Customer Reviews

The Last House on the Beach

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Italian filmmaker Franco Prosperi has crafted a tense, erotic and surprisingly stylish thriller that easily compares to such films as Last House on the Left, House on the Edge of the Park and I Spit On Your Grave. Unlike the latter two, Last House on the Beach (La Settima Donna) takes its cue from Last House on the Left and manages to be just as ugly and offensive without actually having to show an overabundance of onscreen violation. As we all know, what you don't see is often just as horrific, if not more so, than the stuff we do.

I personally found three particular sequences in this film to be incredibly powerful: one scene involved a grinning, maniacal crook wearing makeup and the other two featuring Florinda Bolkan's character removing her cross and ring, symbolizing her rejection of the Church's fundamental belief that "Thou Shalt Not Kill" and her divorce from Christ himself. Great stuff.

I was greatly pleased to see Severin Films releasing Last House on the Beach fully uncut and uncensored in the states but I was disappointed to discover that the film was not presented in its original Italian audio but English dubbing instead. Now I'm no ultra-geeky Eurotrash perfectionist, I understand that you just cannot please everybody all of the time but this really should have been presented in the film's original Italian audio and offered with optional English dubbing and subtitles. Severin knows how the fans are; they know optional audio tracks and subtitles are a big issue with the hardcore crowd. I can only assume the original Italian was somehow made unavailable to them, perhaps due to some legal issues?

If you're a fan of some of the films I listed above or a Eurotrash fan in general, you know you've gotta have this film; Florinda Bolkan is a truly handsome woman and Ray Lovelock just kicks all sorts of tail. I had fun watching this film and I'd highly recommend fans of Italian exploitation give it a look-see. Granted, Ray Lovelock is no David Hess and this probably won't satisfy extreme horror fans but it's well made, the production design is aces and the women are beautiful. I even dug Pregadio's groovy score! It would have been really cool if Severin had offered an isolated score option in the special features but you get what you get. Go grab you a copy!

Marketed as an Italian 'Last House On The Left' (not exactly a publicity perk by today's standards, but the original was highly influential back in the day), this sea-side version of a similar tale was rather disappointing. I'm a fan of Florinda Balkin ('Lizard in a Woman's Skin', 'Flavia the Heretic', 'Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion', etc.), who's a very good actress but, as time went on, appeared in cinematic vehicles that got weaker, never showing off her true capabilities adequately, so I had higher hopes for this film she lent her name to.

Unfortunately, the poor dubbing used for most of the characters voices, especially the villains, only served to magnify the movie's weaknesses, and Severin dropped the ball on us here, although they usually come through for their fanbase on most of their releases. I must single out one of the villain's wretched overacting so much so that I almost shut the flick off more than once, but my high tolerance for Eurotrash coupled with my hopes for a decent finale made me stick it out - not necessarily a good decision in this case.

There were several times that it picked up pace and headed into territory that looked promising, but immediately petered out and flat lined again. Not even a defibrillator could restore its pulse. It lacked everywhere and needed more of everything (remember, we're referring to a slice of Exploitation here that's got a boatload of hype behind its sails) - more ultra-violence, more brutality, more nudity, more tension and suspense.

All in all, it was disappointing, but it wasn't horrible, for fans it's worthy of a rental, but not a cornerstone in a collection by any means. After viewing, it's my last time for 'Last House'...

Ok Ok, I'm a big fan of euro sleave movies and I bought and watched it last night. I read the reviews and thought it would be something a bit more on the violent side with lots of nudity and sleazy sex. I was upset with it. The violence is not that graphic, most of the sheer terror these girls endure happens off camera. There isn't much in the line of nudity either. Yes - there is a some T & A, but not as much as you would expect or want from 70's euro sleaze. Good points - I love the music, and shot selection. The locations are awesome and it was shot very nicely. I liked the use of the slow-mo for the first major rape scene. I highly enjoyed the facial expressions of the rapists. Some of the looks these guys gave are plain hilarious. It is worth a look, buy it and then sell it later. I can see this disk going OOP within 6 months and then being worth a few bucks within a couple of years. That is what I'm planning to do with it. Check it out - don't expect much in the line of violence and nudity. Sit back, enjoy the artsy camera work, and awesome music. BTW- most of the girls are pretty cute and the one that I wanted to see naked never did. :(

This is a first-rate thriller - a cut above the usual fare of the era. Definitely not a rip-off of Wes Craven's film, this has a flavor all its own. Considering the rarity of this title its a no-brainer to pick up it and add it to your collection