Too much chopping of the film, and not of the bodies!
Similarly to other films reviewed/watched recently, Last House on the Left were one that i'd heard much fuss about, but didn't know what or why there were so much fuss; and so decided to grab a copy for myself to find out.
The plot-line described in the information leaflet (very lengthy!) inside seemed to give a good basis for an outstanding film ..or sick and twisted proportions; albeit still intriguing at the same time. Unfortunately, the awareness of the aforementioned use of chopping scenes (by the BBFC, not actual 'chopping' scenes!) out, were all too apparent, as some of the time, the story seemed to jump or shift without reason, or at least, a vague and un-clear one anyway. That said, the pace of the film were reasonable, given the time of filming and how things were filmed back then (style wise). The only distracting thing was that there seemed to be a heavy-use of censorship (similar to that used in Hostel films - the first one more so - especially; but the difference being is that Hostel intended to 'get the viewer using their imagination, by not quite being able to see what/where/how were being hacked to pieces off screen, whereas 'LHOTL' just chopped (unfortunately, all too literal..) the body chopping, mutilation and 'lustful violation' (!) scenes out completely, to a point that what was left, were some sometimes poor/dodgy acting, and little 'blood and gore' to be seen.
As for the 'last house on the left' part, it seemed to take on too much significance, especially in order for it to even be considered 'film title worthy' anyway, as the 'last house..' hardly features heavily as a focus point for the film - yeah sure, it's the location for the finally, but it seems more by chance then by organisation, that they decided to use that as a location, rather than pre-planning it as it should really of been, by giving it more emphasis and focus.. reasoning for it being the location point would of been a good idea too; but then we can't really tell Wes Craven how to do his job now, can we? ;)
All in all, i'd recommend it for mild viewing of a small amount of 'nostalgic gore', with little else to it - a mild part of nudity, swearing and well.. 'bad dress sense (ahem..)' just about covers it all. Don't go all out expecting a blood bath, or else you'll be sorely disappointed. I'd give it an overall score of 5.5/10; which isn't bad for one of Wes Craven's 'earlier' (he's done so many!!) efforts.Read full review
