Death of the Maiden (The Last House on the Left, 1972)

In the beginning of the 70’s Wes Craven was a college professor looking to transition his life. With the help of future Friday the 13th producer Sean S. Cunningham, Craven set out to write and direct his first film, a loose adaption of Ingmar Bergman’s the Virgin Spring.

The young Mari and her friend head off to see a concert in anticipation of her 17th birthday. But on the trip, the two young women end up crossing the paths of a sadistic group of escaped criminals. They proceed to rape and murder Mari’s friend, but Mari runs and falls into the river. Leaving her to die the crew seek a place to hide. They come across a remote house and convince the family to let them enter. The thugs are unaware that they have actually happened upon Mari’s family.

But later Mari appears at the house, on death’s door. Enraged, her parents set about bringing angry retribution up the criminals.

To be honest, the Last House on the Left is a movie I originally saw over 20 years ago. It left me nauseous and I really doubted I would ever watch it again. But I recently got the blu-ray incredibly cheap and decided to get it for the special features.

But I chose to watch the film once more to reassess the work. And honestly, most of the film would be a workable crime thriller. It has scummy bad guys lead by David Hess who is scary beyond words. But the film also suffers from some tonal inconsistencies with the cops appearances in the film almost being comical.

But the thing that keeps me from recommending the film is not the rough edges of a new writer and director. It is the long and lingeringly graphic rape and murder sequence. Certainly, Craven does not play it for entertainment. It is excruciatingly gritty and uncomfortable to sit through. It makes this a film I just have no desire to return to.

October 4, 2020 0

Open House Pt 5 (House: the Collection)

For a long time, it was hard to come by the films in this set, outside of the first two which were more well known. Until Arrow came along, a complete blu-ray set seemed an unlikely scenario.

Each disc comes in its own case with reversible art, one side newly created artwork for the Arrow Releases and the other side the original poster or VHS art. I admit, my preference is to the original art. The paintings are really nice, but the disembodied hand ring the doorbell is iconic.

The Box itself is sturdy, allowing for safe storage.

Each disc is loaded with extras, including bonus interviews, audio commentaries and all new documentaries for three of the films. I wish they had one for the third film. However, the Horror Show includes the American and European cuts in HD.

This is a good set, full of really good extras to let you immerse yourself in the history of each movie.

May 29, 2020 0

Open House pt 4 (House IV: The Repossession, 1992)

After the massive departure with the Horror Show (including abandoning the “House III”) Sean S. Cunningham worked with a new team to bring out House 4.

This film is an attempt to return to something closer to the first two films. This film features the “return” of Roger Cobb, again played by William Katt. Cobb and his wife are being pressured by his step-brother to sell their old house.

Roger is killed an accident that also leaves his daughter wheelchair bound. Roger’s wife Kelly wants to keep the house, but also senses a presence and sees visions. Roger’s Step Brother is in league with a sleazy business man who is looking for a place to unload his toxic waste and they want the land on which the house sits.

The odd thing with this film is that it really does not connect to the original film at all. In that film he was divorced and had a son. This film has a wife and daughter and it appears they have been happily married for over a decade. There is really nothing that indicates there is any connections between the Roger Cobb of the first House and this film.

This one has an uneven feel. There are a few instances where they aim for humor, but it still stays closer to a serious tone for most of the film. And it moves at a slow pace. Having William Katt return as Cobb is just kind of confusing.

Overall, this film has a very early Fox TV movie feel (lie, the early days of Fox when they were trying anything to make it work…like the Omen IV). This never matches up to the heights of fun absurdity of the first two films, nor the gory seriousness of the third film, and it is just a bit lackluster.

May 28, 2020 0

Open House pt 3 (House III: The Horror Show, 1989)

After the failure of House II and the collapse of New World pictures, the franchise took a bit of time off. When Sean S. Cunningham found new studio for funding, the new team wanted to give the franchise a fresh start. So in America, they called the film the Horror Show, while in Europe it would be called House III. Cunningham decided this was better than nothing.

But the end result is that there is nothing that really ties the film to the franchise. There is no house the film is centered around. Instead, the film focuses on traumatized detective Lucas McCarthy. A family man, he is overwhelmed by nightmares about Max Jenke, a notorious serial killer he put away. Okay, most of the kills happen in the house and Max’s spirit is primarily focused on the McCarthy family, but the house never feels like a center piece or character as the two prior films.

But when Jenke is put to death by electrocution, he is actually set free as a vengeful spirit and sets out to torment McCarthy.

McCarthy must try and stop Jenke, while convincing himself, the police and his family that he is not going crazy and homicidal. This film also lacks the sense of fun of the previous two entries, it’s tone dreadfully dark. I mean, Brion James turns in a wicked performance, but he is a much darker take on the Horace Pinker character, making this film a more dreary ride. Even with Lance Henrickson at the lead, it never rises above the standard fare of super natural horror. Writer Allyn Warner even took the infamous Allan Smithee credit. This one just lacks the identity of the first two films.

May 27, 2020 0

Open House Pt 2 (House II: the Second Story, 1986)

Jesse has inherited his ancestral home and finds himself drawn to the history of the structure. His girlfriend works for a sleazy music executive and so his friend Charlie arrives with his girlfriend, the singer in a band to try and get her career a boost.

Jesse discovers that his great great grandfather (for whom he is named) may have been buried with a great treasure…he and Charlie decide to go to the graveyard nearby and exhume his grandfather. When they find the treasure, it is a crystal skull…but that is not all… great great grand dad is still alive. They bring him back, and it turns out that the elder Jesse is a kindly old cowboy who explains that the house is a unique nexus of time and space. But they must protect the skull as evil seeks it out for evil’s own gain.

Each room can lead to another time and place, fraught with excitement and danger. And it is this premise that makes House II stand apart from the first film.

Rather than follow Cobb on another tale in the house, they opted to tell a stand alone tale in an all new house. The tagline was “It’s Getting Weirder” and boy how… the premise is really more of a sci-fi fantasy adventure with little horror elements. Heck the film features Jesse and Charlie acquiring a weird but cute Caterpuppy and a prehistoric baby bird.

The cast of characters are a lot of fun, especially Royal Dano as Gramps (who even gets an emotional moment when he realizes he looks more corpse than living man) and a real highlight in John Ratzenberger as Bill Tanner. The second Cheers alum in the franchise was a coincidence…but frankly it would have been a hilarious conceit to continue the trend.

The film did not do very well upon release, but found new life on TV as it was PG-13 and could actually be played virtually uncut. And the fact is, this movie is just a lot of fun. It may not be much of a horror movie, but it is funny and exciting.

May 26, 2020 0

Open House pt 1 (House, 1985)

So, in the early 80’s Sean S. Cunningham was working on expanding on his success with the Friday the 13th franchise. Teaming up with Fred Dekker (screenwriter and director of Night of the Creeps and the Monster Squad) and Ethan Wiley to make a haunted house film directed by Steve Miner (Director of Friday the 13th pt 2 and Halloween H20).

House tells the story of a popular horror writer who struggles with his post traumatic stress from his time in Vietnam. In addition, since the death of his son, his marriage has fallen apart. He decides to tackle his demons by writing a book about his time as a soldier. He inherits a house from his aunt who hung herself.

As he sets forth making the house his new home, he starts to deal with bizarre phenomenon…like monsters coming out of closets and a monster version of his ex-wife and visions of his dead son.

House is one of the more unique horror films of the mid-80’s. It is very intentionally meant to be fun. The monsters are fun old school practical, but the film never is all that scary. William Katt plays Roger Cobb serious, but with just a hint of a man wondering if he is caving in to absurdity. George Wendt (Norm from Cheers) is his neighbor Harold. Wendt is pretty open that back in 1985, his Cheers success kind of fed his ego to feel he was better than appearing in a horror film (Wendt looks back on this as foolishness on his part and feels the movie held up). This may have benefited his performance though, because he is really entertaining.

As noted, in spite of there being plenty of monsters, this film is tonally light. But it benefits the film. House is a lot of fun to watch, and overcomes any limitations of it’s budget to be a memorable time.

May 25, 2020 1

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Part 1 (Deep Star Six, 1989)

1989 saw three competing sci-fi/horror films. One stood out above the other two, but we will get to that one later.

First up is Sean Cunningham’s Deep Star Six. Cunningham was known primarily for producing and directing the first Friday the 13th. He is probably more well known for his producer credits.

It is the story of an underwater nuclear test facility. One morning they discover an underwater cavern. it apparently housed a whole underwater ecology of it’s own…and it sets free a large creature that starts working it’s way through the crew. The creature turns out to be a large and ancient crab-like beast. It damages the sea base, forcing the remaining crew to figure out a way to decompress and then take them to the surface. oh, and the creature stands between them and the only remaining way to get to the surface.

While the effects are decent, there is nothing that this film offers in chills or scares. It’s most redeeming quality is that it has a pretty good cast. It is loaded with talented character actors. And Greg Evigan (who seemed like he would be on a big star path before he joined the Tekwar Franchise) is pretty likable as the fish out of water, so to speak. but the film itself is only memorable in that it was competing for audiences against two other films with similar concepts in the same year.

February 22, 2016 0