The Last House on the Left

Amazon.com

Future Nightmare creator and Scream weaver Wes Craven's film debut is a primitive little production that rises above its cut-rate production values and hazy, grainy patina via its grimly affecting portrait of human evil infiltrating a middle-class household. The story is adapted from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, but the film has more in common with Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as it charts the descent of a harmless married couple into methodical killers. A quartet of criminals--a distorted version of the nuclear family--kidnaps a pair of teenage girls and proceeds to ravage, rape, torture, and finally brutally murder them in the woods, unwittingly within walking distance of their rural home. The killers take refuge in the girls' own home, but when the parents discover just who they are and what they've done, they plot violent retribution.

Along with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Craven helped redefine American horror with this debut--all three movies portray modern society crumbling into madness and horror. But, unlike his fellow directors, Craven gives his film an uncomfortable verisimilitude, setting it squarely in the heartland of modern America. While at times it's awkward and inconsistent, with distracting comic interludes, his handling of the brutal horror scenes is unsettling, and the death of the daughter is an unexpectedly quiet and lyrical moment. --Sean Axmaker

Description

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?

Customer Reviews:

Drama not Horror.......2007-09-16

This movie has HORRIBLE acts in it, but it does not belong in the horror genre. It's more of a Drama I give it 3 stars for drama. You know what it is about already based on the hundreds of other reviews. I'm just going to say that it wasn't scary it was kind of just a thriller/drama. Sad kinda really. The music was odd to say the least. I think the movie had a lot of hidden meanings in it, poetic kind of. Don't buy this if you're looking for horror, it's just not in this movie. Yeah there are killings but...that doesn't make it a horror movie by default. This is a dramatic piece of...work.

Not for the faint of heart, but a good film nonetheless.......2007-09-07

Last House on the Left is exploitative. That's one way to put it. It's a bit informative, definitely shocking, and definitely one that needs to be watched.

The movie itself takes a backseat to the content in a couple of its scenes. It's hard to give an accurate review of this movie while still withholding much of what makes this movie a must see.

It's definitely shocking and definitely exploitative to a certian degree, but what really makes this movie is the questions you're left with at the end. It's an intelligent (if that's even the right choice of wording) 70's exploitation flick. The exploitation isn't there to arouse, it's there to cringe, disgust, and move to viewers to an uncomfortable feeling. Most people don't consider this movie to be a masterpiece, or even a good movie. While no masterpiece, the acting is wooden at times, the direction is a little lagging, and the comedy is forced, this is one of the better movies of the wildly entertaining cinema heaven known as trhe 70's.

Last House on the Left packs a whollop that no movies today, not Irreversible or Baise-Moi can ever grasp. And one that I Spit On Your Grave (Millennium Edition) can't certainly get. It's different. It's thought provoking. It's shocking and downright terror inducing, but it's viseral yet intellectual, and dangerously effective. An exploitation with a conscience.

Now, the DVD features a commentary with Wes Craven and Sean Cunnigham. It also includes a 30 minute "Making Of" feauturette's that nearly as must see as the movie itself, and a number of never-before-seen scenes.

Definitely recommeded.

Maybe...........2007-09-05

When I bought this film at my local fye, being a Wes Craven fan, I was instantly interested. But when I read the case, I was kinda leery. I didn't pay that close attention to it... until the end. I have no compassion for rapists, pedophiles and killers, so the conclusion was perfect revenge fantasy for me. In the beginning, I may have judged it too harshly. I also liked I Spit on your Grave, oddly enough, though it too was very disturbing, but by today's standards, both are rather tame-Eye for an Eye with Sally Field was alot more graphic than this, to me. I like various genres-good vs.evil, cartoon, revenge, but I generally won't watch anything that glorifies rape and torture-but these films cover the coping of these savage, sometimes unforgivable actions and the consequences of them, so to speak. I'm not an advocate for taking justice into your own hands, but what about when justice fails, what do you do then? I don't love this film, but I don't hate it either, hence the rating.

Classic porror at its gory best..........2007-08-17

I saw this movie years ago and was totally scared. This time around (I guess nothing haunts me now) I enjoyed the thrill ride, so I must be sick! The movie begins by saying that the events are based on real facts. whether or not that's true, it got me sitting on the edge of my seat. Two friends, fun-loving Phyllis and Mari are on the way to a rock concert. They decide to pick up some pot (bad mistake) and get themselves kidnaped by a couple of escape convicts, a crazy "animal like" woman and the drug-addict son of one of the convicts. They rape, drug and torture these teens. Mari's parents decide to seek revenge on the group. There was plenty of gore---one girl gets stabbed and her guts are pulled out and there's a chainsaw. My favorite part was the revenge scene where Mari's mother bites off something belonging to one of the convicts. There was a little comedy---when the police were trying to investigate, they performed like the Keystone Cops adding a break to a very gory classic 70s horror film. The acting was pretty bad (thus the 3 stars), but this is a low budget film. Overall, very entertaining!

gory.......2007-08-13

take this movie for what it is. a slasher flick that gives you a lot of gore and very little plot. it can't be called a classic but it is not that bad.

Le Dernier Metro / The Last Metro (Region 1 DVD)

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Le Dernier Metro / The Last Metro (Region 1 DVD)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000CO6K1C

Product Description

Region 1 DVD - Paris, 1942. Lucas Steiner is a Jew and was compelled to leave the country. His wife Marion, an actress, directs the theater for him. She tries to keep the theater alive with a new play, and hires Bernard Granger for the leading role. But Lucas is actually hiding in the basement... A film about art and life.

Average customer rating:

The show must go on!
Minor Truffaut, but quite enjoyable
A Satisying Movie of Choices and Adult Feelings
Truffault can be a lot of fun
Warning: subtitles cannot be turned off

The Last Metro
Starring: Catherine Deneuve , Gérard Depardieu , Jean Poiret , Andréa Ferréol , and Paulette Dubost
Director: François Truffaut
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

World War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

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Holocaust | Jewish Heritage | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00000IBPZ
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com

François Truffaut again tackles the elusive nature of creativity and the elusive creation in this thoughtful, sumptuous, 1980 film. Nominated for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar, and a winner of various Césars, The Last Metro is a tale of the theater in occupied France during World War II. Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve) manages the Theatre Montmarte in the stead of her Jewish husband, director Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennent). He has purportedly fled France but is really hiding out in the basement of the theater. The one hope to save the Montmarte is a new play starring the dashing Bernard Granger (Gérard Depardieu). The attraction between Marion and Bernard is palpable, and as usual Truffaut creates tension and drama from even the most casual of occurrences. The theme of the director locked away while his lover and his creation are appropriated by others makes for interesting Truffaut study, but first and foremost this is a well-spun romance. --Keith Simanton

Customer Reviews:

The show must go on!.......2006-05-23

Despite the restrictions of the occupied French by the [...] boot, a Parisian theatrical company decides to continue.

A bold and striking statement in favor of the creative liberty in those opprobrious years of oppression and censure.

One of the smarter icon movies of this unforgettable director. Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu make each one a superb tour de force performance.

Minor Truffaut, but quite enjoyable.......2006-04-23

Although Truffaut had another two films in him, in many ways The Last Metro looks as if it was planned as his last movie, even down to filming a deleted scene (included on the European DVDs but not this NTSC version) where a dying director tries to convince Catherine Deneuve's heroine to star in his last film. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it sums up his life and work so much as it feels as if the somewhat half-hearted screenplay has been rushed into production without being entirely thought through. Not that its bad - indeed parts of it are quite enjoyable - more that it tends to drift by like exactly the kind of `well-made play' that he once attacked, with the romance barely developed and much of the interest coming from characters on the sidelines, such as Jean-Louis Richard's critic, collaborator and anti-Semitic propagandist. At it's best it comes over like a theatrical variation on Day For Night set against the German occupation (indeed, Richard was DFN's co-writer), without ever quite matching that film's emotional rollercoaster ride.

A Satisying Movie of Choices and Adult Feelings.......2005-01-21

This is a first-class romantic, suspensful and humane movie. The Germans have occupied Paris and there are informers everywhere. Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve), a famous actress, has taken over the management of the theater her husband, Lucas Steiner, an equally famous director, has left. Steiner is a Jew and disappeared shortly after the Germans took over. For the next production Marion Steiner hires a young actor, Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu), who loves women and who gradually comes to love Marion.

There are secrets everywhere. Lucas Steiner is hiding and living in the basement of the theater, protected by his wife. He directs the new play through notes to his wife and discussions in the late evening when she visits him. Granger is an member of the resistance who could bring disaster to the theater if he is caught. Marion Steiner is devoted to her husband, but feelings for Granger slowly begin to appear, and are not unnoticed by her husband. All the while life in Paris under the Nazis goes on, the play is prepared and rehearsed, Jewish members of the company are protected or caught or flee. An odious, collaborating journalist and theater reviewer uses his contacts and influence to try to arrange a relationship with Marion. Eventually Bernard leaves the theater for active fighting.

This is something of a romantic movie of choices. At the end of the movie, the Germans are fleeing Paris. Bernard has returned and a new play starring Marion and Bernard is a great success. Lucas is spotted by the audience at the rear of a box and they stand to applaud him. Bernard and Marion bring him to the stage to join them in receiving the ovation for the play. Then Marion moves between the two men, holds their hands, and the three of them stand smiling while the applause roars on. And that's the end. This is, in my view, a very satisfying movie of theater life, of the occupation, and of three people who manage to find their way.

I think the DVD looks great, with many of the scenes having a dark, warm look about them.

Truffault can be a lot of fun.......2003-10-10

Francois Truffault, who has always terrified me as a true "art" director, comes across in this film with warmth and humor; not only that, one get to learn a little about Paris under the Nazis and how people "coped." Catherine Deneuve, wife of the director and lead lady, is gorgeous as she balances the needs of her cranky Jewish husband in hiding (Heinz Bennent; he's continuing to direct by listening in to rehearsals through the pipes) and those of her handsome leading man (Gerard Depardieu), whose only way of coming on seems to be to grasp a pretty woman by the hand, gaze into it and murmur, "I seem to see two women here." For a movie about a sad and terrible time, there is a lot of strength, here, and I found Truffault, for some bizarre reason, easy to understand.

Warning: subtitles cannot be turned off.......2002-04-30

Zone 1 Francophones beware: the english subtitles are on
the video layer and cannot be turned off. I suppose this
might save the production cost of redoing subtitles for
DVD, but it would be nice if this fact were mentioned in
the technical info. Completely unacceptable, hence the
automatic one-star rating.

The Last Metro (La Dernier métro) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

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The Last Metro (La Dernier métro) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]
Director: François Truffaut
Manufacturer: Umbrella Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: French (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Subtitles), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SYNOPSIS: Paris, 1942. Lucas Steiner is a Jew and was compelled to leave the country. His wife Marion, an actress, directs the theater for him. She tries to keep the theater alive with a new play, and hires Bernard Granger for the leading role. But Lucas is actually hiding in the basement... A film about art and life. SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer(s), Scene Access, Interactive Menu, Featurette, Documentary, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Alternative Footage,

{4 Holly Hollywood Dvd Set} : Playboy - The Model Solution (Out of Print) / Emmanuelle in Space 6 : One Last Fling (Unrated) / Embrace the Darkness III (Unrated) / Six Degrees of Seduction 2 (Unrated)

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{4 Holly Hollywood Dvd Set} : Playboy - The Model Solution (Out of Print) / Emmanuelle in Space 6 : One Last Fling (Unrated) / Embrace the Darkness III (Unrated) / Six Degrees of Seduction 2 (Unrated)

Manufacturer: Playboy, New Concorde, Metro Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Model Solution is one of the rarest, Playboy out-of-prints
These four discs are loaded with extra featurettes, galleries, behind-the-scenes segments, et al.
All four films come in their own individual keep cases!

ASIN: B000M6XLI0

Product Description

MODEL SOLUTION : The most beautiful girls in the world all seem to live in L.A. - and they're lining up to join Jack Spencer's agency, Models, Ltd.. They'll go to any lengths to get signed, even if it means breaking into his house and waiting. Unfortunately, Jack can't maintain his playboy lifestyle unless he pulls out all the stops to win a lucrative deal. But the owner of a rival agency, owned by his ex-girlfriend, plays dirtier than he does. Can he turn the tables on her just one time - and fast! EMANUELLE IN SPACE 6 (ONE LAST FLING) : As the aliens near the end of their wanton odyssey, Emmanuelle and her intergalactic lover experience spiritual and physical pleasure for possibly the last time. EMBRACE THE DARKNESS III : Journey to forbidden places where even the most demanding appetites are fed. Led by 200 year old Victor Chamberlain, the city's vampires partake in secret, late night rituals. When Victor meets Jennifer, a vampiress who is still ignorant about her new life of darkness, he senses a dark gift, which even she hasn't discovered. He introduces her to the true spoils of being a vampire, including the secret sensual parties he holds each night. He claims he can make all her dreams come true, but he's setting her up. SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION 2 : Laura has just taken a new job as a writer at a low-class magazine. Her creepy boss has given her an ultimatum: write the most perverse stories that he has ever seen or go back to the unemployment line. Now it's up to Laura and her vivid imagination to make sure she can pay the rent this month. Wait until you see how her mind works.

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Last Waltz
good quality of a colection rock music movie
The Last Waltz
100% Great!!! 4% .....
Great!

The Last Waltz [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00006JNBF

Amazon.com

Martin Scorsese's 1978 capsule history of the Band is mixed with footage of the group's allegedly last performance (certainly their last performance as a quintet) in this particularly stylish concert film. Scorsese shoots the players and their sundry guests with the same flair and enthusiasm one can see in the later The Color of Money or Goodfellas. He also proves a good interviewer with Band members, particularly Robbie Robertson, whose sleepy-sexy good looks make a star-caliber impression in close-up. But the film's real hook is the stage show, which features a rotation of rock legends (Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Paul Butterfield, Bob Dylan, and so on) playing with the Band before a wildly appreciative audience. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Last Waltz.......2007-09-15

This is a second purchase of this great music video...my husband and I wore out the last one...it is on right now as I am writing this!

good quality of a colection rock music movie.......2007-09-13

If you like the real rock of the 6th and 7th decade of the last century you have to have this album among your collection.

The Last Waltz.......2007-09-08

I have played this so much, I know I will wear this CD out! It is FABULOUS !!!!

100% Great!!! 4% ............2007-08-25

.. I can't say it any better than the other reviewers said it. I remember seeing this film/concert on Showtime years ago, & it still sounds fresh every time I watch it now on this great DVD version. (And I watch it at least once a week). Here's the riff in all of this; aside from the 10 bucks each that Garth was charging the guys for music lessons, .. I thought Robbie had passed away, for the last 20 years. I had read this in a Rock Encyclopedia 20 some years ago, & believed it; & thought that rock had lost one of "the great musicians" of our time. Whether it be songwriting, or guitar playing, or producing, this man has made a significant contribution to music that is hard to rival. I don't care what Levon says .. lol .. & that is not to diminish Levons' own unique contributions. Robbie was the "guiding force" & leader of "The Band". Well, I very gladly learned that Robbie had not passed away during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Jackson Browne & Bob Seger .. the camera panned to a table where Bruce Springsteen & Robbie Robertson were sitting. I thought I'd seen a ghost .. "that's him, I know it is" & thankfully it was. I later learned that Richard Manuel had passed, & was incorrectly reported as Robbie. Both Richard & Rick Danko are gone now. Let's appreciate the surviving members. The Last Waltz has so many great moments; but one of my favorites is when Eric Clapton's guitar strap breaks & Robbie picks it up without missing a beat!!! "The Man" .. & the camera pans to Clapton who is smiling with gleaming approval of the performance. I thought Van Morrison gave the best guest performance as well. Great DVD!!!!

Great!.......2007-08-15

The Last Waltz is the best rock concert video I have ever seen. The sound is great, the video appropriate, the sense authentic. I hope other bands will review this and force their video production company to rise to this level.

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Last Metro
Starring: Last Metro
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000PDZHH8
Release Date: 2007-05-01

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Movie
Starring: Last Metro
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVD:

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