Directed by Wes Craven. Starring: David Hess, Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, March Sheffler, Martin Kove, Cynthia Carr, Gaylord St. James.
Synopsis: Early seventies cult classic featuring the story of two young girls who run into and are kidnapped by four wanted criminals. The girls endure a day of hellish torture and humiliation before the kidnappers leave and befriend the parents of one of the girls. The previously middle class parents enact their own revenge after they learn the true identies of the four and what they've done to their child.
I first saw this on pay TV (as we called it then) back in the early eighties as a teen ager and thought it was the most sexually charged, awesome thing I'd ever seen, which it was to that point. I recently picked up a copy on DVD and just had to see it, to determine if the passage of time and increasing sophistication of movies lessened its impact on me in any way. I expected to be a little disappointed, and also figured I would look at it now as pure camp.
I was wrong. Wes Craven, who directed and wrote this, showed his brilliance for the macabre even then. The story is the (sub)urban nightmare of otherwise good young girls being taken and brutalized by a group of urban lunatics. The girls (played by Sandra Cassel and Lucy Grantham) are fresh faced, pretty, and innocent to the point of falling into this night mare soley because they were in search of a little marijuana. (Hardly a major transgression today, certainly not in 1972) They run into a disheveled young man (Marc Sheffler) who obviously knows a thing or two about weed. He lures them back to his room with the promise of primo grass and they are immediately snared by his three on-the-run criminal friends (David Hess, Fred J. Liincoln, Jeramie Rain)
What follow is psychological, physical, and sexual torture, largely inflicted by Krug (David Hess) and girl loving Sadie (Jeramine Rain).Hess' Krug is the epitome of the brooding, sullen, maniac with the ever present threat of simmering violence just beneath the surface. Rain's Sadie is arguably the most memorable character in the film, a stogie puffing looker who can more than hold her own in a physical confrontation and might just be as evil as Hess and Weasel (Fred J. Lincoln), if not quite as crazy.
Last House is not scary, as one might think, but it is shocking and its easy to see why it was so controversial at the time. The violence is not gratuitous and it is easy in some cases to emphathize with the perpetrators in the end when the parents exact their revenge.
There are seens you simply won't forget, the infamous "piss your pants" forced urination scene, the forcing of the girls to make out as a spectacle, and the genital mutilation revenge by the vitim's mother (Cynthia Carr) on Weasel.
The acting is good, especially considering that only one of the main characters (David Hess) continued acting as a primary career, in fact, I could not find any other acting credits for any of the four main female characters. The story is outrageous and, yes, a little unrealistic, but the acting out of the unspoken fear that many of us feel is well set forth and timeless. So, the long sideburns and huge, gas guzzling cars will give you a smile, but the story itself and the movie won't seem dated.The special effects are well done when you consider the time period and limited budget. If you are old enough to remember the 70's or know about clutural history from that time, the clear allegories to Vietnam, and the gradual loss of feeling safe that the country felt during those years is very obvious.
The most recognizable face in the cast is minor character for comic relief Deputy, played by Martin Kove (Karate Kid, Cagney & Lacey). Kove bumbles through his scenes and you will be thinking that no cops could be this dumb, which is the point and also allegorical to the general anti-law enforcement aura of the early 70's.
The DVD contains some excellent special features, including the standrard but interesting "Making Of" featurette, but also some interesting deleted scenes and never seen footage. Also, there are extened commentaries/interviews with several of the main characters (Lucy Grantham, Marc Sheffler, Fred J. Lincoln, David Hess) and Wes Craven himself. The special features are worth the price alone.
A cult classic that is a must for any Craven fan as well as those who like revenge flicks and fans of small budget, independent stories that are character and story driven.
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