Wes Craven's nightmarish odyssey of revenge helped to usher in a new era of graphic horror filmmaking in the early 1970s. Inspired by Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960), THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is a parent's worst nightmare come to terrifying life. Beautiful 17-year-olds Mari (Sandra Cassel) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) head into the city for a rock concert, but once there, they're kidnapped by three repulsive, sadistic escaped convicts led by Krug Stillo (a menacing David Hess). After the gang drives the girls into the woods, where they rape and murder them, the disheveled crew ends up at the home of none other than Mari's parents, John (Gaylord St. James) and Estelle (Cynthia Carr). When John discovers who has unknowingly walked into his home, he exacts a revenge that makes the convicts' actions seem tame by comparison.

Working on a shoestring budget and coaxing naturalistic performances out of his actors (with the exception of two bumbling law enforcement officers), Craven displays the talent that he would later develop on a grand scale with A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and SCREAM. Certainly not for the fainthearted, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT remains one of the most visceral horror films ever made.

Theatrical release: August 30, 1972

A variation of the character name Krug would later be used by Craven once again in his A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series (Freddy Krueger).

The theatrical release of this film ran 91 minutes.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Mono - English
Subtitles - English, French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes: "Mari Dying at the Lake"
Audio Commentary: Actors David Hess, Marc Sheffler, and Fred Lincoln
Behind the Scenes: Never Before Seen Outtakes
Trailers: Trailer Farm: PATHOLOGY, MR. BROOKS, ASYLUM, HIT AND RUN, THE BETRAYED
Featurette:
1. "Wes Craven Featurette"
2. "Celluloid Crime of the Century"
3. "Scoring Last House"
4. "Tales that Will Tear Your Heart Out"
Text/Photo Galleries:
Galleries: Photo Gallery
Additional Text: Wes Craven's Annotated Shooting Scripts

Distributor Notes: Bold, powerful and starkly realistic, this chilling cinematic debut of horror master Wes Craven (Scream) is a shocking journey into the heart of evil. Written and directed with almost unbearable dramatic tension (Chicago Sun-Times), The Last House on the Left will make you deadbolt your doors and frantically mutter: It's only a movie it's only a movie it's only a movie! Easy-going Mari Collingwood and her fun-loving friend Phyllis are on their way to a Bloodlust concert to celebrate Mari's 17th birthday when three escaped convicts kidnap and torture them. But Mari and Phyllis are fighters, and although they are drugged and beaten into unconsciousness, stuffed into a car trunk and driven into the woods for even more brutality, they are still alive...but for how long?

Source: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

David Hess: Star, ZOMBIE NATION (2006)
Lucy Grantham: American Actress
Sandra Cassel: 

Wes Craven: Horror Writer/Director

3 stars out of 5 -- "Cruel and unflinching....It remains raw and unsettling."