Beginning life as a hardcore porn flick, this exploitation remake of Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring portrays the rape and murder of two teenagers. The girls' killers subsequently get theirs when they coincidentally seek refuge with one of the teens' parents.
Born out of newsreel footage of the Vietnam War and Craven's desire to show violence as it really is - "ugly, nasty, protracted" - Last House remains tough, troubling viewing. Nothing the BBFC can do about it, either: removing 31 seconds of sexual humiliation is one thing, but it's the slapstick cops and jaunty music (banjo, kazoo) that really disturb.
DVD Extras:
Two minutely different versions of the movie, a 40-minute Making Of, Scoring Last House featurette, Krug Conquers England censorship doc, an unfinished Craven short, outtakes...Best of all, though, is the commentary by Craven and producer Sean S Cunningham, the pair finding the right balance between anecdotal and insightful. The same can't be said for the audio gab by screen baddies David Hess (who also wrote the music), Fred Lincoln and Marc Sheffler - joking during the rape scene isn't advisable, guys.
