TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

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.

Coventry Almost TOO sick and TOO depraved for words, this mean-spirited and hideously edited US exploit-flick! It might be called pure cult cinema with an enormous shock-value, still this questionable reputation can't hide the fact that "Last House on Dead End Street" is a nearly unendurable film and that you'll need at least three very long showers to wash away the dirty feeling after seeing it. All you ever read about this film is true. It's definitely a true statement that the on screen gore is ultimately gross and that the tone of the film is disturbingly nihilistic & offensive. Now, I don't have a problem with that (on the contrary, I even pro-actively search for this type of films), but I do think there should at least be a point to the violence or some sort of moral that needs to be made clear to the audience. "Last House on Dead End Street" has neither. It's just 80 harsh minutes of insane violence and nasty images of horrible looking set pieces. The plot is as simple as it is irrelevant, and handles about a misanthropist ex-con who mobilizes his former friends to help him make porn movies and earn some extra money. When he discovers that people are only interested in extreme shocks and snuff nowadays, the whole gang goes berserk and complete their film with the rich clients as real-life victims. The first half of the film is surprisingly dull and just plain awful, with some really amateurish attempts to provide the characters (that you couldn't feel less connected to) with a background and really ugly camera-work. The second half is full of gory sickness but still as awful as the first; perhaps even more so. During one of the most notorious sequences in horror-history, both a woman's legs are brutally sawn off while she's kept conscious with medication. The reason for that is that she can witness later how her stomach is cut open with a huge pair of pliers and how the intestines get removed and proudly shown to her. Sick enough for ya? "Last House on Dead End Street" could have been a truly nightmarish experience if everything (apart from the human guts) didn't look so damn fake! Especially the acting, but also the clumsy camera-work and lighting are so amateurish that it's nearly impossible to let this film affect you. Admirers (and, believe me, there are a lot of them) use the cheapness as an argument to claim that it only increases the genuine exploitation feel to it, but I strongly disagree. I've seen enough exploitation movies that are stylish and convincing DESPITE the limitations in budget. I wouldn't advise anyone to see this film (apart from some personal enemies, perhaps) but if your curiosity becomes too hard to resist, you can always purchase the brand new double-disc special edition on DVD. But do yourself a favor and wait at least three hours after you had dinner.

EVOL666 First off - I can understand the two differing opinions that I often read about LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET. One opinion is that it's trashy and cheap film-making with little redeeming value - the other side is that it is a "masterpiece" of exploitation cinema. I can't say that I fall fully into the latter category, but I definitely feel that DEAD END STREET is a must-see for all TRUE exploitation film fans...The plot revolves around Terry, a recently released convict, looking to break into the film business by making something a little "different", namely - snuff films. Terry gets together with a cameraman that he used to shoot porn loops with, and another guy and two girls - and the gang embarks on their directorial debut. The first film they make is of them strangling a guy. Terry lays the film on a sleazy and washed-up porn producer who's looking for something new - and Terry's film is just that. The producer slaps his own name on it and makes a few bucks hocking Terry's reel - but Terry doesn't take to kindly to being cut out of the loop. As revenge, the gang decides to make the producer, his wife, and their associates the "stars" of their next film...First the down-sides of DEAD END STREET: The first half of the movie is relatively dull so it takes awhile for the film to really get into gear. The dubbing is some of, if not THE most inept that I've ever been exposed to and can be quite annoying. The film was obviously shot on a near-zero budget which will probably bother some that aren't used to micro-budget films.Now for the good stuff: After the first half, the film takes off and there's not a dull moment. Where some may see the budget as being a problem with this film - I personally believe that DEAD END STREET has the "feel" of the 70's grindhouse and "roughie" porn films of the era, and given the subject-matter, this sort of atmosphere adds significantly to the film. The acting is decent for a production of this scale. Also the gore scenes (though obviously done on the cheap...) are strong and effective.LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET is a powerful film for what it is. There's nothing "funny" or "campy" about it - it's pretty much an exercise in sadism. The orgyistic and insane nature of the violence in the second half of the film is undeniably strong, if somewhat poorly done. I also feel that DEAD END STREET is important from a historical stand-point, as it is an obvious precursor and and laid the ground-work for such modern pseudo-snuff films as FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD, the AUGUST UNDERGROUND FILMS, and Tamakichi Anaru's PSYCHO: THE SNUFF REELS. DEAD END STREET is by far not going to appeal to everyone - but I consider it a must-see for TRUE exploit fans, at least as a one-time view...8.5/10

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.