The 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, located on the outskirts of a quiet suburban 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 (played by David Hess), 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 a 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.

In defense of the film, it should be noted that subsequent horror films, such as The Evil Dead, contained much more explicit and intense scenes of blood and gore. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, released in 1974, received favorable reviews from many "mainstream" critics despite its low production values and explicit depiction of abhorrent behavior i.e. cannibalism. Furthermore, the critically acclaimed Pier Paolo Pasolini film Salò 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.

Wes Craven has since directed many popular horror films including The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. Producer Sean S. Cunningham meanwhile went on to initiate one of the biggest horror film franchises in the 1980s' with Friday the 13th.

At present critical and genre enthusiast opinion remains sharply splintered as to whether the film is a bold artistic statement, exploitative trash or some combination of the two