The actors that became the cast of "Last House on the Left" were more than a little worried about how the film was going to turn out, during shooting. They were all grossed out by the script, with it's strong nature. David A. Hess was perfect for the part of Krug Stillo, and he was one of the first to see Craven and Cunningham, and get a taste of the screenplay. Sandra Cassell got the role of Mari Collingwood, Lucy Grantham bagged Phyllis Stone, veteran actor Fred Lincoln became Fred "Weasel" Padowski, Jeramie Rain got the role of Sadie, and a young Marc Sheffler received the role of Krug's son Junior. These were the main roles, which were filled by unknown actors. Indeed, Craven and Cunningham didn't have the money to bring in big names. They barely had enough to film with. However, they had got pretty experienced actors for the remaining characters. Gaylord St. James was behind Dr John Collingwood, while Cythia Carr played his wife Estelle.

There was so much violence in the film, that Craven decided to involve some fairly comic scenes inbetween the carnage. These involved a bumbling Sheriff (Marshall Anker) and his Deputy (Martin Kove) trying desperately to track down Krug and his murderous thugs, without any success. These scenes were treated by Craven as a much-needed 'comic relief'. However most people who have seen the film, say that these scenes are the worst, and that they detract from the true power of the movie. Whether they were fully needed or not is up for debate, but they certainly lighten up a film that is full of suffering and death.
The filming of "Last House on the Left", under it's shooting title "Night of Vengeance", was less than tranquil. Many of the people involved have since remarked on how amateurish the production was. Craven and Cunningham came up against many problems, especially with locations for various scenes. Some portions of the film were completed around Cunningham's home, and even his car was used in the scene where Mari and Phyllis drive into town. They were forced to work with their own resources.
Editing and production assistant Steve Miner even made a small cameo appearance in the film. Lack of available extras maybe? Well, Miner has recently become a highly prolific Hollywood director. He's made the first two sequels to Cunningham's "Friday the 13th", 1998's "Halloween H20" as well as adventure blockbuster "Lake Placid". Without Miner on the production team of "Last House", Craven and Cunningham might have had a worse time. He did a lot of hard work, that helped the film reach it's theatrical release.
All "Last House" film buffs will probably know of Craven's son making a cameo appearance in one of the movie's earlier scenes. Jonathan Craven appears uncredited as the 'Boy with the Balloon', as Krug and his posse stroll down the streets.

The more harsher scenes were a real pain to shoot, especially for actress Sandra Cassell, who portrayed Mari. Her character went through the toughest ordeal, and she was in one of the most disturbing scenes in the whole movie. The raping of Mari Collingwood was a pretty rough scene to carry off. It is one of the most heavily censored segments of the film, and it's still shocking to this day.

With little hi-tech equipment, the production team always found problems throughout the shoot. Most of these problems involved sound, and hearing characters in some scenes was hard. The amateurish style of the film has since given it a 'gritty' feel, and some people feel that it gives "Last House on the Left" a near 'authentic' atmosphere. This atmosphere was effectively achieved by Victor Hurwitz, who was the Director of Photography. Using his own film cameras, Hurwitz brought a chilling urban feel to the horror genre, and he managed to capture the most sadistic angles of the carnage to produce an excellent movie. Although, by todays standards, "Last House on the Left" looks quite poor in terms of picture quality, Hurwitz managed to create a feeling that is absent in most other horror features.

Music is always an important part of any film, and Craven and Cunningham had received a bit of luck in this department. Cast member David A. Hess performed the films soundtrack. Like the film itself, this soundtrack was unique. A mixture of rock melodies, that is certainly unusual for a horror picture. This added an extra dimension to the film.

The most trying time working on "Last House on the Left", was in the editing department. Craven spent the best part of a year cutting and pasting the film into a fluid whole. With Cunningham and Miner around to help, this process was over a little quicker. But, it was ages until the film saw a premiere at American theatres. Craven knew that he'd gone a little over-the-top with some of the scenes, and the film needed to be checked over. Little did they know that the 'director's cut' would still seem highly extreme to the classification boards of both the MPAA and BBFC.
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