Extreme Cinema - The Last House on the Left (1972)

The Last House on the Left, 1972.

Directed by Wes Craven.
Starring Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, Gaylord St. James and Cynthia Carr.


SYNOPSIS:

A seemingly harmless couple exact brutal revenge on a group of criminals who have murdered their daughter and her best friend.


The early 1970s was the period in which America was a nation bitterly divided over the Vietnam War. Wes Craven, a then young director of exploitation films, did not support the war and wanted to make a film that honestly depicted violence as uncensored media coverage was showing him. He wrote a script based on Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring (1960) which featured a rape revenge narrative. Wes Craven’s resulting film eventually entitled The Last House on the Left (1972) is about two teenage girls who are raped and murdered by a gang of escaped convicts, who are then in turn murdered by the parents of one of their victims.

In 1974, a pre-cut US version which removed much of the film’s gore was rejected by censor Stephen Murphy who saw no artistic merit in the film and was concerned about the film’s attitude towards sexual violence. The film was again refused a certificate in the year 2000 for its explicit and sadistic sexual violence. However, Leicester Council overruled this ban and screened the film uncut with an 18 certificate that same year. The film was eventually released onto video/DVD in 2002 with cuts made by the BBFC. These included the humiliation of one of the girls when she was made to wet herself, the two naked girls being forced on each other and a scene where one of the criminals used a knife to carve his name into a girl’s chest before raping her. The most disturbing scene however was a graphic disemboweling. Ironically, these scenes were included in a documentary on the region 2 DVD. It wouldn’t be until 2008 that the film would be released in its original uncut form.

Despite its reputation The Last House on the Left has dated horribly, looking like cheap exploitation even on DVD. Apart from the harrowing scenes in which the genuinely terrified girls are forced to strip naked in front of the gang and the brutal rape and murder scenes, the film is frequently unconvincing. Whilst Wes Craven’s hand held camera technique has stood the test of time, the easy listening soundtrack is grossly inappropriate for a horror film and is frequently intrusive as are comedy scenes of two bumbling cops looking for the missing girls. Due to this the film never really builds the tension it needs to be suspenseful.

Krug (David Hess) the leader of the gang has a very unusual look to him and is well built making his character intimidating. Sadie (Jeramie Rain) the only girl in the gang comes across as twisted and depraved, not least because she has a hairstyle like Moor’s murderer Myra Hindley. Weasel (Fred Lincoln) the suit wearing criminal looks the most harmless but is just as devious as the others. Unfortunately, the film can’t help but include the requisite easily led dumb criminal Junior (Marc Sheffler) who is simply annoying.

A more naturalistic style of acting would have benefited the film immensely as only Sandra Cassel as one of the original victims is convincing as a regular person. It is difficult to understand however why the film was banned as it never glorifies the rape and murder scenes. It appears the BBFC dismissed it simply because it is exploitation. That said Last House on the Left will always be remembered for its once status as an unobtainable video nasty together with the likes of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Evil Dead (1981) regardless of its merits as a quality film. It was even deemed worthy enough for a 2009 remake.

Santosh Sandhu graduated with a Masters degree in film from the University of Bedfordshire and wrote the short film 'The Volunteers'.

Extreme Cinema - The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist, 1973.

Directed by William Friedkin.
Starring Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller and Linda Blair.


SYNOPSIS:

A desperate single mother is forced into hiring a priest to perform an exorcism on her possessed daughter.


The Exorcist was made by former documentary maker William Friedkin who had then recently won an Oscar for The French Connection (1971). The film was based on a real life possession involving a young boy in 1949. In the film it would be a young girl (Linda Blair) who is possessed by a demon, prompting her single mother to seek help from two priests to perform an exorcism.

In 1971, the BBFC cut a sequence out of Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) which featured a group of nuns raping a statue of Christ. Although retiring censor John Trevelyan liked the film he conceded further cuts suggested by members of the BBFC. These included scenes of nudity, masturbation, orgies and a fantasy sequence in which the priest Grandier (Oliver Reed) came down from a cross to make love to Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave). Despite the awarding of an X certificate and further excisions made to avoid a religious backlash, the film was seen as blasphemous by the Nationwide Festival of Light, a religious organization who succeeded in getting the film banned by several local authorities. By 1974, censor Stephen Murphy had passed The Exorcist (1973) uncut but its religious subject matter caused further consternation and resulted in its screenings being picketed by the Festival of Light who linked the film to the suicide of a teenage boy.

The film was passed uncut onto video in 1980 but was later withdrawn in 1986 after the introduction of the Video Recordings Act which stipulated that a film was liable if it caused potential harm to viewers. Due to media attacks and much negative correspondence the BBFC had received at the time of the film’s release, a video certificate was deemed irresponsible. Censor James Ferman would refuse the film a certificate again in 1988. This would continue for many years with Ferman arguing that video films were more accessible to children and that the film’s protagonist was a 12 year old girl which would prompt children’s interest in the film. Ferman was also concerned about the response from religious groups especially those who believed in demonic possession.

When Ferman retired from the board in 1998, his successor Robin Duval passed the film uncut the following year. Duval reasoned that many social and cultural changes had occurred since the film’s original release and that many children would be familiar with much stronger material. This also came at a time when the board had acquired a new president in Andreas Whittam Smith who was promoting a more lenient BBFC.

The Exorcist has surprisingly managed to retain much of its power, with director Friedkin’s documentary style giving the film an authentic feel. The cast are uniformly excellent especially the mother (Ellen Burstyn) whose breakdowns are very convincing as she struggles to cope with this supernatural occurrence. The scene where the possessed girl masturbates with a crucifix with blood pouring from her crotch is still strong even by today’s standards. Whilst some of the special effects have dated, some of the more subtle scenes are still very effective. These include a sequence in a church where a priest notices one of the statues is grotesquely deformed and the now reinstated scene in which the possessed girl descends a flight of stairs like a spider.

It is still confusing however as to why the film has caused so much controversy as it does flaunt a very strong pro-religion message. The girl is made to do evil things by the malevolent spirit that has possessed her, forcing her to shout obscenities and harm herself. In the film, doctors and psychiatrists are unable to help the girl so her atheist mother consults a doubting priest to perform an exorcism. He in turn joins forces with a much older and experienced priest and both die saving the girl. The final scene in which the liberated girl looks up at a priest and kisses him on the cheek as if to say thank you is a very poignant conclusion to the film.

Santosh Sandhu graduated with a Masters degree in film from the University of Bedfordshire and wrote the short film 'The Volunteers'.

Extreme Cinema - The Idiots (1998)

The Idiots, 1998.

Directed by Lars von Trier.
Starring Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing and Nikolaj Lie Kass.


SYNOPSIS:

Unhappy with their lives, a group of misfits find solace in feigning disability.


Lars von Trier’s The Idiots (Idioterne, 1998) features the potentially offensive story of a group of middle class people who pretend to be handicapped as they are unhappy with society. The film begins with Karen (Bodil Jørgensen) a middle aged woman eating in a restaurant. Karen notices two men who appear to be disabled interrupting other customers. Their female companion Suzanne (Anne Louise Hassing) is trying to take care of them. When Stoffer (Jens Albinus), one of the disabled men takes Karen by the hand, she accompanies him and his two friends to their car and joins them for a car ride. Karen then realizes that these are a group of pranksters who did it deliberately to avoid paying for their meal.

The rest of Stoffer’s group is then introduced via straight to camera confessions which continue throughout the film. Karen is the last to join this group of misfits and looks uncomfortable when they visit an insulation factory and pull the same disabled prank. She tells the group leader Stoffer that she does not find the group’s activities amusing. Karen frequently suffers breakdowns and it becomes obvious that she is hiding an unhappy personal life. The group discusses Karen to camera and come to the conclusion that she needs them to find happiness as she is a lost soul. On a later expedition to the woods, Karen asks Stoffer why the group behaves this way as there are people who are genuinely disabled. Stoffer tells Karen that the group is looking for their ‘inner idiot’ as they are all unhappy with their conventional lives and are therefore enjoying ‘spassing out’.

As the group’s pranks continue the to camera confessions make it clear that the group have since dissolved and gone back to their original lives. As Karen leaves the group she tells them that she is happy and has enjoyed her experience. Having struck up a good friendship with Suzanne, Karen takes Suzanne with her when she returns to her family. Suzanne then learns that Karen’s son had died prior to her joining the group.

This film would not be very engaging if it wasn’t for Karen who in many ways represents not only the group’s conscience but also the conscience of the audience watching. The group did feel ashamed as they met a group of genuinely disabled people. At the end as Karen began to ‘spass’ out in front of her family, she began to realize that she couldn’t escape the reality of losing her son. She had joined the group hoping to cope with her loss but was still unhappy. This scene was very moving.

The film also featured full frontal nudity (male and female) and a graphic orgy scene with penetration shots. Thankfully this was relatively brief and was followed by a tender love scene between two of the younger members of the group with obvious strong feelings for each other. The film was not as offensive as its subject matter suggested though it was not an easy film to like as it didn’t make any good points about the disabled and their place in society. The film focused instead on a group of people who really should have known better. Despite the film’s controversial subject matter, the BBFC did not consider it as offensive to the disabled and released it uncut with an 18 certificate, seemingly because it was an art film only likely to appeal to a certain kind of audience.

Santosh Sandhu graduated with a Masters degree in film from the University of Bedfordshire and wrote the short film 'The Volunteers'.