bignothingdrake310 I am going to keep this one short because I really do not have much to say. This is one of the absolute worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life. I know that it is a cult favorite and usually I gravitate towards these types of movies, hell I liked The August Underground Trilogy, I enjoy movies like The New York Ripper and I even enjoyed Cannibal Cookout and I love exploitation films. I'm a huge fan of Jack Hill, his whole filmography is a huge part of what got me through high school. So I thought that I would have a blast with this one but it was just atrocious. The acting was horrible, absolutely horrible the performances here make The Room look like Oscar winning material, that by far is the worst part. The writing, I mean I'm not expecting Shakespeare what I am expecting at least some level competence but the dialog was so ridiculous and hackneyed oh my god, I can't decide which is worse the acting or the writing. It is laughably stupid, the dialogue is so ridiculous that even Dolemite would be embarrassed by it. It is actually very rare that I don't enjoy movies like this. I've been waiting to see it for years and now that I have, I want that hour and twenty minutes of my life back. This is retarded, plain and simple this movie is retarded. I don't know how it has found this large of an audience, it is just crap. If I could give it a zero star rating, trust me I would.

pyromanticways I bought the "2 disc collector's edition" (Tartan) of this infamous pseudo-snuff movie (I tried to watch an awful DivX copy of it before, but it was barely watchable and I gave up). I must say I expected much more from it. I found the first 45 minutes quite boring and lame; the last killings get graphic and "imaginative" though. The 2nd disc contains useless outtakes (with no audio) and 4 short films, which are not bad, especially "Ron Rico". All 4 short films have no soundtrack but a commentary (very funny at times, but dull after a while), I guess mainly due to the songs they original used, they didn't have copyrights for.

Lt_Coffey_182 There are some films that simply should never get made; Last House on Dead End Street is definitely one of them, for many reasons. I know moral boundaries are there to be broken, but they're also there for a purpose. I've always been a great advocate for freedom of speech and believe that raging psychos are a result of a lot more than just listening to Marilyn Manson and watching violent films, however, I believe Last House… has taken things too far. The low budget production makes the film appear horrifically real and almost glorifies the levels of violence being portrayed on screen. I am very glad to have watched this as I can now see the argument from the other side of the coin; an argument I once viewed as ignorant. My reaction after watching this film, asides from immense shock, was that my entire belief system had been challenged. I've watched many of Takeshi Miike's films and always found the graphic violence and disturbing nature shocking but purposeful and I think that's where Last House… falls short; there is no reasoning behind the violence, no rationale whatsoever why people would do this. Terry's psychotic nature is expressed very well and it is clear to see he is capable of committing such horrendous acts but the foundation of this being him getting thrown in prison for a year is not very believable. This film could argue that it was questioning the morals of the time by illustrating how demanding black market cinema audiences were for explicit material but if this is the case, Last House… is the antithesis of what it primarily set out to be.Moral dilemma's aside, Last House… is a pretty poor film. Clearly on a shoestring budget, which the director mainly blew on drugs apparently, the cinematography is awful. It looks as if it is being shot with a hand-held when the camera pans side to side in certain scenes and there are definite shots out of focus at some points. Despite this, the direction is actually rather good. There are some first person shots which are very effective and do very well at stepping up the horror and there some off camera goings on which seem so juxtaposed when considering what is actually being shown on screen. The insert shots, in the introductory narration, of the climatic torture scene are quite artistic and makes sure the audience know what they're in for. Roger Watkins appears to fancy himself as the Orson Welles of Grindhouse cinema and if he was the equivalent, it's of no surprise that these exploitation horrors are now near impossible to find. In some ways, I feel sorry for Watkins as he does seem to be quite visionary in his approach, but the vision is somewhat misguided. The score is very atmospheric and perfectly matches the murky scenes and low budget feel of the film. The music, despite being so simple, is probably one of the strongest aspects of the film.As no respectable actor would want to appear in this, it is a dead cert that the acting in the film would be nothing short of dreadful. Terry Watkins pulls off the psychotic nature of Terry quite well but in all the build up scenes and when he is taunting his victims, he is awful. No charisma and no believability whatsoever. The rest of the cast I doubt have ever been in a film since and used pseudonyms for a good reason; I wouldn't want to admit to being in this film. The characterisation of the characters is very bad; four people do not just follow some psychotic moron in to making a bunch of snuff films. This probably did little to help their performances but they're not actors, they're more likely friends of the director who just wanted to help him out.The plot is just an excuse to provide tons of gore and reveal frequent doses of female flesh, there is little substance and as a film, it suffers. There are of course millions of people who will lap this film up because they actually like to be shocked or even disturbed by the extremes of human nature; I am not one of these people. I like to see a rationalisation of nastiness and a more subtle approach to film making. The torture scene at the end is very graphic and very unpleasant to watch but the surreal, grotesque torturing of the final victim is one of the most disturbing and uncomfortable experiences I've had watching a film.Apparently Last House… is the film no one will admit to having seen; I'll admit to it as it opened my mind and expanded my view on cinema but in no way did I find it enjoyable and can't see myself watching it again. This is definitely a proud video nasty!

Paul Andrews The Last House on Dead End Street starts as Terry Hawkins (editor, writer, producer & director Roger Michael Watkins as Steven Morrison) is released from a New York State penitentiary after serving a year for the possession & sale of dangerous drugs, he is somewhat bitter & twisted at having the last year of his life taken away & decides to do something for which he will be remembered. He was once an amateur porn filmmaker & sees this as a way to make some money & leave a lasting impression on society... Terry recruits four other misfits, a cow molesting slaughterhouse worker named Ken Hardy (cinematographer Ken Fisher as Dennis Crawford), a young & easily impressionable cameraman Bill Drexel (Bill Schlageter as Lawrence Bornman) plus two desperate for money women named Kathy Hughes (Kathy Curtin as Janet Sorely) & Patricia Kuhn (Pat Canestro as Elaine Norcross). Together they lure four unsuspecting porn peddler's, the money-man Steve Randall (Steve Sweet as Alex Kregar), husband & wife Jim (Edward E. Pixley as Franklin Statz) & Nancy Palmer (Nancy Vrooman as Barbara Amunsen) plus porn actress Suzie Knowles (Suzie Neumeyer as Geraldine Saunders) to a abandoned house where Terry & his crew intends to make a snuff film with Steve & company the unwilling stars...Edited as Brian Newett, written as Brian Laurence, produced as Norman F. Kaiser, directed as Victor Janos by & starring Roger Michael Watkins The Last House on Dead End Street is about as notorious as they come but thanks to the wonder of DVD you can make your own mind up whether it lives up to that notorious reputation because it's no longer a problem to see as it has had uncut special editions released both in the US & Europe. It was filmed in 1973 but not released until 1977 & all the credits are pseudonym's while up until 2000 no one publicly admitted to making this film. For a start I have to say right away that I really liked The Last House on Dead End Street, it's unique, raw & powerful stuff that had me gripped. At less than 80 minutes long it moves at a fair pace, it's never boring & is nothing if not fascinating & unsettling to watch. The way it's made, the dialogue, the run down seedy locations, the extreme nature of the story & some of the nasty mutilation that is regularly splashed across the screen. I can't remember seeing another film like it & I'm sure The Last House on Dead End Street will be very tough for a lot of people to sit through, it deals with porn, snuff film making & a bunch of sadistic degenerates so if this type of thing sounds appealing & you have the stomach then give it a go, for those with more conservative tastes stay as far from this as possible as it will offend, upset & disturb you. Personally I thought it was great & it's as simple & straight forward as that.Director Watkins does what he can I suppose but while most would call The Last House on Dead End Street amateurish & badly made it is for this reason alone that it had such impact, the whole thing really does look like a homemade film with scratchy, jerky, grainy photography & considering the sleazy & seedy subject matter in context it works absolutely brilliantly. The gore is rough & extreme in places, there is a scene in a slaughterhouse where a cow is sliced open, someone has a drill put in their eye, there are intestines & blood galore, stabbings, beatings & the real showstopper where a woman is tied to a table & has her face sliced open, her legs sawn off at which point they revive her with smelling salts & then has her stomach carved open & her guts pulled out in a really nasty & gruesome scene that turns into a test of endurance.Apparently The Last House on Dead End Strret had a budget of $1,500 so expect it to be a little rough around the edges but as I've said I actually think the roughness helps the film & it's atmosphere, the special effects are surprisingly good. The acting varies but for the most part it's surprisingly effective.The Last House on Dead End Street certainly isn't for everyone that's for sure, but for exploitation fans this is an absolute must. Disturbing, highly effective, morally reprehensible, sick & twisted, I liked it. Although the title is very similar to Wes Cravens The Last House on the Left (1972) the two films are very different.