DVD Review: The Last House

The Last House is an odd little horror film about an escort who wants to quit the business, but who agrees to do one last job. It stars Lauren Walsh as Love, the escort, Ezra Buzzington as Hate, the creepy man who has hired her, and Jason Mewes as Ned, the guy who wants to take her away from that life. The story is not presented chronologically, but rather frequently moves back and forth through time, covering three general periods – before the job, during the job, and the morning after the job.

It opens with Ned telling his regular hooker, Love, that he wants to take her home to meet his parents, and that he loves her. She says: “And I you. Like a brother. Like a brother that I fuck.” She then kisses him sweetly and tells him she’s just kidding. It then suddenly cuts to Love hanging from a ceiling, breaking free, and seeing two dead hookers on the floor. And just as suddenly we’re introduced to Hate, who seems to address us directly, waxing philosophical, asking us, “What is more important – how we got here, what we’re doing here, or where we go when we leave?”

It’s interesting, because before we even really meet Jenna and Hailey, the other two escorts, we know they’re going to die. And before we see them all arrive at the house, we know the guy who has hired them is a little nuts. So when Poot picks the girls up, and the scene is rather lighthearted, we’re already aware of some of the horror to come, and that colors our reaction to the scene. There are some nice little details. For example, on Poot’s car, there is a bumper sticker which reads, “I fucked your honor roll student,” which made me laugh. (By the way, Poot is played by Timothy Muskatell, and he turns in one of the film’s best performances.) And I love the line where the pimp regrets having not invested in some trannies.

When the girls arrive, the party is at first more discussion than action, with Hate, along with Selma and Cleb, sizing up the three women. Cleb seems something of a simpleton, and after Jenna remarks that he seems happy, Hate says to her, “Wait ‘til you see him crazy happy.” It’s a great delivery, with just the right amount of threat of something sinister, while also being humorous. And for you foot fetishists, there is a scene where two women suck on each other’s toes (plus, there is a bit of fun S&M). It’s interesting how overt are the psychological games between client and prostitute, a comment on the games that really are played in those artificial relationships. It’s interesting too that it is exactly this type of relationship that Ned and Love wish to make real, legitimate.

Well, it isn’t long before the sexy play turns nasty.

There is some bad dialogue in this film, like some of Hate’s lines, which seem like nonsense rather than eerie (“Ripples in a pond of chaos”). He acts like what he’s saying is profound, but it’s not. And because of the non-linear storytelling, we’re not all that invested in Ned’s ongoing search for Love. Because we’ve already seen her getting revenge, we don’t feel that she needs to be rescued by Ned. But there are some strange, interesting elements to Love’s revenge. And I love the strangulation scene.

Special Features

The DVD contains several special features, including a commentary track by director Sean Cain and writer Wes Laurie. They mention that Lauren Walsh won’t talk to them anymore, which is odd, and they talk about some footage they shot with the pregnant real estate agent which didn’t make it to the final cut (it’s also not included in the DVD’s deleted scenes). The special features do include two deleted scenes which expand the relationship of Ned and Love. In the first, they talk about video games, and in the second Ned surprises her at a hotel room. There is also footage from the movie’s premiere at the Gorezone UK film festival, including a panel with Sean Cain, and a short Q&A with Sean Cain and Wes Laurie.

The Last House was released on DVD on November 24, 2015 through Wild Eye Releasing.