THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) Blu-ray 3-Disc Limited Edition
Director: Wes Craven
Arrow Video USA

"It rests on 13 acres of earth over the very center of hell..." and it's getting a makeover in Arrow Video's limited edition Blu-ray set of Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

Mari Collingwood (Sandra Cassell, MASSAGE PARLOR MURDERS) is turning seventeen, and she's spending it with "wrong side of the tracks" friend Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) on a trip to the city to see the band Bloodlust. Unfortunately, their detour to score some grass puts them in the clutches of escaped serial murderer Krug Stilo (David A. Hess, THE CONCORDE AFFAIR), child molester Frank "Weasel" Podowski (Fred J. Lincoln, ALTAR OF LUST), Krug's heroin-addicted son Junior (Marc Sheffler), and lesbian Sadie (Jeramie Rain, THE ABDUCTORS). As Mari's doctor father John (Gaylord St. James, DEADLY WEAPONS) and mother Estelle (Cynthia Carr) decorate for their daughter's birthday party, she and Phyllis are terrorized, humiliated, and beaten when they try to escape. The quartet take the girls along with them as they take to the road with the goal of crossing the border into Canada but they happen to break down not far from the Collingwood property, while the sheriff (Marshall Anker) and deputy (Martin Kove, SEVEN) also experience a breakdown trying to get back to the property after realizing too late that the abandoned car they passed on the way back to the station was the getaway vehicle. Mari does not make it past the age of seventeen, nor does Phyllis, while Mari's parents only discover the truth after they have extended their hospitality for the night to their daughter's murderers.

Ostensibly inspired by Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING, the worldwide notoriety of Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT kicked off not only the overall rape-revenge genre but also a smaller spinoff of retreads, the Italian entries of which were more polished while emphasizing issues of class, hypocrisy, and the gulf between the generations including NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE BEACH, THE LONELY VIOLENT BEACH, and THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK which also starred Hess, a musician who had previously appeared on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW with a talent for acting but whose subsequent roles did not always capitalize on his appearance in the Craven film but likely were predicated on his recognition from it, while the songs he wrote for the film would be quoted by Eli Roth in CABIN FEVER and Quentin Tarantino in THE HATEFUL EIGHT. Viewed after the many films it influenced – including the Craven's 2009 remake which was more graphically violent but less gritty and grueling – THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT's early abuses visited upon its two female victims seem "tame" (compared also to his pornographic script "Night of Vengeance") but their deaths are deeply disturbing not just for the way the actresses express their realization of the loss of their lives but also for the aftermaths in which their killer seem surprisingly ashamed of how far they went, an emotion that so believably alien to them as to catch the viewer off-guard in the characters' experience of it. The scenes of the parents turning the tables on their daughter's killer by booby trapping the house would be later reworked to lighten the tone of Craven's later A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET while he would later invert the idea of a normal suburban home invaded with THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. Producer Sean S. Cunningham – who started with Craven on the low-budget sex film TWOGETHER – would find his own genre fame as director with the slasher success FRIDAY THE 13TH, and both would find themselves facing off at the end of the 1980s with the similarly-themed THE HORROR SHOW from United Artists and SHOCKER from Universal. FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART II director Steve Miner served as production assistant on the film.

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT had a rather convoluted release history with a reported initial running time of ninety-one minutes while the R-rated release version from Hallmark Releasing ran only eighty-one minutes. When Vestron Video released the film on videocassette a second time, it claimed to be uncut but only restored some footage compared to the longer version released in Canada by CIC Video. The film had its own history of censorship with the BBFC in the UK as a seventy-seven minute pre-cert, a Video Nasty, and being refused classification for DVD release until 2003 when it was still subjected to cuts from the longest version MGM was able to compile from their elements at 84 minutes and twenty-seconds (some of the footage that was possibly in the 91 minute version included as an extra without audio) for their 2002 Region 1 edition and later 2006 DVD, both of which had different commentary tracks and extras. The film finally garnered an uncut release in the UK from Metrodome released the film in a three-disc set in the UK in 2008, followed by MGM's stateside Blu-ray in 2011 which compiled extras from both of the DVDs.

Arrow Video's dual-territory three-disc limited edition is derived from a new 2K scan of MGM's 35mm materials and presents the film in three cuts: the unrated version (84:12), the alternate "Krug and Company" (83:50) – an alternate version screened early in the United States that also showed up in some European territories including the UK – and the R-rated version (81:52). The 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen encode of a film shot on 16mm quick and dirty (with faint in-camera scratches and what looks in a few shots like faint streaks on the lens) is never going to look particularly good, looking less like THE EVIL DEAD than THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE – albeit not shot on slow fine-grained film – as far as 16mm productions but the new presentation evinces more shadow detail and some texture in black clothing like Krug's shirt where once was underexposed grain and crushed blacks. Colors look rich where possible, although the opening shot of ducks in the lake still look like they are floating in wet cement and the day exteriors still look contrasty but Arrow Video have treated the unrated version to a high-bitrate encode. The "Krug and Company" cut, which includes an alternate version of the scene where Mari is discovered by her parents, and the R-rated version are both on the second Blu-ray and reconstructed from the same master. The opening and closing credits on all appear have been digitally recreated to match the originals (the CIC VHS release was derived from a master without credits text that had its opening credits spliced in from an inferior source). All versions have the same clean LPCM 1.0 mono track – while the unrated version also has the option of an isolated score newly remastered from the original 17.5" magnetic tracks in LPCM 2.0 – and optional English SDH subtitles.

The unrated version is accompanied by three commentary tracks: the Craven/Cunningham track from the 2002 DVD, the Hess/Sheffler/Lincoln track from the 2006 DVD, and a new track by Bill Ackerman of The Supporting Characters podcast and Amanda Reyes of the Made for TV Mayhem podcast and author of ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE ALONE? A TV MOVIE COMPENDIUM 1964-1999. Craven and Cunningham – who still seems to be a little ashamed of the film – discuss their feelings at the time about the "love generation" and the increasing feeling that the hippie movement was a "pipe dream," the inspiration of the film in Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING, and how the family scenes that open the film actually introduce the film's underlying themes in a lighter tone. The Hess/Sheffler/Lincoln track is a livelier and more freewheeling discussion that must have set MGM's lawyers on edge as the trio discuss how Grantham was easy to work with while Cassell was genuinely frightened of the three of them, working with Rain, and how Lincoln was living with make-up artist Anne Paul who then left him for his roommate after he slept with Grantham. Lincoln claims to have directed some of the film and told Craven and Cunningham how to stage some scenes, and some of this is borne out in other featurettes by his co-stars. To the annoyance of his co-commentators, Sheffler becomes a bit academic in his discussion contrasting the violence of LAST HOUSE with FRIDAY THE 13TH even as they are trying to make the same point. The new track with Ackerman and Reyes is a nice addition with Ackerman drawing from his own interviews as well as the book on the film by David Szulkin – which also reprinted the original script draft NIGHT OF VENGEANCE – revealing differences between the film and the script. Mari's family as more dysfunctional but the sitcom-esque portrayal in the finished film makes a nice contrast with Krug's game who Reyes suggests are the first iteration of Craven's ongoing theme of family dynamics. Reyes discusses the ways in which the film subverts the male gaze in its rape scenes, identifying instead with the victims, and making a case for Sadie's characterization as shaped by "misconnected feminism" consumed through the mainstream and her ideas of what a proper lady looks like and how she acts as suggestive of her character's background.

"Still Standing: The Legacy of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT" (14:54) is an archival interview with Craven that first appeared on the second MGM DVD edition in which he traces the violent and anti-violent themes to his subconscious feelings about his strict upbringing and America's self-examination in light of the nightly documentation of the atrocities of the Vietnam war on the news, as well as the audience's negative reaction to being made to feel any kind of identification with the killers in the aftermath of their crimes and their attempts at mimicking normality. "Celluloid Crime of the Century" (39:34), an archival documentary featuring interviews with Craven, Cunningham, actors Hess, Lincoln, Rain, Sheffler and Kove, debuted on the Anchor Bay UK edition and was carried over to the second MGM DVD. A lot of the same information is covered by Craven and Cunningham, with the actors recalling that the original script was hardcore XXX and they approached Craven suggesting that it could be just as effective without real sex. Rain recalls that she had acted on stage in a play about the Manson family before being cast in the film, and Kove recalls being up for Krug but preferring to play the comical role of the deputy and recommending his sister's boyfriend Hess for the role.

The featurette "It's Only a Movie: The Making of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT" (29:01) first appeared on the original MGM DVD, which seems redundant in light of the inclusion of the other featurettes, particularly the newer and more refined "Celluloid Crime of the Century", but it is there for those who want the most comprehensive package. In "Forbidden Footage" (8:12), Craven, Cunningham, and the cast – along with make-up artist Anne Paul – reflect on the film's most notorious scenes, with the "piss your pants" scene perhaps being more disturbing than the gut-pulling. "Scoring Last House" (9:44) is another archival featurette with Hess that appeared on the Anchor Bay UK disc an then the second MGM edition, in which he recalls the opportunity to score the film and his decision to compose the songs as emotional counterpoint to the action (particularly the "Baddie's Theme" cheerily singing "let's have some fun with those two little children and off them as soon as we're done").

The new featurettes include a pair of interviews with "Junior's Story" (14:24) finding Sheffler discussing his previous stage work before the film – as well as a porn film in which he was the only one who stayed dressed, which he likens to his character in LAST HOUSE, and his manager Richard Towers (aka actor Gaylord St. James) sending him in to audition for the Craven film. He reiterates some of his stories from the commentary track but also recalls in more depth his impatience with Cassell during their scenes alone together in light of the shooting schedule, film stock, and the feeling that he was delivering with every take and she was not. "Blood and Guts" (13:52) is an interview with makeup artist Anne Paul who recalls being up for the role of Phyllis but realizing she was not going to get it since the two of them looked alike but Grantham had acting training and experience so she lied about her experience as a make-up artist because she had a background in cosmetology. She describes some of her effects work, particularly the intestines and the blown-out brains which she had to fashion when she also replaced effects artist Troy Roberts (FORCED ENTRY), describing how they were achieved by her with different materials than those that Lincoln claims he suggested Craven use for the scene. "The Road Leads to Terror" (5:48) is a new featurette in which Michael Gingold revisits some of the film's locations, with the graveyard and the lake looking unchanged since the film. The deleted scene of "Mari Dying at the Lake" (1:04) is how the sequence played out in the KRUG AND COMPANY cut and is present as such on the second disc but also here as an extra (suggesting that a standard edition may drop the second disc entirely).

While the previous editions featured various assemblages of outtakes and dailies – with some extended entrails pulling that would pop up as excerpts from a supposed snuff film in CONFESSIONS OF A BLUE MOVIE STAR – running anywhere from fourteen to twenty minutes, Arrow has a silent extended outtakes and dailies reel (47:38) that has been newly transferred in high definition, looking not significantly inferior to the feature presentation itself with some scratches and tears evident amidst color that does not seem that much faded (and may have been color corrected to match the feature encodes). Even when the actors break character, the footage before and after the takes still seems like it is part of film perhaps owing to the documentary observational perspective taken by the film itself. Two trailers (1:14 and 2:05 respectively) are included along with a TV spot (0:32), and radio spots (5:45) are included that make heavy use of the "it's only a movie" tagline. The disc also includes two image galleries of stills and promotional materials.

The second Blu-ray features the KRUG AND COMPANY and R-rated cuts in their entirety, reconstructed from the 2K scan (it would have been nice to see an unrestored scan of the KRUG AND COMPANY source that was used on the earlier discs) along with a handful of less interesting extras. "The Craven Touch" (17:10) functions as a look at Craven's career after LAST HOUSE with intercut comments from Cunningham, composer Charles Bernstein who was brought on for A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, producer Peter Locke who recruited Craven for THE HILLS HAVE EYES based on the success of LAST HOUSE, cinematographer Mark Irwin (WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE), SCREAM 4 co-producer Carly Feingold, and actress Amanda Wyss (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET). Most interesting among the platitudes are Bernstein's remarks about Craven's talent for spotting sound and music cues, and Cunningham's comment that Craven as having an "uncanny access to his dreams." "Early Days and NIGHT OF VENGEANCE" (9:04) is a featurette with filmmaker Roy Frumkes (DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD) who recalls writing to Craven after seeing LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT to express his appreciation of the film only for Craven to then send him a box featuring various annotated script drafts and the film's outtake reels, motivating Frumkes to get into filmmaking with his failed anthology TALES THAT'LL TEAR YOUR HEART OUT offering Craven a segment using equipment from SUNY Purchase (Craven ended up with only three lights to shoot his supernatural western segment with Hess as the villain). The entire unfinished short is included without sound (11:19) while Frumkes' own segment had been featured on Severin's Blu-ray of DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D./ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (having been excerpted for the U.S. version's opening credit sequence).

The "Q&A with Marc Sheffler" (12:25) comes from the 2017 screening of the film at The American Cinematheque in which he reiterates many of the same stories from the commentary and the interview. "Krug Conquers England" (24:12) is an archival featurette from the Anchor Bay UK disc of the film's first uncut UK theatrical screening in 2000 intercutting footage of Hess singing, singing autographs (including copies of the Szulkin book), and his comments along with guest Gunnar Hansen (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) on censorship with additional comments from screener Alan Alderson Smith and later Severin Films co-founder Carl Daft about how the local councils do not have to abide by the BBFC and can grant certificates for screening in their areas as well as learning that the BBFC wrote the councils behind their backs trying to convince them not to grant the certificate. This segment might be of limited interest to US viewers, but it might have been nice to have an entire featurette about the film's UK history. A third disc in the package is a soundtrack CD featuring the complete, newly remastered film score by David A. Hess that was not included for review, along with six collector's postcards, a double-sided fold-out poster, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork, and a limited edition 60-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by author Stephen Thrower. (Eric Cotenas)

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