If The Hills Have Eyes is low-budget and nasty, what does that make The Last House on the Left? Made for just $87,000, Craven's debut film is incredibly confrontational and unrelenting in its approach to depicting violence (particularly sexual violence).It was very effectively marketed with the tagline 'TO AVOID FAINTING keep repeating: it's only a movie...' Ostensibly a remake of Ingmar Bergman's The Virging Spring, The Last House on the Left shows the abduction and torture of two teenage girls. It did very well financially when it was released in 1971, but it also encountered many censorship problems with many ratings boards and governments objecting to its sadistic content. It was only passed uncut by Britain's BBFC in 2008. Far from Craven's more accomplished work, Last House is nevertheless effective and has retained the power to shock and distrub almost forty five years since it was made, an impressive feat however you look at it.
