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Late to the Party: The Last House on the Left (1972)

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Welcome back to another edition of Late to the Party! This week, I finally watched Wes Craven’s 1972 debut film, The Last House on the Left.

For the uninitiated, The Last House on the Left tells the unfortunate tale of two young girls who head to “the city” for a concert. They get caught up with a gang of recently escaped convicts who tear them away for a brutal and horrific escapade. But that’s just the beginning; it continues on in a dark and vaguely-Straw Dogs inspired tale of vicious vengeance that truly satisfies.

via IMDb

Right from the start, I was taken with the film’s opening. The mailman’s monologue (dialogue, if you consider the fact that he’s talking to a dog I guess) immediately establishes the age, name, and popularity of young protagonist and future victim Mari (Sandra Peabody). It personalizes her, so even though we don’t spend a lot of time with her character, we connect with her as a “real” person who others care a great deal about.

via IMDb

As Mari and her friend Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) begin their joyful jaunt to the city, the car radio warns them of the sinister escapees. As the audio plays, the shot cuts to each character as they are mentioned in turn. We are given a confirming glance at each of them, providing the harsh details of their capabilities.

via IMDb

The real MVPs of The Last House on the Left are Mari’s parents, John (Richard Towers aka Gaylord St. James) and Estelle (Cynthia Carr). While Estelle connects the dots and discovers their daughter’s fate, John is kind of an O.G. Kevin McCallister, building a series of sophisticated booby traps using household resources. Estelle has a fantastically gnarly moment of manipulation, using her feminine wiles to go hard on one of the criminals in his most vulnerable state. It’s great.

via IMDb

The Last House on the Left was hugely successful, grossing over $3 million domestically on a humble budget of $87,000. Most critics found it too disturbing and didn’t quite know what to make of it – except Roger Ebert, who unexpectedly gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars.

Due to the controversially violent nature of the film it was broadly censored. The United Kingdom actually banned the film, adding it to their list of “video nasties” (which – in its own way – is a kind of status symbol). Over the years, The Last House on the Left has gained an impressive cult following. A sequel was planned, but never came to fruition, though a remake was released in 2009.

via IMDb

Although there are a few soundtrack choices that don’t quite age well (they create a contrast to the film’s overall tone and acts on screen, but perhaps the music is a touch too relaxed), The Last House on the Left is an absolute classic. It’s a shocking revenge tale that holds up over time.

 

For more Late to the Party posts, see our full list here

Featured image via Chris Fischer

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’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

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28 years later

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.

28 Days Later

The original film followed Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to find that London is currently dealing with a zombie outbreak.

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Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

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Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

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Longlegs

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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