The Last House on the Left
Two teenage girls are abducted and brutalised by a gang of criminals, who later unknowingly seek refuge at the home of one victim's parents. Craven's debut feature became a landmark in 1970s exploitation horror and a lightning rod for censorship debates.
Film details
| Original / alt title | The Last House on the Left |
| Year | 1972 |
| Director | Wes Craven |
| Country | USA |
| Runtime | Approx. 84 min |
| Main cast | Sandra Peabody, David Hess, Lucy Grantham |
UK status
One of the most famous prosecuted Video Nasties and an important early Wes Craven film.
Passed 18 uncut in 2008 after a cut 2002 release.
Why it caused controversy
UK censorship / Video Nasties history
A quick status check first, followed by the film’s censorship timeline. A DPP prosecution was an obscenity case against a particular video publication — it was not automatically the same thing as a permanent nationwide “ban”.
Detailed censorship timeline & facts
FACTS & TRIVIA
- Wes Craven made his feature directing debut with this film.
- Producer Sean S. Cunningham later directed Friday the 13th.
- David Hess plays one of the film's most notorious villains, Krug Stillo.
- The title's advertising line warning viewers 'it's only a movie' became famous.
- Its brutality and revenge structure had a major influence on later exploitation cinema.
- It remains one of the central titles in the entire Video Nasty story.
- The Replay sleeve design you uploaded became iconic among UK collectors.
Distributor / VHS label
Replay Video (cover shown).
Trailer
Open a search for the original theatrical / VHS-era trailer. This keeps the archive linking to publicly available trailer sources rather than hosting copyrighted film footage.
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