The Last House on the Left



"To avoid fainting, keep repeating: IT'S ONLY A MOVIE, ONLY A MOVIE, ONLY A MOVIE..."

Wes Craven's 1972 debut picture, a loose reworking of Ingmar Bergman's Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring), tells the story of a group of psychos who torture, humiliate, rape and try to murder two girls and then end up asking for refuge at the home of the parents of one of the girls. This couple then find out who their guests really are...

Remade in 2009 by Dennis Iliadis, produced by Craven and starring Sara Paxton, Garrett Dillahunt, Monica Potter, Aaron Paul, Tony Goldwyn, and Riki Lindhome.


 * Because You Were Nice to Me:
 * Beware the Nice Ones: The Collingwoods look like two ordinary, happily married people, until their daughter gets raped...
 * Blood Is Squicker in Water: In the original, while the latter is in a swimming pool.
 * Chainsaw Good
 * Chekhov's Gun: The necklace Mari gets as a birthday gift (in the original) or that she finds at her vacation home as a gift from her dead brother (in the remake) is instrumental in making Emma realize what happened to Mari.
 * Covers Always Lie: That picture up there? That's not the house. Jury's out on whether it's even on the left.
 * Daylight Horror: Most of what happens to Mari and Phyllis.
 * Dead Little Sister:  Mari's brother in the remake.
 * Dirty Old Man: The elderly mailman at the beginning of the original film describes Mari as "the prettiest piece I've ever seen".
 * Driven to Suicide:.
 * Downer Ending:.
 * That's a maybe.
 * Enforced Method Acting: On the special edition DVD actors commentary track, the actors playing Krug and Weasel boast about how they terrorized the actresses playing Mari and Phyllis, right down to hinting during the filming of the rape scene that they'd go ahead and actually commit the act if they didn't think the actresses' performances were convincing enough. They seem to think this is awesome.
 * ...and David Hess complained that he couldn't ride the subway anymore, for the dirty looks he was getting. No wonder.
 * The part where they make Phyllis pee her pants? For real.
 * Fan Disservice: Although the original is undeniably lurid, if when watching the rape scene in the remake you find anything remotely erotic about what's happening to Mari there is probably something wrong with you.
 * Fingore: Francis (originally named Weasel) gets, in a very horrific scene in the remake,.
 * Flipping the Bird: Walking back to town after their car runs out of gas, the cops think they've gotten a lift when a van full of hippies stop for them...then do this while peeling away.
 * Groin Attack: Estelle dupes Weasel and starts performing oral sex on him... with gruesome results.
 * Gorn:
 * Most of the remake fits this, too.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: As a result of Executive Meddling, we are spared the sight of Krug carving his name in Mari's chest. Also, we don't see Weasel's emasculation.
 * Pretty solidly averted in the remake.
 * Heel Realization:
 * Heroic BSOD: Mari has one, after having been humiliated, abused, kidnapped and raped,
 * Ignored Vital News Reports: In the original, Mari and Phyllis hear a radio report about the psychos' escape from prison while driving to the city, but pay it no mind.
 * Lyrical Dissonance: The Baddies' Song, disturbingly so.
 * Mama Bear & Papa Wolf: Emma (Estelle in the original) and John Collingwood.
 * Mood Dissonance: Although this is a horror movie, there are some scenes that seem to be right out of a comedy. The chicken truck and Krug going "Moo!" come to mind.
 * Mood Whiplash: Okay, Mr. Craven. Please explain why, when the rest of the movie is deathly serious and disturbing, you chose to have the cops be comic relief?!? And why do you have Krug going moo?!? Was it to make the movie less frightening for your audience so they won't be fainting?
 * Nightmare Sequence: At one point Fred dreams that Mari's parents knock his front teeth out with a hammer and chisel. Still would've been better than what actually does happen to him.
 * Police Are Useless: The sheriff and his deputy are incompetent buffoons. They even buy into Krug's half-assed alibi about being a passing preacher.
 * And when they hear of Mari's kidnapping, they not only find out where she is located, but also that they were there a few minutes ago.
 * Psycho Lesbian: Or in Sadie's case, Psycho Bisexual.
 * Rape as Drama: Almost all of the drama in this movie consists of two girls being tortured and raped.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Epically.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: The soundtrack is mostly made of upbeat ballads or outright cheery music.
 * Interesting note: It was all composed (and sung) by none other than David Hess, the actor who played Krug Stillo.
 * And when, sounds that probably came from an Atari 2600 game played.
 * An Arp 2600 maybe, but not an Atari for a few years.
 * Spared by the Adaptation:.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Ah, man, we raped  these people's daughter, and they don't even know! Wow, now the mom's giving me a BJ! This is the best road trip ever!
 * Well, you can't blame them for not thinking that
 * Also when Paige and Mari follow the obviously extremely weird boy who they barely know, and admit later that they thought he was creepy to begin with, to his dingy hotel room to buy drugs from him. Not to mention the fact that they he is underage so there is no way that he rented the room by himself. Good idea girls, I guess don't talk to strangers doesn't apply if they promise you drugs.
 * Torture Porn
 * Video Nasty: Regarded as one of the worst films on the list and one of those which were responsible for the creation of the list in the first place.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: In-universe examples with Phyllis in the original and Paige in the remake, although in the original it's because a scene where Mari's parents found her still alive was cut. In that scene, Mari's mother asked about Phyllis.
 * Though it's pretty obvious that.
 * Though it's pretty obvious that.