The Last House on the Left

"To avoid fainting keep repeating, it's only a movie... Only a movie... Only a movie..."

1972 1h 24m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 820

HorrorCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On the eve of her 17th birthday, Mari and friend Phyllis set off from her family home to attend a rock concert in the city. Attempting to score some drugs on the way, the pair run afoul of a group of vicious crooks, headed up by the sadistic Krug.

“To avoid fainting keep repeating, it's only a movie... Only a movie... Only a movie...”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Sandra Peabody
Mari Collingwood (as Sandra Cassell)
Lucy Grantham
Phyllis Stone
David Hess
Krug Stillo (as David A. Hess)
Fred J. Lincoln
Fred 'Weasel' Padowski (as Fred Lincoln)
Jeramie Rain
Sadie
Marc Sheffler
Junior Stillo
Richard Towers
Dr. John Collingwood (as Gaylord St. James)
Cynthia Carr
Mrs. Estelle Collingwood

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Wes Craven
Writers: Wes Craven
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

84 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

54 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Wes Craven, shot by Victor Hurwitz. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Hess. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Wes Craven shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sandra Peabody and Lucy Grantham and David Hess carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "To avoid fainting keep repeating, it's only a movie... Only a movie... Only a movie...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Wes Craven directs. Victor Hurwitz behind the camera. David Hess scores. Wes Craven cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

184 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
354 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Wes Craven, shot by Victor Hurwitz. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by David Hess. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Wes Craven shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sandra Peabody and Lucy Grantham and David Hess carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "To avoid fainting keep repeating, it's only a movie... Only a movie... Only a movie...".
9IMDB entry: tt0068833 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "concert", "rape", "birthday", "loss of loved one".
11Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Victor Hurwitz
Original score: David Hess
Editing: Wes Craven
Costume design: Susan E. Cunningham
Makeup / hair: Anne Paul
Runtime: 84 min · 1h 24m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $90,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Last House on the Left (1972)

Also by

Wes Craven

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb179960752017-02-14
★ 5/10
While a lot of people seem to praise this film as a horror gem, I myself consider it more like a drama… a mildly gruesome drama, but certainly not horror. I can enjoy horror films that don't contain some of the expected traits, like: jumps, creepy music, lots of screaming or tons of gore… but there has to be something to remind us that this is, in fact, a horror movie after all. To be honest though, there is a little bit of gore, that's true… but if the atmosphere isn't reminiscent of a horror film, the gore itself ends up being out of place. I was expecting something good, as I consider Wes Craven to be a very talented horror director, but I guess he simply wasn't in his prime back then. On 'Last House on the Left', the story revolves around a group of criminals, three guys and a trashy girl, who have recently escaped from prison. Two girls on her way to a concert, decide to stop by a house, looking for marijuana. The girls are kidnapped by these ex convicts, who torture them, rape them and eventually murder them in a brutal way. After butchering the two friends, the gang seeks refuge with the parents of one of the victims, who are completely unaware of everything. However, when the man of the house finds out about what happened to his daughter and who were responsible for what happened to her, he teams up with his wife to execute a gruesome revenge against his four guests. The idea of two vindictive parents trying to avenge their dead daughter sounded promising and original for a horror film. It gives hopes for something tragic, dramatic and gruesome, but in the end, "Last House on the Left" ends up being more like a drama full of missed opportunities. One would expect a movie like this to reach its high point in the scene where the parents are finally able to avenge their daughter, but to my disappointment, this confrontation takes place only during the very last minutes of the film and it is shown in a very bland way. I can understand that minimalism works in certain films, and I don't expect all movies to offer some kind of gruesome shock value. The problem is that simplicity is not exactly something that one would expect from a film like this, where a certain amount of gruesomeness is almost mandatory. When the father finds out about what happened to his daughter, he looks completely numb. We never really get to see any signs of devastation, which would have added a well-placed share of drama to the story and would have made the last minutes much more powerful and tragic. My main problem with this film, however, is the fact that there are a few moments of pointless slapstick comedy. I mean, how can this be explained. It's supposed to be a horror film, but instead it is a horrible drama… with a few comedy moments? We see a girl getting stabbed and right after that, we see two dumb cops doing funny things for the audience to laugh. Honestly, I don't get it. I also find the banjo music to be inappropriate, as it works as a some kind comedy relief and it really doesn't make any sense in a movie like this. I am aware that sometimes, joyful music in horror movies is a way to create some kind of strong contrasting atmosphere, but in 'Last House on the Left', it simply sounded out of place. Most people seem to be impressed about the 'appalling gore' and impressive scenes, but I was mostly surprised by the lack of them. True, there are a few scenes that looked pretty brutal, but the gore is not striking enough to save the entire movie. I don't really understand what's the deal with the lame tag line that says 'To avoid fainting, keep repeating "It's only a movie...It's only a movie..."'. I didn't find any parts to be that horrifying, to be honest. Even though I don't focus on the gore very much, I must admit that there are certain horror movies that make up for the weak plot, with a nice amount of carnage... unfortunately, this film is not one of those. I give this movie 5 stars because even though I don't agree with the overhype, I still think it's a watchable drama with a few horror and comedy elements scattered around.

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