Last House on Dead End Street (1977)
Cast: Roger Michael Watkins, Ken Fisher, Bill Schlageter, Kathy Curtin
Director: Roger Michael Watkins
Synopsis: began life as a Last House rip off ends up as a true cinematic turd
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

When film critic Roger Ebert mentioned that he felt the physical need to cleanse himself after the experience of watching the vile I Spit on Your Grave with a bunch of perverts on pre-sanitized 42 nd Street in Times Square one could empathize even if it sounded like a slightly hysterical reaction to a uniquely distasteful film. Over the years one has grown to understand the urge to purge oneself of the vileness provided by a particular cinematic experience but this has invariably been when exposed to pornography yet there are also one or two non-porn films that have the ability to revolt in a similar manner.

I Spit on Your Grave is established as an incredible downer – depressing, voyeuristic, quite disgusting cinematic experience – the film has grown in to a huge cult classic and has provided a small fortune to its creators. Last House on the Left was similarly disturbing yet done in a manner that elevated it from the sick-exploitation material it so resembled. In the wake of Last House's success came a similar sounding Last House on Dead End Street that attempted to snare some share of the success that Last House had tasted.

The film managed to raise a few eyebrows upon release but was soon forgotten and vanished off the scene with hardly a print in circulation. During its hiatus from the screen the film somehow managed to build up a reputation as one of those shockers that made Last House on the Left appear to be tame fare. The film which is about an ex-convict teaming up with his criminal friend to shoot smutty films that soon turn into full fledged sordid “snuff” films. The film is if anything even more artless, cheap, atrociously acted and nastier than I Spit on Your Grave – an amazing feat in itself.

The film is devoid of any merit and has the quality of a serious John Waters film! It is murky and grim to look at, full of hideous unsavoury characters who act very badly to boot and some truly grim if totally unrealistic gore, a stomach turning sex scene and some shots of cattle being slaughtered that illustrate the gratuitous nature of this awful piece of garbage. That the film has managed to attain even the notorious reputation it has is astounding as however atrocious the stuff depicted on screen is, the sheer ineptitude of the film makers is what the overwhelming factor is.

The film is kitchen sink amateurish trash that should have remained in its “lost” state rather than find its way onto a special edition DVD release that proclaims it as one of the great cult films of our times. At least one good thing about the films DVD release is that now the mystique and aura that surrounded the film can be laid to rest now that unfortunate viewers can discover for themselves what a steaming pile of festering vomit this film is. It is difficult to recall a worse film than this atrocity that ranks alongside other nauseating entities such as Nightmares in a Damaged Brain and I Spit on Your Grave. Apparently the film was shot for $3000, even that seems like way too much.