"The Last House on Dead-End Street" is overrated (at least on this board), but does have a certain energy that left me compelled, albeit in a manipulative way. The film has an ex-con who, in order to make some money after getting out of jail, starts making snuff films (which, by the way, are ill-conceived and generally unconvincing) for a group of rich weirdos who "have nothing better to do but sit around and watch pornos all day." Uh huh. Anyway, the con eventually gets fed up with the weirdos and gives them a taste of their own medicine one fateful night.
There are a lot of technical problems with this film, particularly the poor lighting (and the resulting grainy image--the movie's two dominant colors are yellow and purple) and the soundtrack, which was obviously dubbed in post-production. The way the scenes are edited to flash back from past, to present, to past again is often confusing. And the acting...well, what needs to be said? For a movie that's trying to capture 'realism', some of the performances are awfully self-conscious.
However, "Last House" is a video nasty that's so RARE it does warrant a certain exclusive pleasure upon viewing it. The grainy image does help capture a low-rent, bowels-of-hell feel to the settings and characters, and lends some scenes an intensity they wouldn't have otherwise. The amateurish acting (including Roger Watkins' commanding, OTT performance) is sometimes a source of unintentional laughs, and the resulting murder scenes do have grueling relentlessness to them. Not quite garbage and not quite gold, this "Last House" rests snugly in the middle of "Last House on the Left" and "I Spit on Your Grave."
5/10
There are a lot of technical problems with this film, particularly the poor lighting (and the resulting grainy image--the movie's two dominant colors are yellow and purple) and the soundtrack, which was obviously dubbed in post-production. The way the scenes are edited to flash back from past, to present, to past again is often confusing. And the acting...well, what needs to be said? For a movie that's trying to capture 'realism', some of the performances are awfully self-conscious.
However, "Last House" is a video nasty that's so RARE it does warrant a certain exclusive pleasure upon viewing it. The grainy image does help capture a low-rent, bowels-of-hell feel to the settings and characters, and lends some scenes an intensity they wouldn't have otherwise. The amateurish acting (including Roger Watkins' commanding, OTT performance) is sometimes a source of unintentional laughs, and the resulting murder scenes do have grueling relentlessness to them. Not quite garbage and not quite gold, this "Last House" rests snugly in the middle of "Last House on the Left" and "I Spit on Your Grave."
5/10