LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972)

Well its been a while since I last watched this one (almost 3 years) so I thought I'd give it another run and see how this one held up on another watch.

Since that first viewing I also managed to catch the remake of this one, which I have to say I liked better as it had a more modern style, but this version seemed more confronting than the version I originally saw (I must have seen a censored version originally) So it definitely won back a few points there!

This is the directorial debut from the mastermind that brought you "The Nightmare on Elm St" series, Wes Craven.  It follows the story of two innocent young girls, Mari and Phyliss who go into the city to watch the rock band Bloodlust on Mari's 17th birthday and decide to score some pot (Not even once, kiddies hahah) and instead get involved with some creepy drug addicted sleaze balls, who have recently escaped from prison where they were serving time for the violent murders of a priest and a couple of nuns. The girls are then (presumably) raped and drugged in their groups flat and dragged out to the surrounding countryside, where the gang continue to torment and assault the pair. 

The major part of the movie follows their attempts to escape from here on in,  obviously I can't say too much more than that without spoiling the movie.... but theres some cool twists and turns in the plot, it's not just the 'paint by numbers' teen escape / horror movie that many films end up falling into so for that reason alone it does have a lot of merit.
Some regard this film as a classic, I have to say on first viewing I wouldn't have gone that far, but on second viewing I found I got a lot deeper into the characters and the true impact of this film really hit me. ITs definitely a worthy addition to any horror fans collection.

The film has a gritty sense of realism about it, and Wes Craven does succeed in building an atmosphere which is repulsive in regards to the sex crimes involved but also like a car crash that you can't look away from. Whilst not as gory as the remake once you start watching this one its a hard one to get away from, I would imagine this would have bene fairly extreme for the time as in many countries the film had to be modified and in others it was even banned.
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A DEADLY BELSSING (1981)

This one, directed in 1981 by a then relatively unknown,  but rising star after his directorial effort in "The Hills have Eyes" in 1977, Wes Craven  revolves around a group of women who find themselves in the unfortunate situation of living in bible belt America surrounded by a backward religious sect known as the "Hittites".

Modelled on the Amish community they fear god and everything else they deem falling outside his teachings. Nothing really too bad in that I guess if that's how you feel you want to live your live but one of the flock (the same guy who played the inbred in "The Hills have Eyes / Goonies") starts taunting (well in this day and age it would be victimizing) the young women on fear they are incubus, sent by the devil to temp men.

This one stars a very young Sharon Stone as one of the sisters. The other two sisters are really good looking too so at least there's some eye candy as an added bonus. On another note, it's interesting how many big stars seem to have gotten a leg up in horror films and in particular Wes Craven's works. This one I would have to say falls closer to the "thriller" territory than straight out horror but either way I think it's a great watch.

Anyway back to the plot, one excommunicated member of the religious sect dies under a tractor in mysterious circumstances, then the big slow guy William is knocked off next... the mystery deepens as to who is killing off the locals but of course I won't go any further than that for fear of ruining the story for you, rest assured there are some good plot twists that keep the viewer interested for the duration of the film. While I wouldn't go so far as to say its a classic its a great watch and definitely worth seeing if you can get a hold of the film.

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FEAST (2005)

This is by no means a classic of the horror genre but it's a decent watch and manages to keep your attention the whole way through. It's produced by horror legend Wes Craven (responsible for A Nightmare on Elm St. , and Last House on the Left amongst others) so you know it will be of at least decent quality. The creature effects and horror are top notch with the horror looking very convincing with some genuinely disturbing scenes in this

The movie itself revolves around a bar in "outback" America (presumably Texas), where the few locals are having a quiet drink and a distressed traveller comes in warning of the vicious creatures attacking everything in site. The creatures themselves are hideous and well designed. The locals board up the bar and prepare for the coming onslaught. The action pretty much takes place within the confines of the bar as one by one the drinkers are picked off by the flesh eating creatures.



The plot is fairly simple and straight forward (I've pretty much summed it up there) the group covers the usual stereotypes, couple of tough biker looking types and singer Henry Rollins as a character called 'Coach' the action moves along well and the film is quite enjoyable... Some impressive star power with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as two of the main barfly characters make sure this will have a larger than B grade appeal. Over all its less of a 'thinker' and more a sit back and enjoy the ride type of movie...

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LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (2009 REMAKE)

Another episode in the battle of the "remakes vs. original" debate........... and for once I'm going to say the remake takes out the fight for the better film! I didn't mind the 1972 original (directed by Wes Craven) but it lacked the serious impact this this remake has.... In this revisited version of events the violence is much more graphic and personally I feel it properly conveys the violence and sadism of the group of pot smoking "hippies" that abduct and torment the poor girls and leave them for dead.

The action is shot quite well in all its full, glorious, digital technology.......... usually I prefere the old school method but in this film the new technology really served it well.  This film way well win because it didn't exactly take on a champion of the horror genre but hey its good to see the remake come up on top for once. Upon further research I discovered that Wes Cravens studio produced this movie so I guess if he had a hand in the making of the film you know he'd want to do justice to his own film.

Onto the film itself, which follows more or less a similar plot line to the original this time the girls get accosted at a gas station in a rural town rather than a big city movie theatre but they still succumb to the temptations of the "devils lettuce" and smokes some ... wait for it... POT with some boys they really shouldn't be hanging around. This leads them to being tortured, raped and humiliated by their new found male friends and one of the girls eventually making it back to her parents house for refuge, which of course starts a revenge war on the young males by the parents of the surviving teen.

Overall I loved it and a very enjoyable watch worthy of any discerning horror fan

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SHOCKER (1989)

Directed in 1989 you know anything with Wes Craven as director is going to be a pretty solid film. Shocker is no exception. Violent killer Horace Pinker has been terrorising the town for a while now and nobody can get a lead on who he is, except high school football player Jonathon who after a series of on field head blows develops an ability (maybe a psychic dream connection) to meet the killer in his dreams and see the brutal crimes for himself.... witnessing the brutal murder of his own family. Jonathon's dream connection to the serial killer allows him to lead the police to Horace and have him captured (in spectacularly violent fashion) and eventually put to the chair.

The main problems is that true evil like Horace doesn't die, and after a black magic ritual conducted in his cell before his execution, neither does Horace's spirit, as a result ...after his physical body is executed Horace's spirit continues inflicting his atrocities in a more supernatural fashion, possessing the bodies of still living to hunt down Jonathon. There's a little more to the plot than that but I'll leave a few surprises for the viewer..... Overall its a really cool flick and the attention to detail is pretty good, especially the way that the hosts infected by Horace have the same gimpy leg that Horace does.

It has a similar feel to another Wes Craven movie, "A Nightmare on Elm St" in many regards and I'd say it would appeal to a similar crowd.  The movie has a deliciously 80's hard rock / heavy metal soundtrack featuring Megadeth, Iggy Pop, and "The dudes of Wrath" featuring hard rock icons Tommy Lee, Paul Stanley, Rudy Szarzo and Vivian Campbell which provided a huge bonus for an old metal head like myself!



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