Krug becomes angry at Justin for bringing unknown people to their motel room, and shows him a local newspaper that has Krug and Sadie's pictures on the front page, and which explains how Sadie and Francis broke Krug out of police custody and killed the two officers that were transporting him. Believing it would be too risky to let Paige and Mari go, the gang kidnaps them and uses their car to leave town. While Krug searches for the highway, Mari convinces him to take a road that leads to her parents' lake house; Mari then attempts to jump out of the vehicle, but the ensuing fight among the passengers causes Krug to crash into a tree. Frustrated by Mari's attempt to escape, Sadie and Francis proceed to beat Mari and Paige as they crawl from the wreckage. Krug attempts to teach Justin to "be a man" by forcing him to touch Mari's breasts. Paige begins insulting him to get him to stop; in response, Krug and Francis stab Paige repeatedly, and Mari watches her friend bleed to death. Krug then rapes Mari, during which he pulls off Mari's necklace and throws it away. When he is done, Mari musters enough strength to escape the group and make it to the lake so that she can swim to safety. Krug shoots her in the back as she swims, leaving her body floating in the lake.
A storm forces Krug, Francis, Sadie, and Justin to seek refuge at a nearby house. Justin is the only one to deduce that the inhabitants, John and Emma, are Mari's parents, and intentionally leaves Mari's necklace on the counter to alert them about their daughter. When John and Emma find Mari barely alive on their porch, and the necklace on the counter, they realize that Mari's tormentors are the people in their guest house.
As they try to find the key to their boat so that they can take Mari to the hospital, Francis happens upon Mari. Emma attacks Francis and John kills him. When going after Krug and Sadie, who are in bed, they find Justin holding Krug's gun; Justin gives the gun to John so that he can kill Krug. Sadie awakens and John shoots and wounds her in the neck, allowing Krug to escape from the couple through the window and into their house. Finding Francis dead, Krug realizes that they are Mari's parents. Sadie attacks John, then runs into the bathroom. John and Justin break in and Sadie beats them with a shower curtain rod, almost knocking them out until Emma shoots Sadie through her left eye, killing her. Krug hides, and attacks John and Justin when they search for him. Justin is stabbed by Krug, but with a combined effort from Emma and John, Krug is knocked unconscious. John, Emma, Mari, and Justin then leave in the boat for the hospital.
The writer changed the fate of another character, Krug's son Justin attempting to give the audience a better "sense of hope".[8] Craven points out that early on he suggested that Krug have a son who commits suicide, but found it interesting to see "this strange Romeo and Juliet thing happening" between Krug's son and Mari. He also stated that he likes the fact that John Collingwood is a doctor who actually gets to use his skills in the film, unlike in the original where the character is merely identified as being a doctor. Craven comments, "[it is] an extraordinary moment" when John is forced to improvise a way to restore a collapsed lung; "It made it real."[9] Ellsworth wanted to create a level of interest in the characters that would "engage [the audience]", as opposed to simply leaving the family in "even worse shape [by] the end of the movie". He asserts that the film does not have a happy ending, but that there is some hope left at the end.[8] Director Dennis Iliadis further explains that the point is to show the family from a different light. Initially the director feared that they were "wussing out" with the ending; he eventually decided that what you really see is a family that has physically survived this encounter, but are "dead in many ways". Iliadis expressed that he did not want to go the way of "torture porn", which is what he sees most horror films moving toward, but instead show a sense of "urgency" with the parents' actions.[9]
Peabody stated that she was genuinely upset during the filming of the more violent scenes as she felt unprepared: "I was upset because I'm an emotional person, and I reacted to what was going on as if it were real. I had a really hard time with some of scenes, because I had come out of American Playhouse, where it was all about preparation, and everything had to be real. I ended up doing a horrible job in the film. I was very upset, and I felt like I should have channeled that, but I couldn't... I was a young actress and I was still learning to balance any emotions I had from outside of the film into my scene work."[36] Hess revealed that he actually got very physical with her during the filming of the rape scene, and that she could not do anything about it once the camera was running.[37] During this particular shot, assistant director Yvonne Hannemann described it as an upsetting shoot, with her having to be consoled by Craven throughout filming.[37] Peabody recalled, "One of the characters was a method actor, so he was trying to live his part... he'd come after us with a knife at night, trying to freak us out. This was the guy with the dark curly hair [David Hess] - he tried to play his role on and off the set. It was like, 'Lock your doors and windows at night, you don't want him to come get you!' I was scared; I thought this guy had been a killer at some point in his past!"[36] Sandra states that although she was uncertain how a lot of the scenes would turn out, she trusted Craven and Cunningham and their vision for the film.[36]
Due to its graphic content, the film sparked protests calling for its removal from local theaters throughout the fall of 1972.[48] The Paris Cinema, a movie theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, issued an open letter to these criticisms in September 1972, in which it was noted:.mw-parser-output .templatequoteoverflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequoteciteline-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0
Critical response to The Last House on the Left upon its original release was largely centered on its depictions of violence.[b] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune derided the film, writing: "My objection to The Last House on the Left is not an objection to the graphic representations of violence per se, but to the fact that the movie celebrates violent acts, particularly adult male abuse of young women ... I felt a professional obligation to stick around to see if there was any socially redeeming value in the remainder of the movie and found none."[62] Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote that he walked out of the theater during a screening: "When I walked out, after 50 minutes (with 35 to go), one girl had just been dismembered with a machete. They had started in on the other with a slow switch blade. The party who wrote this sickening tripe and also directed the inept actors is Wes Craven. It's at the Penthouse Theater, for anyone interested in paying to see repulsive people and human agony."[63]
Wes Craven's direction never lets us out from under almost unbearable dramatic tension (except in some silly scenes involving a couple of dumb cops, who overact and seriously affect the plot's credibility). The acting is unmannered and natural, I guess. There's no posturing. There's a good ear for dialogue and nuance. And there is evil in this movie. Not bloody escapism, or a thrill a minute, but a fully developed sense of the vicious natures of the killers. There is no glory in this violence. And Craven has written in a young member of the gang (again borrowed on Bergman's story) who sees the horror as fully as the victims do. This movie covers the same philosophical territory as Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" (1971), and is more hard-nosed about it: Sure, a man's home is his castle, but who wants to be left with nothing but a castle and a lifetime memory of horror?
Mari and Phyllis are an unlikely pair. Phyllis is older, more experienced in the walk of life, and has an adventurous spirit. Mari is younger, exhibits an innocence relative to her age, and really just enjoys being friends with Phyllis. Nevertheless, they have a strong friendship that survives through their excruciating torture throughout the film. From Mari witnessing Phyllis's sexual assault, to them being forced to perform sexual acts on each other, to lastly, Phyllis sacrificing herself to give Mari a chance at escaping, both of these characters show that they are willing to risk everything, even their lives, for each other.
Given the amount of screen time given to Mari, Phyllis, and their aggressors, the narrative's shift is somewhat unexpected. The group takes refuge in a nearby house in the woods; the last house on the left, which happens to belong to Mari's parents, John and Estelle Collingwood. While it can be assumed that the Collingwood family will connect the group's mysterious appearance to Mari's disappearance, the events that follow are completely shocking.
One of the most heartbreaking aspects of this film is familial grief. Death itself is already a devastating occurrence, but witnessing the death of one's child is something taken, well, straight from a horror movie; Wes Craven explores the stages of grief involved in such a tragedy. Initially, the Collingwood Family is in denial that Mari may be in grave danger; next, they become angered in the authorities refusing to take conducive action; they bargain among themselves, accepting the possibility that Mari got carried away partying with Phyllis. They experience an immediate depression when finally learning of the horrific fate that befell their daughter. And lastly, they accept the unchangeable, and decide to execute revenge themselves.
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