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Justin Decloux5.0

A horror-loving 8-year-old girl and her parents showed up for the 24-Hour Horror Movie Marathon I put on. They were all still wide awake when the LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET started to play.I sat mortified for the entire running time. Thankfully, I later learned that the girl's dad had made a deal: If he deemed any of the films too rough, she had to hide her head under a blanket. She complied with "The grindhouse one" and later reported to me that all she heard was screaming. I asked if that was worse than seeing the images, but she said it was okay because she loved THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and had watched all the kill compilations of its sequels. For the record, her favourite films that night were THE CAT and DEMON KNIGHT. Honestly, that's an indication of good parenting.She was still bouncing off the walls 24-hours later. I gave her a CERTIFICATE OF SURVIVAL and she said she was going to build a display for it under big cardboard letters that spelled out I SURVIVED.

Kaijuman5.0

Hooptober 9: It’s in Space Now “I’m directing this fucking movie!”About as close to pure vitriolic hate you can get without actually becoming a snuff film.A truly vile experience that assaults you with its cruelty and leaves you feeling beat down and empty. I love it so fucking much.Even with producers absolutely fucking the film by mutilating it down from a supposed 175 minutes to only 77 and adding a worthless narration at the end, this still feels like an unfiltered scream of contempt fueled by drugs (as that’s what the director spent most of the budget on). It’s about as hostile as it can be, from its unflinching subject matter to its harsh lighting heightening your anxiousness.Due to the producers hack job, the film is disoriented and moves at an erratic pace. Which does add to the films uneasy atmosphere, but it’s clear plenty was cut from the final product. Hell, the second half of the film is essentially the entire climax with how short the whole thing is.But within that runtime you’ll witness multiple disturbing acts. We witness a cow get slaughtered, a woman in blackface be whipped for partygoers enjoyment, rape, and of course the snuff murders. Particularly the “surgery” one which is downright horrifying and easily the most violent. Also a guy is forced to fellate a deer hoof.This film has earned its infamy, though part of that was due to no one knowing who made the damn thing. Everyone on this used a pseudonym, so no one could be tied back to it. This of course bred rumors that this was a bonafide snuff film which made the films legend even more enticing. Eventually Roger Watkins came forward as the director and lead actor.Spawned from cinemas underbelly, this film is one of a kind. Watch it with the family.

Brett Wright4.5

Even the most disturbing horror films follow certain conventions that give you the reassurance that there will be at least some form of relief, even if it’s just that the film itself will eventually end. 'Last House on Dead End Street' feels like it could go on forever and lead anywhere. In the final act, the film eventually ditches any recognizable structure for an immersion into what feels like completely untethered chaos — of course, creating that feeling is where his structuring becomes most important. Stephen Thrower has compared the film’s mean spirit to ’60s garage rock like The Seeds or The Monks. But even those songs are a bit too formally tame for a true comparison. They may convey a similarly rough nihilism in their lyrics, but they still follow rather standard pop song formats. A more apt comparison would be 1970’s 'Fun House' by The Stooges (Rather fittingly, 'The Fun House' was an alternate title for 'Last House'), in which the music can switch between menacing grooves on a dime. The comparison is particularly relevant in the still-dangerous sounding pairing of the title track with the album’s apocalyptic free-form closer, “L.A. Blues.” The transition between these two songs feels like the Gates of Hell are opening within your speakers. Lester Bangs’ words on 'Fun House' easily apply to 'Last House' when he says the album “never sits still quite long enough to actually solidify into what it previously seemed.” It would be easy to apply words like “devolving” or “transgressing” when describing the film's final act, but that would suggest a loosening of its form. 'Last House' maintains control of its structure as Terry and his crew wreak havoc on their set. Its presentation is so entirely visceral that the violence and the unrelenting pursuit of gruesomeness by his characters becomes almost hypnotic. It’s a feeling like you’re stuck flatlining in a sustained, unending final vision of death soon-to-come.This movie scares the shit out of me. I chose to write about it for Split Tooth's October Horror series this year and that meant watching it multiple times over the last few months. It was far from a pleasant writing experience, but I came to realize just how great of a horror movie this is. It is not an easy watch. You have been warned, but you can read my complete essay on the film here.