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| Presented here, for the first time on the Net, is a complete analysis of the film scene-by-scene. No detail about the progressing storyline will be left out, and relevant details upon the film's production have also been included. If you haven't already seen the film, this will spoil it. Otherwise, read about why 'Last House on the Left' has been hailed as one of the most disturbing films ever made...Key production details have been placed in orange, along with names. Please do not use the work over these pages, without permition. |
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| Scene 1: Home Sweet Home As the film begins, director Wes Craven uses his now legendary technique. We see various shots of American countryside, most notably a lake. All is quiet and at ease (though we know the atmosphere will change later). David Hess's mellow soundtrack fills our ears, and we are pulled into a false sense of security, a security that will dissappear as the film carries on. We see a mailbox, with Dr John Collingwood's name on it - he lives in the area. A car pulls up near the mailbox, occupied by a postman. He greets the Collingwood family dog, and reveals some post for Mari Collingwood - John's daughter. According to the postman, it is going to be Mari's 17th birthday. He gets out of the car, and places the mail in the box. We cut to the bathroom of the Collingwood's, David Hess's soundtrack is now pounding in true 70's form, and we see Mari Collingwood's body partially through the tinted glass of the shower. She gets out and inspects herself infront of the mirror. This introduction to the character, clearly establishes how the film was originally going to be, which would have been more of a sexploitation movie than a horror movie. Craven's original draft of the screenplay involved scenes of a more erotic nature. |
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| We then cut immediately to the living room of the Collingwood's. There, sits John and his wife Estelle. They talk about life in general, as John sits reading a newspaper. This whole segment of the film feels very much like an American sitcom, introducing the family with some decidedly cliched dialogue. It also has a light humour to it all. Mainly, this scene is there to establish the relationship between Mari and her parents. Since Mari's birthday is looming, her father gives Mari an early birthday present. It's a peace symbol necklase, which is a distinctive image of the early 70's. Indeed, Craven tried to establish that Mari was part of the 'Love' generation. This makes what happens to Mari later on in the film, even more dispicable. Mari is going to a rock concert to see 'Bloodlust', a band which according to her father massacres chickens live on stage. The concert is going on in the 'bad part of town'. Going back to the more raunchy approach of Craven's original screenplay, some of that sleazy feel found it's way into the completed movie, and is quite abundant here. The problem with Last House on the Left is that it's an intelligent and thought-provoking horror story, but at the same time it's a brutal piece of sleaze. And it's this hint of sexual vibes mixed with violence that got up the BBFC's nose. This first scene includes some of the dialogue (mostly from Mari's mouth), that was in one of Craven's early drafts. It's not surprising that Craven's original name for the film was Sex Crime of the Century. In this scene, her parents realise that Mari isn't wearing a bra (she says that "no-one wears them anymore"), and much to the delight of male viewers, her father points out that we can see her nipples through her shirt. Before Last House had begun production, Craven had worked with Sean Cunningham on the soft-core underground hit Together, which probably contributed to the crew's interest in raunchier scenes. The fictional band 'Bloodlust' was originally meant to have appeared in a whole scene. This scene was supposed to be the sexual fantasies of both Mari and Phyllis, who wonder "what it would be like to make it with Bloodlust". This chunk of dialogue is still present, but the scenes were never filmed. Money restraints and cast disagreements saw the scenes being cut from the shooting script, then titled Night of Vengeance. |
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| After Craven introduces us to the Collingwood's, we get our first glimpse of Mari's rogue accomplice Phyllis Stone. This segment of the scene happens in montage, inter-cut with images of Mari and Phyllis walking through the forest, and with images of Phyllis meeting Mari's parents. A chunk of dialogue pivotal to the rest of the story, is when the girls discuss getting some grass before the concert. This scene draws to a close in the forest near the Collingwood residence, after Mari tells her new friend that "she feels like a woman for the first time". It is in this forest where Mari and Phyllis will later meet their unfortunate demise.... |
| Continue with the Scene-By-Scene Analysis on the NEXT page |
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| At home with the Collingwood's |
| Sandra Cassell as Mari Collingwood |
| Lucy Grantham as Phyllis Stone |