10 Horror Movie Scenes More Real Than You Think
5. The Last House On The Left - Sandra Peabody Was Really Threatened By The Male Actors
The Last House On The Left is one of the most brutal, oppressive movies ever made, so it's probably no surprise to learn that few people involved in the production actually had any fun making it.
Lead actress Sandra Peabody took the brunt of it though, experiencing genuine abuse on set. Playing Mari, the woman whose torture and rape at the hands of a gang of men takes up so much of the film, Peabody was similarly traumatised by her male co-stars, particularly David Hess and Marc Sheffler.
The two actors boasted about their treatment of Peabody, explaining how they really threatened her before shooting, with Hess allegedly threatening to sexually assault her for real while shooting the rape scenes while Sheffler threatened to kill her if she didn't give a convincing performance after a bunch of failed takes.
Consequently, her terror in the scenes with these men is real.
While the male actors never received the same targeted abuse, David Hess was later put in a precarious position while being chased around with a real-life chainsaw rather than a prop one during the infamous finale.
Using real chainsaws was par for the course in these indie productions though, with Texas Chainsaw Massacre similarly opting to risk using a fully-functioning one while filming.