Last House on the Left

The screenplay is an adaptation of a medieval folk tale which was also the basis for the Ingmar Bergman film The Virgin Spring.

The story begins at the Collingwood home in a quiet country town. Teenager Mari's parents have allowed her to celebrate her birthday by going to New York to see a rock concert with her friend Phyllis. While attempting to purchase marijuana to properly commemorate the occasion, the girls are kidnapped by Krug, a dangerous escaped felon, and his criminal associates. The gang takes the two victims into the countryside and subjects them to rape and humiliating torture. After leaving the girls for dead, and finding themselves stranded on a lonely country road, the villains seek shelter with an hospitable couple, who are none other than the parents of the violated Mari. The gang attempt to pass themselves off as business travelers and all is well, until the increasingly suspicious parents discover the awful truth about their guests...

The film was controversial for its graphic (for the time) depiction of violence, and also for the manner in which the villain characters imposed their psychopathic will upon the victims. Critical opinion remains sharply split on whether the film is a bold artistic statement, or just exploitative trash.

In defense of the film, it should be noted that subsequent horror films, such as The Evil Dead (1981), have had much more explicit and intense scenes of blood and gore. Furthermore, the critically acclaimed Pier Paolo Pasolini film Salo o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975) also had as its principal theme the ritualistic torture and sexual violation of young persons as a form of entertainment for the perpetrators.

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