Last House on Dead End Street
Last House on Dead End Street | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roger Watkins |
Written by | Roger Watkins |
Produced by | Roger Watkins |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Ken Fisher |
Edited by | Roger Watkins |
Distributed by | Cinematic Releasing Corporation |
Release dates | |
Running time | 78 minutes[3] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3,000[4] |
Last House on Dead End Street, originally released as The Fun House, is a 1977 American exploitation horror film written, produced, and directed by Roger Watkins, under the pseudonym Victor Janos. The plot follows a disgruntled ex-convict (also played by Watkins) who takes revenge on society by kidnapping four acquaintances and filming their murders in an abandoned building.
Watkins, a student at the State University of New York at Oneonta, devised the concept for the film after reading the Charles Manson biography The Family (1971) by Ed Sanders. Commissioning a cast from the university's theater department, Watkins shot the film inside an unused building on the university campus in the winter of 1972, on a budget of around $3,000.
Screened under the title The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell at the 1973
In the decades following its release, Last House on Dead End Street was subject to various rumors about who had created and starred in it, as the entire cast and crew were credited using
Plot
Terry Hawkins has just been released from prison after spending a year incarcerated for drug charges. An amateur filmmaker, Terry claims to have previously made
For their first scene, Patricia and Kathy, wearing translucent plastic masks, lure a
The following morning, Terry calls Steve and asks him to stop by the building to visit the film set; he also inquires about a young actress named Suzie Knowles for a part in his movie. Steve arrives later that night, and is confronted by Terry and his crew inside the building, all of them wearing masks. Steve is knocked unconscious, and awakens to find himself tied up alongside Nancy and Suzie. Terry and his crew brand Suzie across her chest with a hot iron before Terry slashes her throat. Later, Terry goes to meet Jim at his office and kidnaps him. Back at the building, Terry and his crew beat Jim to death while Bill again films the crime. They then take an unconscious Nancy and tie her to a large dining table. She awakens to Bill filming her, while Terry uses a hacksaw to dismember her legs before they eviscerate her with gardening shears. During the mutilation, they periodically revive her consciousness with the aid of smelling salts before she bleeds to death.
Terry and his crew confront Steve with the corpse of the blind transient they killed earlier, and welcome him "back to the edge." Steve flees through the building, and is confronted in the basement by Terry, who tackles him to the ground. Bill emerges from a dark corridor with his camera while Kathy and Patricia taunt Steve. Patricia removes her mask and takes off her blouse, exposing her breasts. She unbuttons her pants, revealing a dismembered goat hoof she has held between her legs. As the group taunt Steve, Terry forces him to
As the scene fades out, a voiceover states that Terry, Bill, Ken, Patricia, and Kathy were apprehended and are in a state penitentiary.
Cast
- Roger Watkins as Terrence "Terry" Hawkins[a]
- Ken Fisher as Ken Hardy[b]
- Bill Schlageter as Bill Drexel[c]
- Kathy Curtin as Kathy Hughes[d]
- Pat Canestro as Patricia Kuhn[e]
- Steve Sweet as Steve Randall[f]
- Edward E. Pixley as Jim Palmer[g]
- Nancy Vrooman as Nancy Palmer[h]
- Suzie Neumeyer as Suzie Knowles[i]
- Paul M. Jensen as Blind Man[j]
- Ken Rouse as The Whipper[k]
Analysis
Some film scholars have noted Last House on Dead End Street's unique preoccupation with and self-reflexivity regarding the
Film scholars Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford described the film as sticking to "a consistent, purposeful style that builds to the foulest mood imaginable, creating its own world of hate. In that unintentional exploitation way, it reproduces the Panic Theater extremes of surrealism, where evisceration is the metaphor for the sex act," likening it to the "bastard cousin of Otto Muehl."[8] Landis and Clifford also note the self-reflexive framing of the film, deeming it "a film within a film motivated by a hate of pornography and the swingers who create it."[9] Because of Terry's focus on murdering individuals connected to the pornographic film industry, Landis and Clifford herald the film as "the ultimate sexual revenge movie... What goes around comes around in the underground porno world, and Terry Hawkins makes this code his law, filming his targets as they take their last undignified breaths."[9]
Production
Concept and filming
"Americans love violence the way they should perhaps love sex, but I'm not moralizing with this picture: it's not making a sociological statement. I'm interested only in the dark side of the personality. This picture is pure horror; it's not any more complicated than that."
—Watkins on his intentions making the film[1]
Last House on Dead End Street was conceived by Roger Watkins, a student at the State University of New York at Oneonta (SUNY Oneonta), in 1972.[10] Watkins was inspired to write the screenplay after reading the Charles Manson biography The Family (1971) by Ed Sanders, which focused on the Manson family murders in Southern California.[10] The project was initially conceived as a straightforward biopic about the Manson family, but morphed into a feature about a disgruntled ex-convict who decides to make snuff films with a group of degenerates.[10] Additional influence on the film's tone came from Watkins' disillusionment with the world at the time.[11] Though Watkins was studying English literature, he became interested in filmmaking, and befriended several students in the university's film department.[12] Through events sponsored by the film department, Watkins was able to meet directors Otto Preminger and Nicholas Ray, both of whom he idolized.[12] Preminger took a liking to Watkins, and gifted him a Bolex camera, which Watkins used to film the simulated snuff footage featured in Last House on Dead End Street.[12]
In casting the film, Watkins chose to star as Terry, the ringleader of the snuff filmmakers, and commissioned a cast exclusively consisting of current or former students of the theater department at SUNY Oneonta.[13][14] The film was shot in December 1972 in an abandoned building on the university campus known as Old Main.[3][15] The building, derelict at the time, was demolished in 1977.[16] In spite of the film's content, the atmosphere on set was noticeably "relaxed", according to Watkins, with the only major conflict arising during the 'operation scene' with Nancy Vrooman extremely anxious while filming the scene.[11] Watkins would later reveal that, at the time of the making the film, he was an amphetamine addict, and that only $800 of the $3,000 budget was actually spent on making the film; the remaining $2,200 was used to purchase drugs.[17] The film's working title was And at the Hour of our Death.[18][19]
Musical score
Due to budget constraints, the majority of the film's score and audio effects were sourced from composer and ethnomusicologist
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Pulse Of Terror" | 2:23 |
2. | "Electrofear" | 2:29 |
3. | "Occult" | 2:58 |
4. | "Space Movement" | 1:50 |
5. | "Psycho Theme" | 1:22 |
6. | "Pulse of Fear" | 2:23 |
7. | "Beat Me 'Till I'm Blue" | 2:43 |
8. | "Agonythm" | 2:21 |
9. | "Dawn Odyssey" | 2:36 |
10. | "Destructive Powers" | 2:24 |
11. | "Cybernetics Fast" | 1:20 |
12. | "Terror Noises" | 1:44 |
13. | "Dark Vibrations" | 1:30 |
14. | "Nightmare" | 0:44 |
15. | "Transformation Odyssey" | 2:38 |
16. | "Celestial Cantabile" | 2:23 |
17. | "Omination" | 2:12 |
Total length: | 36:00 |
Release
The original 175-minute version
In May 1977, the film was released in a truncated cut as The Fun House, screening at drive-in theaters throughout Connecticut,
"For years, the film has been a psychotic mystery. No one knew who directed or performed in it, or what happened to them—nothing. A bloody mess of an exploitation movie developed a Phantom of the Opera enigma."
—Scholars Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford on the film's public reputation, 2002[34]
For over two decades following the film's theatrical release, the true identities of the director and cast were largely unknown to the public, as the names given in the credits were
In December 2000,[38] a contributor posting as "pnest" on the Internet messageboards of FAB Press (a publishing house devoted to cult movies), claimed to be the director, writer, producer, and editor of the film, "Victor Janos." The poster later revealed his identity as Roger Watkins.[3] After the release of Last House on Dead End Street, Watkins had had a career as a pornographic film director, under the pseudonym Richard Mahler.[34]
Critical response
AllMovie wrote, "This notorious exercise in low-budget gore is poorly edited and photographed, but its catalogue of horrors and a genuinely nasty tone make it worthwhile for fans of sick cinema," drawing comparisons to the Manson family killings.[29] Eric Campos of Film Threat wrote, "It's not only the intense gore contained within these 78 minutes that has led many to label this film as the most vile ever made, but it's also the drab, dreary settings and the assortment of malcontents you're forced to put up with if you want to make it to the other end of this ride. Nothing that has to do with this film is happy or light and the film itself, even though presented nice and clear on this DVD, appears to be covered in dirt."[3] Anton Bitel, writing for Film4, called the film "dirt cheap and deeply flawed, but still worth enduring, for even if the deaths are faked, there's a real enough intelligence behind it all."[39]
In Slimetime: A Guide to Sleazy, Mindless Movies, Steve Puchalski wrote that the film is "harsh, repellent, and thoroughly unlikeable. It's effective much in the same way a large mallet to the temple is effective, but that doesn't mean it's any fun to sit through." Michael Weldon, in the Psychotronic Encyclopedia, similarly notes: "Have you ever heard anyone even admit they saw it? I wish I couldn't."[40] Scholars Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford describe the sequence in which Nancy is dismembered alive as "one of the most revolting scenes in exploitation history... guaranteed to reduce even the most jaded viewers to quivering disgust."[41] Critic Chas Balun wrote that the film "delivers a mule kick to the old nugget sack with a loathsome, virulent fury."[37] Aside from the postscript describing the killers' incarceration after the murders, Balun states that the film "shows absolutely no moral equilibrium whatsoever."[37] Writer Stephen Thrower similarly suggests that the film possesses "a forbidding, hostile vibe, a malignant radiation that sends your toxicity meter haywire... What gives it unique status is the aura of pure hatred that oozes out of every pore of the project."[42]
TV Guide was highly critical of the film, writing "This vain attempt to combine splatter with a commentary on the viciousness of the movie business fails miserably on all counts."[43] Alternately, Jay Alan of HorrorNews.net gave the film a favorable review. While admitting the film looked cheaply made, and featured poor audio and dubbing; Alan commended the film's gore effects, decent acting, disturbing atmosphere and tone, writing, "While it may not neighbor to the caliber of Last House on the Left, it is truly a house worth at least visiting at least once".[44]
Home media
Last House on Dead End Street was scarcely released on VHS in the United States, and was made available on video through Venezuelan distributors in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[45] A two-disc DVD set of the film was released in 2002 by Barrel Entertainment.[46] The set features major contributions from director Watkins, who was heavily involved in its production. This edition was also released in Australia through Hard Corps Entertainment.[47] A separate Region 2 DVD edition was released in the United Kingdom as part Tartan Films' Grindhouse series.[48]
In a 2015 interview with Joe Rubin, the co-owner of the cult DVD and
It's probably the most tedious restoration we've ever done. We keep on finding more materials for it that are slightly better in certain places than the previous copies so we've had to redo/add to our restoration so many times. It's tedious. But it's coming. Unfortunately, no exciting revelations to be told; no fabled 3-hour cuts, etc. But when it does eventually come out, it'll look better than ever, even if it's still not perfect.[49]
Though there has been no update about a standalone Vinegar Syndrome release, the uncut theatrical version of the film is available in 2K HD as a hidden feature on Vinegar Syndrome’s release of Corruption on Blu-ray.[50]
See also
- List of American films of 1973
- Snuff films
- Exploitation films
- List of incomplete or partially lost films
Notes
- ^ Credited as Steven Morrison.
- ^ Credited as Dennis Crawford.
- ^ Credited as Lawrence Bornman.
- ^ Credited as Janet Sorley.
- ^ Credited as Elaine Norcross.
- ^ Credited as Alex Kregar.
- ^ Credited as Franklin Statz.
- ^ Credited as Barbara Amunsen.
- ^ Credited as Geraldine Saunders.
- ^ Credited as Paul Phillips.
- ^ Credited as Ronald Cooper.
References
- ^ a b c d e Dalmas, John (April 18, 1973). "He knows audiences want violence". The Journal News. White Plains, New York. p. 10A – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Fun House trade advertisement". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. May 6, 1977. p. 79 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Campos, Eric (October 29, 2002). "Film Threat – Last House on Dead End Street (DVD)". Film Threat. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
- ^ Pop Matters. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ Carlin & Jones 2014, p. 60.
- ^ Carlin & Jones 2014, p. 61.
- ^ Balun 1989, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Landis & Clifford 2002, pp. 148–149.
- ^ a b c Landis & Clifford 2002, p. 148.
- ^ a b c d Cooper 2018, p. 80.
- ^ a b Thrower 2007, p. 471.
- ^ a b c Landis & Clifford 2002, p. 150.
- ^ a b Watkins, Roger. Audio commentary, Last House on Dead End Street DVD. 2002. Barrel Entertainment.
- ^ Kerekes 2002, p. 111.
- ^ Kerekes 1995, pp. 72–73.
- ^ "Oneonta Normal School (Old Main) Demolition". New York Heritage Digital Collection. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
- ^ Insert for Last House on Dead End Street DVD. 2002. Barrel Entertainment.
- ^ a b "She Posed Nude and Lost Suit". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. October 17, 1975. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Syracuse Post Standard. October 17, 1975. p. 3 – via Fultonhistory.com.
- ^ Jackson 2016, p. 201.
- ^ Sher, Ben (October 31, 2016). "13 Totally Bonkers Horror Movie Rip-Offs". Syfy. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Perrignon, Kai (October 23, 2018). "The strange and tragic career of director Roger Watkins". The Brag Media. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019.
- ^ Kerekes 1995, p. 73.
- ^ "Last House on Dead End Street". Mondo Digital. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ McGraw v. Watkins, 49 A.D.2d 958 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Division, 16 October 1975).
- The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. May 13, 1977 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "BudCo Delsea Drive-In". The Millville Daily. Millville, New Jersey. May 10, 1977. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fun House". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. June 4, 1977. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Firsching, Robert. "Last House on Dead End Street". AllMovie. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014.
- ^ Heller-Nicholas 2011, p. 24.
- ^ "Last House on Dead End Street trade advertisement". New York Daily News. December 29, 1979. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pre-Cert Video: Fun House (1977) on FLK". Pre-cert.co.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Cooper 2016, p. 172.
- ^ a b c Landis & Clifford 2002, p. 149.
- ^ Kerekes 1995, pp. 37–38.
- ^ Kerekes 1995, p. 37.
- ^ a b c Balun 1989, p. 179.
- ^ Kerekes 1995, p. 69.
- ^ "Last House on Dead End Street". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ^ Puchalski 2002, pp. 178–179.
- ^ Landis & Clifford 2002, pp. 147–148.
- ^ Thrower 2007, p. 470.
- ^ "The Last House on Dead End Street - Movie Reviews and Ratings". TV Guide. n.d. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Alan, Jay (10 August 2012). "Film Review: Last House on Dead End Street (1977)". HorrorNews.net. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
- ISSN 1070-9991.
- ^ Holecheck, Bruce. "The Last House on Dead End Street". DVD Drive-In. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- ^ Last House on Dead End Street (DVD). Special Collector's Edition. Hard Corps Entertainment. 2001.
- ^ Tooze, Gary. "The Last House on Dead End Street". DVD Beaver. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ Staff (April 13, 2015). "A Case of Vinegar Syndrome". The Horror Aisle. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- ^ Cotenas, Eric. "Corruption Blu-ray Review". DVD Drive In. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-938-78212-4.
- Carlin, Gerry; Jones, Mark (October 18, 2014). "Cease to Exist: Manson Family Movies and Mysticism". Holy Terror: Understanding Religion and Violence in Popular Culture. ISBN 978-1-845-53360-1 – via Google Books.
- Cooper, Ian (2016). Frightmares: A History of British Horror Cinema. Studying British Cinema. Auteur. ISBN 978-0-9930-7173-7 – via Google Books.
- Cooper, Ian (2018). The Manson Family on Film and Television. Jefferson, North Carolina: ISBN 978-1-476-67043-0 – via Google Books.
- Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2011). Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4961-3 – via Google Books.
- Jackson, Neil (2016). "Wild Eyes, Dead Ladies: the Snuff Filmmaker in Realist Horror". Snuff: Real Death and Screen Media. New York: ISBN 978-1-6289-2112-0 – via Google Books.
- Kerekes, David (1995). Killing for Culture: Death Film from Mondo to Snuff. London, England: Creation Cinema Book Collection. ISBN 978-1-87159-220-7 – via Google Books.
- Kerekes, David (October 1, 2002). "Get Snuffed! or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Move In ... 'Last House on Dead End Street'". Headpress. ISBN 978-1-9004-8618-7 – via Google Books.
- Landis, Bill; Clifford, Michelle (2002). Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square. New York: ISBN 978-0-7432-1583-1 – via Google Books.
- Puchalski, Steven (October 1, 2002). Slimetime: A Guide to Sleazy, Mindless Movies. Manchester, England: Critical Vision. ISBN 978-1-9004-8621-7 – via Google Books.
- Thrower, Stephen (2007). Nightmare, USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents. London, England: FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-9032-5446-2 – via Google Books.