Let me warn you right away that this is going to be a tough review for me to write. You see, I don't like "Last House on Dead End Street", for the most part. Nope. Don't like it. In case you were worried, this review will prove to you naysayers out there that I'm not all sweetness and light when it comes to movies like this. I know...I know..."Last House on Dead End Street" (or "LHODES", to which it will hereinafter be referred) has garnered quite the reputation in the thirty plus years since its ostensible "release". That reputation holds that LHODES is, according to the box copy, "the most vile and disgusting film ever made". To me, not only is that reputation unfounded, but it's also blatantly incorrect. I can think of a dozen movies that are more shocking, scarier, and yes, even more vile and disgusting than LHODES. That isn't to say that this isn't an important film. It is important, and it is influential...those things I'll concede. But, it's not a good film...and it's far from a scary film. Let me explain...
The synopsis...
Terry Hawkins (played by director Roger Watkins) gets out of jail and decides to take "revenge" on the people who put him there. Well, not really...he decides to take revenge on former associates of his (who are all involved in making porn flicks), but his reasoning is never made clear...they weren't really responsible (I think) for landing Terry in jail, so who knows? Anyway, Terry hooks up with a couple of equally disturbed dudes, a couple of inexplicably disturbed young women, and (with no explanation) holds some sort of Charles Manson-like influence over them, convincing them to help him make a "real snuff movie", where the "stars" are four people who have the loosest possible connection to Terry and his plight. After a long and protracted first act, Terry and company kidnap or otherwise ensnare these four hapless schmucks, and take them to the titular "House"...which isn't really a house (it's an apparently abandoned building at a university), and isn't really the "last", and isn't actually on a "dead end street" in any way, thereby making the title completely meaningless. So, Terry and his subjects proceed to humiliate, torture, and murder the four victims in fairly icky and disturbing ways, and then the film just ends. That's it. No explanation, no wrap-up...it just...ends.
Now, let me make some things very clear:
I have never been one to fault a film for being thin and threadbare, plotwise.
In this chosen genre, I have rarely lambasted a film for being too amateurish, as most of the truly great horror films have been low-budget, fairly amateurish affairs.
I don't tend to judge a film as being "crap" just because the actors might not be Academy Award winners.
I don't even care if the film is generally "badly written".
No, I don't hold it against a film for a combination of one or two of those things. However, I start to take exception when a film exhibits all of those traits, and more. I want to carefully measure my words here. Despite what you might think, it's far more difficult to write a negative review than a positive one, if only because you must force yourself to practice a certain economy of words...a trait that this reviewer ain't exactly famous for. One must be careful not to over-state one's feelings when talking about a film they think is, in essence, as ugly as your granny's underwear and twice as ripe. So, bear with me as I practice a bit of restraint. Yeah, I know...I'm probably going to make some enemies here, but whatever...I'm not doing this because I want to be "loved", or anything...
"LHODES" is just such a film. Sure, it's got the de facto "support" of such genre big-shots as "uncle" Chas Balun, Steve "Swamp Thing" Bissette, and more, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and call "LHODES" a truly bad film. It stinks. It is, in its best moments, a passable reflection on the early 1970's indy-porn industry, and it's an interesting take on the Manson Family murders of Tate/Folger/La Biancha, et al...but that's about it. It's atrociously acted (for the most part...though Watkins does turn in a reasonably effective, clearly crystal-meth-fueled performance..."I'm directin' this fuckin' mooo-vay!"), unbelievably poorly dubbed (so much so that it makes your average Godzilla movie look well-dubbed by comparison), badly shot, and asininely structured. It's really like a train wreck, to me. Oh...maybe I'm too hard on it...there are one or two standout moments, and some of the lighting design is interesting and effective, but honestly, I can't recommend LHODES for any reason except as a quasi-interesting nugget of early seventies ephemera. This is one of the only films that is very frequently mentioned in the same breath as "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "Last House on the Left", but has no right to be on that short list of the most important, shocking low-budget horror films ever made.
...which isn't to say that Barrel Entertainment's two-disc presentation of this film is bad, of course. This is one of the most complete, well-researched, well-presented DVD releases I have ever seen. The extras include cover art by Steve Bissette, the best transfer (even though it's still crappy) that this film deserves, a running commentary track by Watkins and maven Chas Balun (which is really quite funny and entertaining), assorted outtakes and deleted scenes (none of which actually help the finished product), a long radio interview circa 1973, a handful of short films from early in Watkins' career, a very long and interesting set of recorded phone calls wherein Watkins attempts to secure camera equipment, shooting space, and more...all on his admittedly nonexistent budget), trailers, alternative opening and closing scenes, the obligatory Necrophagia music video comprised of gory shots from the movie, a stills gallery, and a great set of liner notes by Headpress editor David Kerekes. All of these extras serve exactly two purposes; to show how bad the movie really is, and to show how dedicated Watkins was to making it. I will recommend this Two Disc presentation of "Last House on Dead End Street", but only because the incredible extras are worth watching simply to get some secondary education about how sometimes, the best laid plans of mice and men are oft to go astray.
This is a truly wonderful, exhaustive package full of fascinating facts and extras for a truly awful film. So, manage your expectations, and make your buying decisions from there, people.
Let me warn you right away that this is going to be a tough review for me to write. You see, I don't like "Last House on Dead End Street", for the most part. Nope. Don't like it. In case you were worried, this review will prove to you naysayers out there that I'm not all sweetness and light when it comes to movies like this. I know...I know..."Last House on Dead End Street" (or "LHODES", to which it will hereinafter be referred) has garnered quite the reputation in the thirty plus years since its ostensible "release". That reputation holds that LHODES is, according to the box copy, "the most vile and disgusting film ever made". To me, not only is that reputation unfounded, but it's also blatantly incorrect. I can think of a dozen movies that are more shocking, scarier, and yes, even more vile and disgusting than LHODES. That isn't to say that this isn't an important film. It is important, and it is influential...those things I'll concede. But, it's not a good film...and it's far from a scary film. Let me explain...
