In honor of David Hess’ recent passing we are re-posting Geo’s write-up on the 1972 trash classic – Last House On The Left. We’ve added Streebo’s recent video tribute to Mr. Hess at the bottom.
David Hess 1942 - 2011 R.I.P.
On this week’s Classics Corner, we’re going to feature Wes Craven’s “Last House on the Left.” This film was released in 1972 and stars Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, Marc Sheffler, Richard Towers and Cynthia Carr. The official synopsis is “A pair of teenage girls are headed to a rock concert for one’s birthday. While trying to score marijuana in the city, the girls are kidnapped by a gang of psychotic convicts.” See kids…that’s what happens when you try to get drugs!
“Six students are about to find out their teachers really are from another planet.”
The 1990′s were a strange time for horror fans. As the 80′s drew to a close, Freddy Krueger crossed over into mainstream pop culture and in his wake there was a horror glut as everyone tried to make horror more marketable to the mainstream masses. The glut lead to disinterest on the part of the general public.
Horror films were watered down (see Wes Craven’s battles with the MPAA over Shocker) and quietly faded into the background. There were a few gems here and there such as Near Dark, In the Mouth of Madness, Candyman, and Lord of Illusions but it wasn’t until Scream revitalized the genre in 1996 that horror became the center of mainstream attention again. The impact of Scream on horror has been well discussed here on Mutantville so there’s no need to go too deep into it again.
Move over CK and Uncle Bill - there's a new Pithead in the house!
The Mutantville Players would like to send out a round of congratulations to Jessco and Uncle Bill from DEADPIT.COM for the new addition to their household! Longtime fans of DEADPIT.COM will know that Jessco and Uncle Bill were scheduled to get married at the recent Fright Night Film Fest in Kentucky but changes had to be made at the last minute due to Jessco’s poor health at the time. Jessco recovered quickly and reported to the hospital this week to have labor induced.
Jessco reported from her Facebook:
“Our beautiful little baby Piper is doing well. Born on 8/5/11 at 11:40am at 2lbs 14oz. She’s in the NICU for a few weeks until she learns how to eat and gains some weight. Thank you all so much for the thoughts and prayers. ♥”
This week we cover “The Hills Have Eyes” which was written and directed by Wes Craven. IMDB stated that “When originally submitted to the MPAA, the film was given an X-rating which would have relegated it to the porno circuit and severely hurt the box-office returns. Wes Craven cut the film enough to secure an R rating, and the original director’s cut is thought to be no longer in existence.”
“The Hills Have Eyes” stars John Steadman, Janus Blythe, Peter Locke, Russ Grieve, Dee Wallace, Susan Lanier, Brenda Marinoff, Robert Houston, Martin Speer, James Whitworth, Michael Berryman, Lance Gordon and Cordy Clark. Enjoy the trailer, interviews and reviews below!
For this edition of “Compare and Contrast” I’ll take a look at both version of “The Hills Have Eyes“. First up, Wes Craven’s original 1977 film. The film opens with an old guy named Fred closing up his gas station/junk yard(?). …
Hot off the heels (or a few year later actually) of the infamous The Last House on the Left, Wes made the film we’ll talk about today, The Hills Have Eyes in 1977. Now here is one of the few times I come across a movie where I had …
The Serpent and the Rainbow was directed by Wes Craven and released in 1988. It is about an anthropologist that goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people in zombies.
It was inspired by the book by Wade Davis. The screen play was by Richard Maxwell and Adam Rodman (as A.R. Simoun). It stars Bill Pullman (also known as “Lone Starr” in Spaceballs), Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield, Brent Jennings (still seen today in lots of TV shows), Conrad Roberts, Michael Gogh (who just passed away this past March 17, 2011), Paul Guilfoyle as well as many others.
Probably one of the most memorable scenes from the Wes Craven movie where Dr. Allan (Bill Pullman) ends up in the torture chamber of Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae RIP).
This is the case in Wes Craven’s nightmarish film on the Horror of voodoo in The Serpent and the Rainbow. The film, which is based off of truth, is the story of Dennis, an anthropologist who has worked in the the farthest reaches of …
To get myself in a ‘Craven’ frame of mind before I spoke to him, I rented and watched his 1988 film The Serpent and the Rainbow. As much as I enjoyed the original Scream when it was released, it marked a turning point in Craven’s career …
The Serpent and the Rainbow, 1988, Wes Craven. This has to be my all time favorite, not for the gore, because there isn’t much to be had. This film is pure psychological horror. Any time someone is buried alive you know it’s not going to be good. … This film is smart, and to the point. There is not one wasted scene in this one. Every word, every movement advances the story. If you’ve never seen this film, and you’re a fan of the genre then you must see this flick. …
This week, Streebo brings you a spoiler free review for the new sequel to the Scream franchise – Scream 4 aka SCRE4M. Scream 4 stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts and Hayden Pannetierre. The survivor of the infamous Woodsboro Massacre, Sydney Prescott, returns to Woodsboro on the anniversary of the original massacre to close out her book tour and confirm her status as an “ex-victim” that has now come to terms with her past and faces her days with a renewed sense of self and confidence. No sooner does she arrive in town, than the Ghostface murders begin anew.
Scream 4 plays fast and hard with the rules of horror, making sure to lay out the rules of the game along the way. Scream 4 is a fun return to the post-modern slasher and offers plenty of comments about the state of modern horror over the past fifteen years. Unfortunately, the post-modern examination feels heavy handed at this point in the game as the cover can only be peeled back to reveal the truth once and the original Scream did that fifteen years ago.
Scream 4 is filled with hot babes, goofy guys, messy kills and tons of characters that can disappear in the night so fast that they make Batman look like a cripple. Scream 4 plays with the genre and has fun with it – at times to the detriment of the scare factor – but overall makes for a fun time at the theater. Take your friends and have fun with it while it’s still playing. Be sure to watch for little Easter eggs such as homages to the earlier Scream films, horror posters, and scary movie references. They’re all packed in there for those that pay attention.
Posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago at 4:32 pm. Add a comment
In case you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, the latest installment of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s post-modern slasher series – Scream 4 was released this past weekend. Word from around the net is that the movie is very good. MVP will post there own review soon. In the meantime, check out the review from the boys at DEADPIT.
DEADPIT.COM review for Scream 4:
Follow that up by checking out Pizowell’s thoughts on Scream 4:
Posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:47 pm. Add a comment
Gearing up to see Wes Craven’s Scream 4 this weekend? Then you need to find out all that you can before heading to the theaters. MVP has gathered the best of the behind the scenes videos from across the next and compiled them in one place to make it easy for you. Check it out. Then go see Scream 4 this weekend and let us know what you think!
Wes Craven’s latest horror effort Scream 4 will hit screens nationwide in less than twenty-four hours. It has been over a decade since the last installment of Scream was released – Scream 3 – in 2000 – but the effects that the post-modern series has had on the horror genre is still being felt today. Will Scream 4 have the same paradigm shifting affect on the genre as it’s progenitor?
In 1972, Wes Craven teamed with Sean Cunningham to create The Last House on the Left on a very meager budget of $90,000. Last House on the Left was originally rated X by the MPAA. Sean Cunningham acquired an official “R” rated greenband and slapped it on the front of the film without approval from the MPAA. The film went on to spawn countless imitators and wound up being banned in Australia and the UK and earned it’s infamous reputation several times over. In 2009, Craven’s first film was remade as a much slicker production and went on to make over $45 million worldwide.
In 1984, Wes Craven was stuck with a script that had been rejected by every studio in Hollywood until Bob Shaye at New Line cinema gave him the green-light. Craven’s movie about a child murderer that kills teens in their sleep was entitled A Nightmare on Elm Street and the killer named Freddy Kruger went on to become a cultural icon that haunted children’s nightmares for the next twenty-five years. A Nightmare On Elm Street went on to become one of the most successful franchises of all time, reinvigorating New Line Cinema and breathing fresh breath into the waning slasher subgenre. ANOES was remade in 2010 starring Jackie Earle Haley from a less than stellar script and left fans wishing the nightmare had ended long ago.
In 1996, the horror genre was all but dead, having been driven into the ground by mindless sequels that chose pop culture sensibilities over quality stories and new ideas. Craven teamed with writer Kevin Williamson to create Scream, a tale of teens plagued by a killer that was obsessed with horror movies. Scream revitalized the horror genre and kickstarted the slasher genre by infusing it with a post-modern self aware sensibility. Scream went on to gross over $173 million worldwide and spawned two sequels each one grossing nearly $200 million worldwide. Two sequels that is – until now.
This weekend, Craven and Williamson revisit the franchise that once saved horror from obscurity. Will the latest installment of the Scream series have the same effect? It’s unrealistic to expect paradigm shifting films on every outing from a filmmaker – so here’s to hoping that Scream 4 is just a good slasher film that will scare the crap out of us and leave us hoping for more.
For his dedication to the craft of filmmaking and by leading the way from guerrilla filmmaking in obscurity to helming the highest grossing horror films of the year, Wes Craven has been chosen as MVP’s Inspirational Filmmaker of the Week! Craven’s resume is filled with massive hits that changed the horror genre forever as well as quiet gems that slipped by almost unnoticed such as The Serpent and the Rainbow, The People Under the Stairs, A New Nightmare, and Red Eye. Craven has shown us time and again that all it takes to make a good horror film is a good idea and the vision to see it through to the end.
Posted 9 months, 4 weeks ago at 9:29 pm. Add a comment
This week, horror fans from across the world have cause to celebrate as one of the most popular horror franchises of all time returns to the theaters for the first time in over ten years. Scream 4 by director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson returns to wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting populace. Be sure to line up early to get your tickets to what must surely be the only true horror event of the Spring season.
It is worth noting that the Spring season has often been less than hospitable to the horror genre. I recall a time when the entire internet was abuzz at the latest collaboration between hotshot directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez for a little movie called Grindhouse. Grindhouse was released Easter weekend in 2007, everyone talked about it, and then no one went to see it.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Scream 4 suffer the same fate. Horror fans are lazy and would often rather review a movie that they download illegally instead of paying hard earned cash to see a movie and then bitch about it like the old days. Ah, horror fans, what are we going to do with you?
Check back this weekend for MVP’s exclusive review of Scream 4. Get out to the theatre and see it for yourself. Come back and let us know what you think.
In other news, noted director Sidney Lumet passed away over the weekend. Lumet is well known for his work on films such as Serpico, The Wiz, Twelve Angry Men, and much more. The cinema will be a much darker place without him.
The creators of SAW, James Wan and Leigh Whannel, teamed to bring you another horror tale entitled Insidious. Insidious opened across the nation for a total box office of $27 million. With a production budget of less than $2 million, it is safe to say that James Wan will be bringing us more movies for years to come.
This week, Mutant TV brings you the trailers for the latest horror and sci-fi offerings playing at a theater near you. So put that Mountain Dew down, stop munching on Doritos and get your fat butt down to the theater to watch a movie. Get out and support the movies you want to see so they keep getting made.
Scream 4 trailer:
Welcome to Mutantville Productions MVP Blog. Join Streebo, Brento, Geo & the rest of the Mutantville Players as they set sail on the high seas of guerrilla filmmaking in their ongoing quest to bring you the finest in genre entertainment.
