draft

 

When Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left was released in 1972, few people would have guessed that it would spawn an entirely new sub-genre of horror.* But that’s exactly what happened.  The list of movies inspired by Last House on the Left is expansive: The House on the Edge of the Park, I Spit on Your Grave, Chaos, Hitch-Hike, Night Train Murders, Revenge,  Terror Train and Candy Snatchers to name just a few.

LHotL is a revenge tale that takes inspiration from a Swedish folk tale.  Two teenage girls, Mari and Phyllis,  go into the city for a rock concert. On the way they attempt to buy grass from a guy on the street. He agrees to sell them the weed, but says that they need to come upstairs to his apartment to get it.  The girls are kidnapped by Krug, Weasel, Junior and Sadie. The gang rape them, take them to the country, rape them again then murder them. The gang seek shelter at a nearby house, not knowing that it’s the home of Mari. Mari’s parents let the group stay the night, but Mari’s mom, Estelle, sees her daughter’s necklace and figures out that these are the killers. The couple take brutal revenge, killing all involved.