MovieChat Forums > The Last House on the Left (1972) Discussion > not an homage. not a reworking, but a bl...

not an homage. not a reworking, but a blatant rip off of Virgin Spring.

posted 9 years ago by jwpeel-1
3 replies | jump to latest

Nuff said.

[–] coldnaps 9 years ago

Craven admitted VS was the influence for this. So how it it a rip-off

[–] gilbert_gumphrey 9 years ago

Because he only admitted to it long after the fact, and long after people endlessly brought up the comparisons. If he had credited Virgin Spring in the film itself, with a "Based On" or "Inspired By" credit (which probably would've had to lead to paying Bergman some sort of royalties), then yes, he would not have ripped anything off.

But he didn't do that, so yes, it's a rip off. Also just about the worst flick I've ever seen, so there's that, too.

[–] AlfoBet 9 years ago

Well... the plot of The Virgin Spring is in the public domain anyway. And since it's just the core plot that Craven took (and not the atmosphere, visual style, Bergman's flourishes etc.), I think calling it a rip-off of that film in particular is a bit strong. If anything, it's a rip-off of the Swedish ballad, and it's questionable whether that even requires credit - do artists need to cite The Odyssey everytime they ape that plot structure, for example?

It's interesting, actually, that Bergman saw his own film as being a Kurosawa rip-off. And then, later on, several people ripped off Craven's film (as in, they took not just the plot, but Craven's specific rendering of it).