyfus — and had a family instead) and only did three films in total. She gives the most layered performance, followed closely in nuance by Grantham, who never did a movie before or since. Hess is rightfully lauded as the evil Krug, and everyone else teeters somewhere between terrible and terrific.
When it comes to the violence, it is less extreme and more straightforward (save for an out-of-place dream sequence) here than in the remake. Garbage disposals and microwave ovens need not apply. Even though the directing hand is less-assured and the look and editing far less-slick, the original definitely has a lot more impact. In spite of itself, it works. It's ugly, cheap and sleazy, but it has a voice.
It's quite interesting to see all the extras on the DVD (which, be warned, is mostly rehashes from other releases). Especially as a newcomer to the movie. I already knew about all the hype which surrounded the film, but I had no context for it. Now I do, and I have to say it's quite something to take in the recollections of Craven, Cunningham, Hess, Sheffler, Lincoln, and Rain. The latter two continue to be somewhat embarrassed by the movie, while the other have a more philosophical approach to what the movie was as opposed to what it has become.
So The Last House on the Left Collector's Edition is a mishmash of already-seen extras, but there are some all-new bonus features including commentary by Hess, Sheffler and Lincoln. Plus, 80 minutes of featurettes including fresh interviews with Wes Craven, a deleted scene entitled Mari dying at the lake (this sequence makes a lot more sense here than it does in the edited-down version seen in the movie), never-before-seen outtakes and Craven's annotated shooting scripts, among others. Previously available material includes Hess's exploration of his soundtrack, and some soundless outtakes which show more carnage and nudity.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson