Last House on the Left (1972)
Last House on the Left
by Nick Schwab
"I think there is something about the American dream, the sort of Disneyesque dream, if you will, of the beautifully trimmed front lawn, the white picket fence, mom and dad and their happy children, God-fearing and doing good whenever they can, and the flip side of it, the kind of anger and the sense of outrage that comes from discovering that that's not the truth of the matter, that gives American horror films, in some ways, kind of an additional rage-
--- Wes Craven in the horror documentary, American Nightmare.
The above quote of realistic cynicism not only accentuates what makes horror films tick, but is also a testament to both fright pictures as a means of pushing the envelope, and the genre serving as a window into the politics of any given era. The Last House On The Left, Craven's 1972 tale of two free-loving teens that come afoul on a group of convicts stirred up mainly a moral and vomit-induced reaction decades ago. Although the film may have faults in design (mostly in the form of plot contrivances often so beguilingly judged by its mostly point-missing detractors) and mood swings (off-kilter moments of comedic relief that actually let one breath, thus making the menacing aspects hit even harder) very few horror films since have displayed real-life terror as grim and effective as Craven's debut so depicted.
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Read the full review at UnRatedMagazine.com
by Nick Schwab
"I think there is something about the American dream, the sort of Disneyesque dream, if you will, of the beautifully trimmed front lawn, the white picket fence, mom and dad and their happy children, God-fearing and doing good whenever they can, and the flip side of it, the kind of anger and the sense of outrage that comes from discovering that that's not the truth of the matter, that gives American horror films, in some ways, kind of an additional rage-
--- Wes Craven in the horror documentary, American Nightmare.
The above quote of realistic cynicism not only accentuates what makes horror films tick, but is also a testament to both fright pictures as a means of pushing the envelope, and the genre serving as a window into the politics of any given era. The Last House On The Left, Craven's 1972 tale of two free-loving teens that come afoul on a group of convicts stirred up mainly a moral and vomit-induced reaction decades ago. Although the film may have faults in design (mostly in the form of plot contrivances often so beguilingly judged by its mostly point-missing detractors) and mood swings (off-kilter moments of comedic relief that actually let one breath, thus making the menacing aspects hit even harder) very few horror films since have displayed real-life terror as grim and effective as Craven's debut so depicted.
-
Read the full review at UnRatedMagazine.com
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