THE LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET is the "story" of Terry Hawkins (Director Roger Watkins), who is so embittered by having been incarcerated, that he sets out on the ultimate, sadistic, misanthropic plot for revenge.
Securing an abandoned warehouse, Hawkins gathers a team of "actors" and "assistants", made up of low-end prostitutes, and a madman with a lustful penchant for dead livestock (!!), for his sinister project. He's making a movie.
Once Hawkins secures a cameraman named Bill Drexel (Bill Schlageter), we meet Nancy Palmer (Nancy Vrooman), whose self-debasing "performance art" at a particular party is almost as disturbing as Terry's movie idea. Well, not quite. Nancy's "open-minded" husband, Jim (Edward E. Pixley) signs on to direct Hawkins' opus, and another man, named Steve Randall (Steve Sweet) joins in as well.
Surprise! It was, of course, all a ruse designed to gather all of Terry's enemies / victims / scapegoats together, at his mercy. Inside the warehouse, the lights go on, the captives are all securely tied up, and the camera rolls. Thus, begins Terry's nasty, unflinching vengeance caught on film.
From here on, TLHODES is as grueling, mesmerizing, and devoid of any / all hope as it's supposed to be. It's a poorly filmed, half-lit nightmare of mutilation and murder, presented in a garish, oddly otherworldly fashion. If Satan had commissioned his demons to make a movie, it would look like this! The grimy appearance and ultra-cheapness of it all, actually add to the noxious atmosphere of inescapable death and doom. The masks, the rampant megalomania of Terry, and his raving dialogue, combine in an impossibly effective manner. What should be absurd, is absurd, yet is terrifying because of it. The notorious "surgery" sequence is worthy of its reputation.
Considering the era (1972) and lack of budget, this is pretty disturbing stuff. It is highly recommended that the curious viewer read up on the sordid, mysterious history of this film. It's as interesting as the finished product! Knowing that over 90 minutes of the movie are still missing is intriguing, probably for all the wrong reasons...
