Last House Collector's Edition DVD

This year is starting with some interesting DVD releases. The same day that Midnight Choir is releasing their first two Italian classic double features (February 24), MGM is releasing a collector’s edition DVD of Last House on the Left. Raw, primitive and wildly inconsistent, Last House nevertheless remains a landmark horror film, packing a powerful punch to this day. As I posted here, the film can also be seen as a fascinating prequel to Wes Craven’s later classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street.

MGM doesn’t seem particularly proud of this release -- they don’t even list it on their website. However, DVD Drive-In (a great site for genre fans) reports that the disc will have the following special features:

· Audio Commentary with actors David Hess, Marc Sheffler and Fred Lincoln

· “Celluloid Crime of the Century” (a Wes Craven featurette)

· “Scoring Last House” (featurette)

· “Tales that Will Tear Your Heart Out” (featurette)

· Deleted Scene - Mari Dying at the Lake

· Never Before Seen Outtakes

· Wes Craven's Annotated Shooting Scripts and a Photo Gallery

Last House is a severely polarizing film, but every genre fan should see it. Buried amidst some insipid acting, unconscionable comic relief, and stupefying music is a ferocious, unflinching genre classic. I’m gobbling this one up, so my review of the new DVD will be forthcoming.