THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT | Wes Craven, 1972
boy was i disappointed. wow. first off, MGM did a horrible job on the transfer. i thought i'd read that this was a great-looking picture. it was not, believe me. i thought someone had messed with the settings on my tv. the picture was soft and, during the beginning, approximating vhs quality. anyway. i'd also thought it would be a horror film like they did in the 70's. but it was not. it's about three escaped murderers and rapists and how two innocent girls cross their path. i believe this is Wes Craven's debut, and it shows. the characters (written and performed) and the dialogue are amateurish. two bumbling cops straight out of the "Dukes of Hazzard" (i swear to god they're that bad) and villains who are way too loopy and all over the place to be either credible or scary. i wasn't scared once even though i stuck with it the whole time. the blood looks good but it's more of a violent movie (never shocking to our modern eyes) than a scary horror film. i think the horror film would be The Hills Have Eyes. anyone seen it and could recommend it? a couple of good things do come out of the film, though -- the two lead girls are good when they're not spouting the crappy dialogue of the first act, the music is somewhat effective (although a bit too upfront. "the road leads to nowhere". we get it), and the appearance of Martin Kove of Karate Kid fame. i won't call it a crappy film but i'll definitely admit to not getting the cult status it holds. anyone can enlighten me on this? lol. seriously. please do if you liked the film. thanks.
update:
okay. i just watched the couple of extras (really good, in fact) about the making of the film and the furor over the violence when it came out, and i gotta say, the film ain't looking so bad now. i think the reason i really did not get into the film was because i was expecting a) a creepy horror film, and b) to be set in a set on the left. at night. well, if you're going to believe the cover artwork, that is. the acting is still kind of amateurish, the editing lacking, but there are great moments in the film. i guess it's a really good experiment. let's leave it at that :)
i decided i was gonna watch tonight's SNL Season Finale with Mary-Kate and Ashley.
but i'm hoping for a Full House sketch. so please deliver.
Posted by Anonymous | 10:50 PM
