The Last House on the Left

Rating:
Summary: OMG Was I Fooled!!!
Review: OK, after all the hype about this movie I decided to rent it to see what it was like - believe it or not, I waited for a long time for it to come out on dvd. Well it finally came to NZ. I'd been reading some great reviews about it on Amazon. "This one is the scariest I've ever seen.......you'll love this movie if you've seen this and this movie" and so on..... Well, this is not a gore movie - it's a BORE movie!! And the music.... it doesn't fit in at all. Must have been made with very little money. Wes Craven who has done some great movies - this one looks like a student made it! At the back of the dvd cover they even compare it with Texas Chainsaw Massacre!! I just couldn't believe it. Now, TCM is a scary movie so if you want a real good scare, watch that one instead. Everyone should throw this one in the garbage bin! This is bad acting, bad directing - bad everything. I rented it - thank God!

Rating:
Summary: Rent if you must, but don't buy.
Review: I am a Wes Craven fan, and I love thrillers and horror movies. However, this movie was a big disappointment. I understand that it was a breakthrough for the genre, but it hasn't aged well at all. The characters are laughable, the script is Wes Craven's worst (albeit his first), the music is unbearable, and the cinematography/editing is amateurish at best. There are about 5 minutes of thrills and scares stretched out over 84 minutes. Rent it if you absolutely must see it, but avoid purchasing it at any price over about 5 bucks.

Rating:
Summary: No need to go on and on and on.....
Review: Last House isn't a masterpiece, nor is it junk. If I were basing the review on acting alone, it would be 1 star. Ditto a lot of the camerawork. But what you need to remember is that it was the film that ushered in a whole generation of ultra-violent, and, more importantly, psychologically disturbing films. If you see it as boring or lame, you obviously weren't around when it was first released. That's the mind-set you have to put yourself in before viewing, or just don't bother. For its time, it was VERY violent and EXTREMELY disturbing. Remember, this is even pre- Texas Chainsaw... There were no other films like it at the time -- none. Considering the budget he had, Craven managed to create something that, even today with so much more having been done, still manages to stay with you a while after you've seen it. The extras? NO great shakes, honestly. But the film alone is, like it or not, history.

Rating:
Summary: wasted effort
Review: All these grand reviews, are you kidding?, this is junk!, stupid premise, really stupid dialog, and the characters are paper thin, the cops, there are no cops this stupid anywhere, run out of gas?, none in the trunk?, did they leave the police radio on the checker board? please! I couldn't figure if this was a comedy or, choke, serious?, we really got a lot of laughs from it! It was plain to see it was shoot on a shoestring and his efforts did get better in later films, but, this was awful!

Rating:
Summary: Generally over-rated...a generous 3 stars
Review: 1) Script written by Craven @ 1970-71 on Long Island; film shot in Manhattan (first 15 mins) and Westport/Weston, CT (in daylight) (2) Manson murders, summer of 1969....seemingly random, but if I recall correctly, Manson was aspiring musician and was refused recording contracts...those targeted were related w/recording industry (Polanski was renting house of recording exec.). Krug and Co (the killers in LHOTLeft) kill for the pleasure of it. (3) image/house/men on cover art do not appear in film (4) music written by David Hess, aka Krug...music and sound is used rather skillfully (clashing sound recalls Bonnie and Clyde 1969)(5) acting and script at times very poor (6) shot by someone involved in documentaries, and this film has, intentionally, a documentary feel to it. (7) Very early 70s feel to film...effective/disturbing at times; pathetic at others. (8)Only other Craven film I've seen is 'Deadly Blessing' (81), which I saw in the theater, was 13, and it scared the hell out of me...should be released on dvd soon.