The Last House on the Left at 50: Wes Craven’s shock horror retains its power

Here’s the tagline to Wes Craven’s controversial 1972 horror movie The Last House on the Left: “To avoid fainting, keep repeating, ‘It’s only a movie … Only a movie … Only a movie …”

And here’s the epigraph: “The events you are about to witness are true. Names and locations have been changed to protect those individuals still living.”

That second quote about the film’s supposed veracity is a little William Castle-style gimmicky, like putting buzzers under theater seats. But before the first image even appeared on the screen, audiences 50 years ago were asked to brace themselves for an experience they