The Last House on the Left
Short description
Mari Collingwood and her friend Phyllis Stone leave Mari's rural home for a rock concert in the city on the eve of Mari's seventeenth birthday. On the way they try to buy drugs, and that decision brings them into contact with a group of violent criminals led by the sadistic Krug Stillo. The girls are abducted and brutalized by Krug and his companions, who are themselves on the run. The killers later seek shelter at a house without realizing whose it is, and the people there learn what has been done to the girls.
The film is the first feature directed by Wes Craven, who also wrote the screenplay; his next film as director was The Hills Have Eyes in 1977. Sean S. Cunningham produced. The cast includes Sandra Peabody as Mari, Lucy Grantham as Phyllis, David Hess as Krug, Fred J. Lincoln as Weasel, Jeramie Rain as Sadie and Marc Sheffler as Junior.
Released in the United States in August 1972, the film runs 84 minutes and falls into the crime, horror and thriller genres. It took about 3 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 5.8 out of 10 from roughly 43,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6 out of 10 from around 813 votes. A critics' rating of 6.1 out of 10 comes from 44 reviews, close to what general audiences give it.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to Wes Craven, he himself did not expect such a reaction from the audience. It is claimed that some viewers vomited, others fainted from what they saw, and at least one viewer had a heart attack.
- Initially, a script for hard-core pornography was written, and the entire creative team was prepared for what lay ahead, but shortly after filming began, Wes Craven decided to change the script and remove the particularly explicit pornographic scenes.
- To create the fake blood, blue and red food coloring was mixed with caramel syrup. The resulting substance actually looked like blood, unlike how it is usually shown on screen.
- Martin Kove was initially offered the role of Krug Stillo, but he declined and asked to be given a less significant role (which he ultimately played), and suggested his friend David Hess for the role of Stillo. Hess eventually played the role and also became the film's composer.
- In the United Kingdom, the film was banned until 2002.
- Initially, the film received the highest MPAA rating of X. Wes Craven then shortened the film by 10 minutes and resubmitted it to the commission. The film again received the same rating. The undeterred director cut another 10 minutes, but that didn't help either. Then Craven simply took a print with an R rating from a friend and stamped it on himself. This is how he managed to release the film.
- According to director Wes Craven, a special editing department had to be organized to restore copies of the film that were returned from theaters, because theater owners consistently returned them “cut up.”
- Initially, the wide shot of the pond after the criminals washed away the blood ended with a frame of Marie desperately clinging to a tree branch, but during editing this frame was removed and immediately followed by the next scene, so the audience never saw Marie alive again.
- The film was shot in Westport, Connecticut.
- According to some members of the film crew (specifically David Hess and Fred J. Lincoln), actress Sandra Peabody was genuinely frightened during filming, and once even simply walked off the set. She had to be chased down and persuaded to return.
- Filming was a difficult ordeal for Sandra Peabody. She felt uncomfortable during the filming of sexual scenes, and David Hess and the other actors playing the escaped criminals tormented her both on and off set, getting into character and frankly going too far. Fred J. Lincoln also disliked all of this very much, and later repeatedly spoke about how he regretted appearing in this film. Neither Peabody nor Lincoln ever spoke about the film in interviews again, while Lucy Granthem and David Hess had no difficulty with it.
- When the distribution companies Hallmark and Atlas released the film in Germany, they attempted to pass it off as a snuff film (a film featuring actual killings).
- Craven used the name and surname of his classmate, Mary Collingwood, as the name of one of the main characters.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
