An average movie

Since I have a weak spot for Wes Craven and since this movie had developed a rather infamous reputation since its release, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the whole thing. I mean, it was still much better than the recent remake which was really weak but, in my opinion, it was just a rather nasty cheap-ass horror flick like they used to make back in those days. I was really surprised to discover that the late Roger Ebert actually liked a lot this movie since he never displayed much love for this genre. I mean, there was some good stuff, absolutely. For example, the juxtaposition of raping and mutilation with the upbeat soundtrack was really striking and some of the actors were actually decent (not all of them unfortunately). The mood was also really dark, grim and quite relentless and I can imagine that it must have been quite shocking when it was released 40 years ago. Still, even though it was an interesting directing debut for Wes Craven, personally, I really preferred his 2nd directing effort, 'The Hills have eyes', which wasn't really a masterpiece either but it was still much stronger story-wise, at least, that's my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was a little bit disappointing, it still remain a classic horror feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10