Last House On The Left When you say the names Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham, people instantly think of two horror icons, Freddy and Jason. Well, those two filmmakers collaborated on evil incarnate way before creating those two villains we have come to love over the years, in the form of a little opus called Last House On The Left. It was Wes Craven's first directing gig, and his first writing as well. The story is based loosely on a 14th century Norwegian folk tale which inspired Jungfrukällan (aka The Virgin Spring) which was directed by Ingmar Bergman. It tells the tale of two sisters, one a virgin and one pregnant, whose father is a religious Töre, and on the day of Our Lady of Virgins, the father asks them to go to a distant church and carry a candle for Our Lady. During their journey through the woods, the virgin leaves her pregnant sister to rest in a small farm and continues alone. The virgin meets three shepherd brothers and offers them some of her food out of the goodness of her heart. The brothers rape and kill her, while her hidden sister watches undetected. That same night, the brothers arrive at the home of the girls, seeking shelter. Eventually, the parents realize they killed their daughter, and their revenge is unspeakable. This is pretty similar to the Wes Craven film. In Last House, a girl and her friend go to a concert in the city, and while there run into a group of convicts who rape and kidnap them, then take them into the woods and torture them and kill them. Then they wash their hands of the crime and go to a nearby house for shelter and the parents realize they killed their daughter and exact a revenge which is grizzly and shocking. This film was shot in a documentary style, as if merely observing the events, capturing the horror. Not many closeups at all. The music is composed and performed by David Hess. The songs are somber and soothing which goes in contrast to the horror which unfolds in the film. The score itself is like a sick cartoon, very slapstick which makes the madness of these killers even more horrifying. This film was very disturbing but very effective in scaring the audience. Certainly, one of Wes' better films. And if you like this film, I would recommend his second film The Hills Have Eyes. Contributed by Royce Freeman. >>Back<< >>Archive Index<<