Talk:Last House on Dead End Street

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Budget

According to the article Watkins "[...] was high on amphetamines while making the film and that only about $800 of the $3,000 budget was spent making it, while the remaining $2,200 was used to buy drugs". Shouldnt that be reflected in the infobox where the line "Budget" says "$3,000" and changed to $800? Or are the 2 grand spent on dope really part of the moviemaking costs ... ? Just wondering 89.204.139.161 (talk) 20:28, 28 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Year of release?

The earliest evidence I can find of an official theatrical release is a newspaper ad in 1977 under the title The Fun House. In 1979 the film was rated R by the MPAA under the title Last House on Dead End Street and was reissued under that name. What evidence is there that it was screened earlier than that and caused "riots in cinemas"? A contemporary news article about the 1975 court case (where an actress unsuccessfully sued Watkins to prevent nude scenes of her being included in the film), refers to it by its working title "At the Hour of Our Death" and describes it as "yet to be completed". The article mentions "private showings around Oneonta", but quotes Watkins as saying in a court statement "if and when the film is finished, [emphasis added] it will have no scene in which the plaintiff appears." This implies that the film was not given a proper release prior to 1975 at the earliest. --Muzilon (talk) 22:34, 22 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Muzilon: I believe you are correct; I found another newspaper listing from Louisiana for The Fun House screening on May 13, 1977 at drive-ins, and another from Millville, New Jersey from May 10. There is no evidence the film was released in 1974, and I think this was likely a typo. There is evidence that it was screened as Last House on Dead End Street beginning in 1979, per this. It is likely that the May 6, 1977 release in Connecticut that you've pointed out with that advertisement was the original release, as it was regional/small-scale, and moved to other locations & drive-ins after (a common release practice for low-budget films during this era). I will do some work on the article and sort this mess out with the appropriate citations. --Drown Soda (talk) 21:41, 9 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Drown Soda: Thanks for your detective work. But where does the "135 minute" runtime mentioned in the lead come from? I'd always heard the rough cut ran 3 hours. Oh, and a minor point: my understanding is that we no longer use the Open Access (

) icon when citing Newspapers.com, per this discussion. Muzilon (talk) 01:04, 10 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Muzilon: I just edited this as well; I'm not sure where the 135 minute claim came from, but I presume that was also a typo that was intended to represent the approximation of 3 hours (which would be 180 minutes). Thanks for the heads up on the open access icon; I've been doing this as a regular practice as I thought it was preferred, but was not aware of that consensus. --Drown Soda (talk) 01:14, 10 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Another thought: according to this source,[1] the projected screening at Cannes never occurred, possibly because of the actress suing Watkins to prevent him using her nude scenes. Muzilon (talk) 10:39, 12 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

More information can be added

This article is looking good. Just a few more touches and its ready for GA status. The Reception section can be expanded a bit more as well as the production section. There is an interview with the director that can be found in the book NIGHTMARE USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents by Stephen Thrower that can be added into here.--99.198.57.234 (talk) 04:05, 26 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, but I don't think it could be considered a "Good Article" until the confused statements over the year of release are clarified, as I mentioned above. Muzilon (talk) 05:41, 26 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That is what I mean by "A fre more touches". That and more information on the film's production.--Paleface Jack (talk) 17:56, 27 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Found some sources to add at a later date, including one that lists a 90 min cut.

--Paleface Jack (talk) 03:34, 2 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Disney version

I saw that Disney did a parody version of this as well as part of their "Disney Home Video" VHS collection. [2] - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 21:41, 9 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

1973 film festival screenings - did they really happen?

In early 1973 Watkins said the film was scheduled to be screened at Cannes and Berlin – but this doesn't seem to have happened, perhaps because of the lawsuit over the nude scenes. At any rate, there is no mention of the film in Wikipedia's articles on the Cannes and Berlin festivals of 1973, nor on the festivals' own webpages for that year.[3][4][5] Muzilon (talk) 06:04, 20 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]