The Last House on the Left (1972)

[OrchidClub]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Yes I do think the movie has good cinematography. Good cinematography isn't about glamorized Hollywood photography. He intended for the film to look gritty and he accomplished that quite well. Same can be said with Tobe Hooper and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. Great, atmospheric cinematography. Last House has jerky camera movements that were a stylistic choice. Just because the movie was low budget doesn't mean that graininess and handheld camera movements exist because they couldn't afford dollies. Halloween was low budget too and that has its own very different style.

What Craven was obviously going for was a gritty documentary-like feel, like much of the cinema verite films that came out of the '60s and early '70s (the Maysles Brothers, Frederick Wiseman etc). Trust me, the way the film looks is completely intentional. So, YES the film has excellent cinematography because, stylistically, Craven accomplished what he set out to accomplish and he does so wonderfully.

Actually, you're wrong. Craven and everybody involved readily admit that they had no idea what they were doing when they made this movie. I'm not saying that's a bad thing -- the original Last House is one of my favorite movies of all-time, and I really think the amateurish quality of the cinematography works in its favor. But I'm not going to pretend that the filmmakers intended the film to look this way from the get-go. It's an extremely low-budget film; they didn't have any other choice.

Relating to what other people were saying, I will defend this movie to the death against anyone who claims the acting is bad. It's very realistic acting, IMO. (Well, except for the "What's this tits business?" scene at the beginning.) Take, for example, the "Piss your pants" scene. The reaction of the two girls is so convincing; it's unbelievably touching. And the comedy scenes don't bother me or seem out of place, either. Aside from the cop scenes that are obviously meant to be funny, I actually find the baddies quite amusing. They're scary BECAUSE they're so goofy while ordering the girls to strip and doing horrendous things to them. The comedic aspects actually heighten the terror, just like in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Carrie, or any number of horror films with funny or campy scenes.

Anyway, I went to Best Buy and picked up the Blu-ray after finding out it was backordered on the website. The picture quality is quite good, and probably the best we're likely to get for this film. It's never going to look pristine but it's a big improvement over the DVD. More natural film grain is present, which helps to bring out the details, and the colors are better. I'm very pleased, especially since the Blu-ray carries over all the extras from the previous DVDs, so I can sell those.

[mayorofsmpleton]

I'd say given the budget and knowledge about how this film was shot it looks good. There's no way to "clean" it further. It's a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" situation (though I think that one looks a bit better for it's age).

I'd give it a solid
3/3.5 out of 5 for VIDEO
3.5/4 for the AUDIO
4 for Extras

All considering the age of the material, the means at which it was shot, the film stock, etc. this one is hardly dreadful looking. It's an improvement over the DVD considerably.

Oh, and regarding the "4:3" comment about the DVD -- I am pretty sure it's only been 16:9 on DVD. On VHS it was 4:3

[OrchidClub]

Originally Posted by mayorofsmpleton

I'd say given the budget and knowledge about how this film was shot it looks good. There's no way to "clean" it further. It's a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" situation (though I think that one looks a bit better for it's age).

I'd give it a solid
3/3.5 out of 5 for VIDEO
3.5/4 for the AUDIO
4 for Extras

All considering the age of the material, the means at which it was shot, the film stock, etc. this one is hardly dreadful looking. It's an improvement over the DVD considerably.

I agree with you, but I don't think age has anything to do with how good a film can look. I've seen films from the 30s that look like they could have been made yesterday (except for the old clothes and being in black and white, of course).

[Ghost_of_Karloff]

Originally Posted by TeresofBlood

I have the same problem. According to another user, everything works on ps3. I'm going to update my firmware tonight to see if that works.

Let me know if that works.

[mayorofsmpleton]

Originally Posted by OrchidClub

I agree with you, but I don't think age has anything to do with how good a film can look. I've seen films from the 30s that look like they could have been made yesterday (except for the old clothes and being in black and white, of course).

When I said age I just meant I doubt the elements for this particular film were kept in the greatest of conditions.

Like in 1998 when they said some of the negatives for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had been found in some box in a warehouse and had been exposed to various climate damage, etc.

As far as age goes I agree 100%. If given a proper restoration any film can look brand new. It's just rare that an old film is given that good of a polish.

[TeresofBlood]

Originally Posted by Ghost_of_Karloff

Let me know if that works.

For some reason my player won't accept the firmware. I'm going from 2.5 to 2.9 and it isn't reading the disc, just powering off and spitting the disc out. Perhaps I have to go up gradually. On the other hand, maybe it's time for a new player. Mine presently doesn't even have an ethernet jack, so I'm wasting blank discs on this firmware business.

About the film, everytime I watch it after a long lapse since my last viewing, I find myself saying "why did I always like this so much". Then it ends and I remember, and I only want to watch it again. It's funny. I'll go a year without watching it, but when I do watch it, I watch it twice in the course of a few days.

[robertc88]

When BDs take abnormally long to load or if they don't ever, one thing to try is disabling BD Live and the internet and then trying it again.

[Ghost_of_Karloff]

Originally Posted by TeresofBlood

For some reason my player won't accept the firmware. I'm going from 2.5 to 2.9 and it isn't reading the disc, just powering off and spitting the disc out. Perhaps I have to go up gradually. On the other hand, maybe it's time for a new player. Mine presently doesn't even have an ethernet jack, so I'm wasting blank discs on this firmware business.

About the film, everytime I watch it after a long lapse since my last viewing, I find myself saying "why did I always like this so much". Then it ends and I remember, and I only want to watch it again. It's funny. I'll go a year without watching it, but when I do watch it, I watch it twice in the course of a few days.

I think its the discs. Some of the features do play. Once you get past the commentaries, the interview with Craven and the Scoring Last House play. Thus far nothing else.

Oddly enough unlike you and the other poster, I don't have problems with the load time of the disc

[TeresofBlood]

My player is notoriously slow, and honestly I wouldn't say this film took longer to load than anything else haha. The deleted scene of Mari dying at the lake was one of the features that DID work for me, but it only fills the upper lefthand corner of the screen. I've seen this happen a couple times before on my player. In fact, all of the features that work play in the upper left corner. Everything else crashes the disc.

[Ghost_of_Karloff]

Originally Posted by TeresofBlood

My player is notoriously slow, and honestly I wouldn't say this film took longer to load than anything else haha. The deleted scene of Mari dying at the lake was one of the features that DID work for me, but it only fills the upper lefthand corner of the screen. I've seen this happen a couple times before on my player. In fact, all of the features that work play in the upper left corner. Everything else crashes the disc.

Yeah Mari dying at the lake worked for me as well, forgot to mention that. As far as the upper left side I actually have a couple of movies like that. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (also MGM/FOX) and Hatchet (Anchor Bay) are like that. If not mistaken so was Return of the Living Dead (MGM/FOX).

I tried calling the number on the back of the Blu-ray for Last House, but they don't have have it listed (only the DVD) and I was told info can only be gotten from Best Buy since its their release.

Firmware update could maybe work, but returning it for a new copy will probably have the same problem unless we are the only 2 people who got the defective copy, which I highly doubt. And seeing as the release wasn't really promoted not many people even seem to know about it and since its only a BB release its tough to get info on the Net

[TeresofBlood]

The firmware update now allows me to view all of the special features. Give that a try Karloff.

[Ghost_of_Karloff]

Originally Posted by TeresofBlood

The firmware update now allows me to view all of the special features. Give that a try Karloff.

Thanks for letting me know. I'll give that a try as soon as I can. I really wanna see the features that's the main reason I bought it. I only own the flipper disc. So hopefully this works for me as well. Again thanks for letting me know

[TanyaTate]

Just picked up my copy today! The Best Buy I went to only had one copy left. I also picked up Hannibal.

[frightism]

Could someone post a picture of what the case looks like?

[OrchidClub]

Originally Posted by frightism

Could someone post a picture of what the case looks like?

I think someone posted a pic in the Best Buy exclusives thread. It has the same front cover as the last DVD release.

[Dxtra30]

For $9.99 at BB you can't go wrong ..
I believe this is the cover for the 1972 cover that is at Best Buy..

[frightism]

Originally Posted by Dxtra30

For $9.99 at BB you can't go wrong ..
I believe this is the cover for the 1972 cover that is at Best Buy..

Thanks!

[Xenxu]

Originally Posted by Trogdor2010

Does this mean we can get The Virgin Springs on Blu Ray?

[Show spoiler]Sorry I couldn't resist.

Good one! Anyone who found Last House on the Left interesting should see Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by Dxtra30

For $9.99 at BB you can't go wrong ..
I believe this is the cover for the 1972 cover that is at Best Buy..

Possibly the worst cover I've ever seen. "Unrated". Is the girl in the photo even in the film? I can barely tell, but I doubt it.

[demoni]

Originally Posted by Dxtra30

For $9.99 at BB you can't go wrong ..
I believe this is the cover for the 1972 cover that is at Best Buy..

Not nice... They should use the original poster art.