The Last House on the Left (1972) Directed by: Wes Craven. Stars: Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham and David Hess. Verdict: SUCKS. So we all probably watched our fair share of horror movies during the month of October. Staples like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street have cemented their place in our hearts but some never made the cut. The Last House on the Left was filmed in 1971 with Wes Craven at the helm. This was the golden era of horror and Wes Craven was a very talented writer/director, so what went wrong? This movie is awful and here’s why:
First of all, it isn’t scary. That’s kind of a big deal for a horror film. There are no sudden surprises that make you jump and there is no discomforting overtone that leaves you with an impending sense of doom. There is a creepy scene or two, but it’s left at that. Yeah, rape makes you uncomfortable, so do serious felonies like kidnapping and home invasion. The trouble is the film doesn’t leave you with fear. I like to compare this film to the much more recent film Strangers. In several ways, these films are similar, some baddies terrorize a family and ultimately murder some people. Where the two films differ is Strangers doesn’t make the antagonists into people. They are left nameless and faceless. They don’t have a back story, they’re just there being evil. It is the oversupply of detail that ultimately detracts from The Last House on the Left. It makes it to real, like watching a reenactment of a crime on the evening news, rather than leaving you terrified it leaves you creeped out a little that these people are out there. For these reasons, this film is more of a thriller than a horror film.
The two other reasons that this film is disappointing have to do with the production. The acting is mediocre at best and the cinematography and mise en scene only serve to detract from the film. The dialogue feels forced and is entirely unconvincing. If these actors could truly convey their terror and their emotional baggage, then maybe the film would reach the viewer a little bit better. I can’t complain about the way the lines are written, it’s just the delivery that kills it. As far as cinematography, it’s disappointing. I’ve come to expect better out of Wes Craven. The camera doesn’t add depth to the film as it should. They could have used some different angles and lighting to change the way the scenes came alive on the screen but as they have done with several other key elements, they overlooked this possibility.
The one thing I enjoyed was the sound editing and music choices. Outside of those two things, I was left disappointed and entirely unafraid of anything other than having to sit through this film again.