The Big Picture
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Last House on Dead End Street
is a gruesome exploitation film with real versus fake murder speculation. - Director Roger Watkins originally used a pseudonym, only later to reveal he made the film.
- Influenced by the Manson Family Murders, Watkins aimed for a pure horror film with no social commentary.
Exploitation films are the extreme end of horror, making audiences sick to their stomachs, question their morality, and even experience hints of trauma from the mutilations and murders they see on screen. In 1977, an exploitation film was released that made audiences and critics speculate whether the murders happening on screen were real due to their violent and gruesome nature. Last House on Dead End Street was an anomaly of an exploitation film because everyone involved used a pseudonym, which perpetuated more thoughts that maybe, just maybe, this horrific film was actually real. Last House on Dead End Street hasn’t been widely seen, and it’s likely for good reason. The film’s contents are pretty gruesome and not for the faint of heart, and that even goes for the edited version that got a theatrical release. The film’s director, Roger Watkinsdidn’t come forward as the director, producer, and writer until the 2000s, but a pseudonym couldn’t stop the gossip and whisperings about Last House.
The Last House on Dead End Street (1973)
A man emerges from incarceration with a twisted vision for cinematic revenge. He lures unsuspecting collaborators to a dilapidated house under the guise of creating an experimental film. As filming progresses, the participants unknowingly become stars in his macabre and brutal real-life horror, leading to chilling results.
- Release Date
- May 6, 1977
- Director
- Roger Watkins
- Cast
- Roger Watkins , Ken Fisher , Bill Schlageter , Kathy Curtin , Pat Canestro , Steve Sweet , Edward E. Pixley , Nancy Vrooman
- Runtime
- 78 Minutes
- Writers
- Roger Watkins
What Is ‘Last House on Dead End Street’ About?
Last House on Dead End Street is about a man named Terry Watkins (Roger Watkins) who is released from prison after spending a year there on a drug-related charge. Terry is an amateur filmmaker who hypothesizes that audiences have been desensitized to horror films, so he takes it upon himself to make an extreme snuff film. He bands together with some friends, sex workers, and people who can help finance his film for him. The twist is that he intends to actually murder the people that he is filming to make the movie. Terry has some particularly gruesome kills, including strangulation, throat slitting, and dismemberment. He takes things one step further with the dismemberment and keeps his victim conscious with the use of smelling salts so that she can feel the pain. Ultimately, after a tirade of heinous acts in the name of creating a film, Terry and his crew of filmmakers and amateur actors are apprehended and placed in a penitentiary.
Who Is Roger Watkins, and Why Didn’t He Take Credit?
Roger Watkins is the director, but he used a fake name upon release. The film was released in May 1977 and has undergone a few name changes. Originally, the film was titled The Cuckoo Clocks of Hellthen later changed to The Fun House and finally to Last House On Dead End Street ( presumably to emulate the success of Wes Craven‘s The Last House on the Left). The film was credited as being directed by Victor Janos, and all the other actors and actresses also used pseudonyms. This, of course, started a rumor mill that perhaps the film was actually legitimately filled with real-life murders and that the cast and crew changed their names to avoid punishment. As rumors go, none of them were verified as true. Although the names were faked on the film’s release, a newspaper article from 1973 lists Watkins as the director before the film was released at the Cannes Film Festival.
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There was also the reveal that he was the director in Chas Balun‘s The Deep Red Horror Handbook. It is never quite known why Watkins used a pseudonym for this film, as he didn’t need to. In 2000, Roger Watkins took to an online message board and stated that he was the rightful director of the film. In 2002, the film was re-released on DVD, and all the original cast and crew were listed under their real names. At the time of the creation of Last House on Dead End StreetWatkins was a college student who had a particular problem with recreational drugs like amphetamines. The insert for the DVD also mentions that, of the $3,000 budget he hadhe only ended up having $800 to work with because he spent the rest on drugs.
What Influences Watkins to Make Such a Horrific Film?
The main influence for Last House on Dead End Street was the Manson Family Murders. In the newspaper article previously mentioned, Watkins muses that Last House followed a similar structure to the Manson Family Murders. He mentions how, in his film, there is someone recording all the kills that take place, which is what Manson did with his murders and then sold them to underground distribution places. He also mentions that Manson wore a Greek god mask, so Watkins references him by wearing a similar one in Last House on Dead End Street. Watkins also said he didn’t intend to make a social commentary-type picture and just wanted a pure horror film without the complicated themes we commonly see behind the script. Watkins’ original version of the film was much longer, clocking in at 175 minutes, compared to the released version is only about an hour long. Knowing how monstrous this film is after being edited and redubbed, it’s a wonder what the original director’s cut is like. I can speculate that it might not be something anyone could stomach watching.
You can stream Last House on Dead End Street on Tubi if you’re feeling adventurous — but don’t say I didn’t warn you.