Seedy, dirty, vile and indecent, I wasnt *quite* prepared for just how intense ‘Last House on Dead End Street’ was going to be. Though, frankly having seen it now, Im amazed this film isnt bought up more often in discussions of film influence.

Would ‘Frank Booth’ in Blue Velvet be half the psychopath he is had this film not existed? Would ‘Pink Flamingos’ have pushed the boundaries of taste and decency quite as far as it did had word of this films existence not been circulating for years before its ACTUAL release?

Shot in an abandoned Campus in 1973 and eventually released in theaters in 1978 after MULTIPLE re-edits, retitles and reworkings…If you’re looking for an example of a ‘dyed in the wool’ US Exploitation film that REALLY doesnt pull its punches, this is the film for you.

The plot follows recently released prisoner Terry Hawkins (played by the films director Roger Watkins) Who, while spending a year locked away, has decided to come up with a ‘brilliant’ idea that going to turn his life around…

And, while I’d rather not spoil the plot of this one TOO heavily, as I think its best enjoyed as blind as I went into it. One thing that I DO love in this film is the themes on desperation. This film has no sunlit uplands, it has no rescue boat on the horizon. We are trapped with desperate people, in desperate situations forced into horrifying conditions by a group of people who have embraced the absurdity of their own ‘desperate living’.

Its important to bear in mind that around this time, New York (Where this film was being shot) was in the mid stages of a near total collapse that would leave hundreds of thousands essentially in abject poverty. I dont think this kind of film could have been made anywhere else and under any other circumstances.

The script is minimalist, harsh and unforgiving. There are ZERO likeable characters its just shades of unpleasentness. Whether it’s Jim Palmer, a porn director who seemed to shine during the ‘Nudie Cutie’ era, now forced into shooting harder and harder material (often reluctantly involving his own wife) and slowly being forced into incresingly less legal circumstances to please his clients.

or it could be Terry himself, a man desperate not to return to the prison system, and burning with vengence for a society and system he feels wronged within.

We have a clean 3 act structure present here, the characters are purposfully played down in terms of complexity. we are NOT dealing with nuanced characters in this piece. their solutions are often the most extreme and simplest ones. they do NOT lament their decisions through this.

The pacing is frankly breakneck, at an hour and 17 minutes this thing barely felt like an hour to me. Tonally? This is the film ‘Bloodsucking Freaks’ wishes it was, and the film that the ‘Ban this filth’ crowd thought that ‘Driller Killer’ WAS. its a dark, bleak pit of dread snatched away on celluloid and the closest comparison I can align it to would likely be Passolinis ‘Salo’ or a much less nuanced ‘I spit on your grave’ sheerly for how our main antagonists revel in the maliciousness they’re causing.

The direction is PERFECT for this kind of film, I caught this movie on Vinegar Syndromes release of ‘Corruption’ as an easter egg, and the version they’ve included on that disc is a VERY rough ‘grindhouse-esq’ partially restored version. and when I tell you that the grime and filth on that print GREATLY enhanced the viewing experience of this one. I really mean it.

It made the film feel even more like something that was shot for a ‘private’ audience, and unearthed years later. Which was the intention at the time, but because of the handheld, ‘run and gun’ rough around the edges approach to the direction, AND the fact a significant chunk of the film is presented as POV. the worse this film looks, the more realistic it seems to feel.

Direction of the cast is solid, obviously it helps when your director is also your main star, it really helps give the film a strong sense of identity and it looks like Watkins was very open to improvisation, with a strong cast who could also improvise well taking influence from Watkins performance leading to an increasingly demented ‘Upping of the stakes’ from all involved.

Composition comes second here to emotion on film. Everything is rough and ready and intentionally so, but this is a case of organised chaos, as its clear this wasnt some inexperienced chump swinging a camera around for 77 minutes, but rather a VERY talented hand, knowing exactly how to use the ‘handheld’ experience to carefully curate EXACTLY what the audience NEED to see (and better still, to hide what they *think* they see)

As such framing isnt this films strongest point in a traditional sense, but in terms of aiding the real feeling of unease, this film flourishes with character. the edit is loose, methodical, but non traditional. shots run for significantly longer than usual. Cut only when essential and the whole thing feels like it was assembled on an ‘essentials’ basis rather than to he standards of the day.

Performance wise? its incredible. With Roger Watkins deluded, manic and horrifying portrayal of Terry Hawkins being frankly mezmorising in places. He’s really truely unhinged and terrifying for the vast majority of this movie, and probably one of the all time great antagonists of cinema.

But! thats not to say the supporting cast underperform! Terrys crew are the perfect foil, hyenas following the leader of the pack into a savaging. they’re equally demented, cackling and frankly…odd, for lack of a better expression. they really help build up the sense of utter hopelessness ANYONE entering Terrys world (voluntarily or otherwise) experiences. Had they even been SLIGHTLY tamer than they are, the whole thing would have fallen apart. So I really have to applaud everyone on all fronts to so wholeheartedly committing to this.

And the soundtrack is the ribbon that ties this whole thing together, its lound, wailing, banging drone noise. From near start to near finish, its a wall of sound. And I can only BEGIN to imagine what this would sound like through a theater sound system. I can already envision my loss of ability to think clearly its that intense.

In fact; the only things I didnt really like about this movie, were the one or two concessions to either the censors, or to the bleakness, nothing too terrible, just the odd line delivery here and there and the odd bit of V/O post work that makes you think ‘someones told them to add that in to take the edge off…’

Clearly missing the point that this movie is SUPPOSED to be oppressive, and isnt SUPPOSED to be toned down.

But I digress. If you have an affinity to horror, exploitation, or the art of subverting taste and decency. and you HAVENT seen this. Its your moral duty to find the most torn up battered copy of this film that you can get your hands on and watch it ASAP.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-last-house-on-dead-end-street/