Rating: Summary: The Last House on the Left: Believable? Yes Review: I saw Last House on the Left, after seeing a special on the progression of horror films. When I found out it was Wes Craven's first film, I had to see it. The ora of the film is scary enough, it seems as though you are literally there and watching it unfold. The first minutes are terrifying, all the way to the end. Although I think that there are attempts at making this film less intense by the introduction of comic conversation, it does not work. This is thee scariest horror film I have ever seen, because it is "real" and the murder scenes are very hedonistic. You feel the characters pain, and that makes it so frightening, I would not watch this film alone. It makes you think twice about trusting a "friendly" stranger. If you are bold, go see this film!!!!
Rating: Summary: Hilarious Review: It is a little know fact that this is a remake of the Ingmar Bergman film the Virgin Spring, but this is something Bergman would not have been involved with. It is total trash. The great thing about it is that for a short while the film DOES work, simply because of the premise. You feel bad for the poor parents, even though they are horrible actors and have no right to be in any film. The joke was on us. The film becomes a physical/black comedy towards the end, and it is quite hilarious at that. Some of these reviewers seem to be quite insulted by the fact Wes Craven would pull such a cruel trick on them, what did they ever do to deserve such a cinematic insult? So what is the final word? Get this film if you love campy, ridiculous, boring trash. It will fit nicely next to Caligula and Blood Feast in your DVD collection.
Rating: Summary: The horror film that changed what horror films showed. Review: This has to be one of the most disturbing pictures I have ever viewed in my life. It shows rape, violence, lots of blood, and things that were unimmaginable for its own time. This is not a film for people who are skwimish or easily grossed out. The acting was at first... pathetic.... but as the tension increased, it only got more and more believable. This film is not rated, so I should warn you that it has graphical vilonce, gore, nudity, sexual violence, language, and disturbing images. I would only recommend this film to someone who is ok with seeing this and likes horror flicks or graphic war films. For me, this is one of the top 5 horror films I have seen. It is worth the watch, if you dare.
Rating: Summary: Last House On The Left DVD review! Review: Again with the case of any DVD review, I make it my point to review the DVD content, not the movie. If you are a collector looking for this long-lost classic, it is a great addition. You get the "unrated" version of the film along with director's commentary from Wes Craven himself and a few bonus featurettes. The movie itself is more intense than scary but it's still worth seeing if only for the fact that it was Craven's first film.
Rating: Summary: Meh... It was okay... Review: I love A LOT of Wes Craven's work, but this had to be his greatest failure! The plot itself seems somewhat rather interesting, but the movie just couldn't cut it! The acting was pretty good but the music score was poor, the colors were grainy looking, and the picture quality has got to be the WORST I've ever seen in DVDs!! (not to mention it really wasn't that scary.) We could at least have a better transfer of this, right?! What's even worse about this movie is that at SOME times it tries to be funny and scary at the same time, which is definetally not a good mix depending on the type of film it's made out to be. (Heck, alot of these 70s films don't really make much sense huh?) The only part I'd have to say I liked was at the very end where the parents get revenge on the killers with the booby-traps and stuff. OVERALL: I would NOT recommend this movie if you are looking for an Oscar-winner or whatever unless you are a B-movie collector who likes this stuff. I give it 4/10 for a good idea in story but poor sound and picture quality.
Rating: Summary: It's not as bad as people make it out to be Review: The movie is disturbing. I guess thats what it's meant to be because it is in no way shape or form scary. The special effects aren't that great cause it was made in 71, but I Imagine they were decent for the time. I think the abbrupt ending and bad films cuts add to the messed up feel of this movie and make it better, cause the movie is so strange to begin with. I didn't find the killing or rape shocking, just the idea that the 4 criminals did it for the hell of it is kinda sick. and another thing that makes the movie kinda good, is that the parents don't act bloodthirsty or crazy, and all the victims are dead within a 10 or fifteen minute time span, and the parents are so ametuer about trying to kill the people, they barely are able to kill them because they are scared themselves or just not smart. but anyhow, if you bought this to see phenomonal acting and awesome special effect, you bought it for the wrong reason. It is a classic because this was the first movie to do this type of stuff, but I will say this, it's a heck of a lot better than most prissly teen slasher flicks you see today, and I liked this movie better than scream.
Rating: Summary: Four Stars for the commentary and extras Review: Wes Craven and Sean S. Cunningham (as well as Steve Miner who had a small part in making the film) essentially started their careers with this bit of 70's trash. I'll be honest the film itself, viewed in modern times, without the filmmakers' commentary to explain the films many flaws, is nearly unwatchable. Its cruelly violent. Its disturbing in a bad way. And most of all its just not an interesting story... But... If you do watch the commentary and you do watch the making of featurette, you are in for a major treat. Budding filmmakers like myself will be extatic to hear stories of how two ledgendary directors (Craven of Nightmare on Elm Street fame, and Cunningham of the original Friday the 13th) got their start in the industry. Its just a lot of fun hearing the horror stories behind this terrible movie and how they made it work. They must have done something right because thirty years later people are still watching it for the first time.
Rating: Summary: It's Only a Movie? Review: This is without adoubt one of the scariest movie's of all time. Wes Craven really kicked A** in his directorial debu. The collest movie, so if you havem't seen it-rent it, or bey it! It is a movie that you must own!!
Rating: Summary: One of the true horror greats Review: I just bought this movie today on MGM DVD. I'm so glad I did. Despite both my brother and my mother telling me how awful it was, I figured it couldn't suck too bad considering it's directed/written by Wes Craven and it's produced by Sean S. Cunningham. So, I decided to go ahead and pick it up. I was blown away! After the first time I watched it, I knew that this has GOT to sneak itself into my top 5 horror list. Also, a note to those who don't think this is the uncut version, it MOST DEFINITELY is. Wes Craven himself says it, and if you don't believe him, just watch the Outtakes & Dailies feature which contains the ENTIRE disembowelment scene, which lasts about 2 minutes of just playing around with the intestines. This is definitely not a movie for the family. It has lots of naughty stuff. It's quite graphic in it's depiction of the torment the two young woman went through. Some parts are very rough to watch, however. I think it should be required viewing in high school because it truly does teach compassion. If you don't feel sorry for those girls, you're one cold fish. It has many educational morals (don't do drugs, don't follow strangers to their apartment, don't kill, etc.) It's like the 10 commandments for horror movies. I enjoyed this movie immensely.
Rating: Summary: Forget Texas Chainsaw' - This is the horror of the 70s Review: The film is loosely based on Inger Bergman's 1960 film The Virgin Spring. It was also Wes Craven's first feature film. It is about two girls called Mari & Phyllis who on their way to a rock concert, are kidnapped by four recently escaped criminals. They are then raped, humiliated, tortured, mutilated, disembowelled and shot by their captors. The criminals then spend the night in the last house on the left which is coincidently, owned by one of the girls' parents. The parents slowly come to realise the fate of their missing daughter and the identity of their guests and proceed to exact bloody revenge on them. In Britain the Last House on the Left has been causing controversy since the day it was first submitted to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) in 1972 - it was given an outright ban with the BBFC making clear that cuts would make no difference. The film was not allowed to be screened in Britain, and among others Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The film however did manage to become available on video in the early 80s but this was before the Video Recordings Act in 1984 and it did feature predominantly on the Director of Public Prosecutions top 60 'Video Nasty' list. The film also managed to achieve 113 convictions under the Obscene Publication Act in the UK between 1983 and 1987. Recently the film was submitted again to the BBFC but they demanded that cuts were required to several horrific scenes, including the woman's chest being carved with a knife, the violent stabbing assault on a woman, the removal of the woman's entrails and the humiliation of a woman forced to urinate and the two women being forced to strip naked. The film is definatley not for the faint hearted. The trailer for the film invites the viewer to relish the words "It's only a movie, it's only a movie...". The film has a deep and disturbing portrayal of female humiliation that is brought upon them by their captors. Although the acting is poor and the script bad the grittyness of the film stock and the manner in which it is put to screen add to the overall effect of a dangerous movie. It does not live up to todays standards but then neither does The Exorcist, but then no true film fan would deny that that is a great film. This is a must watch for all Horror fans!
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