Director Wes Craven's leap into psycho gang violence which appears to draw its bones from a movie like "Straw Dogs" rather than "Psycho." He's saddled with Sean Cunningham (of "Friday The 13th" fame 9 years later) as producer
Two girls venture out into the woods and run into a gang of violent, disturbed convicts. 3 guys and girl. They are goofy at first, but soon we see how dark the tone turns when they have to do the unthinkable. Which is cover their tracks. Unfortunately for them, in attempting to further their crime spree they hole up into a home which takes a turn for the worse for them.
This movie...I'm sure in 1972 must've been groundbreaking. In terms of how far they were willing to go. The gruesome crimes unravel (clumsily) into a revenge plot that turns. And the fact that they fugitives are so...normal. Like they could be anyone. And they don't act like criminals until they have to do awful criminal things. The worse of it...it was so random. Two girls having fun in the woods, then stumble onto awful things.
I get why this was a hit back in the day. After the Vietnam era violence and protests, this seemed like a response to rampant random crime. This movie reminds us again what we could be capable of if survival and revenge became our focus in life.
Though outdated in its performances (they're really bad) and blocking, this still has moments of effectiveness, particularly the spin of tone. There's also the bumbling police officers which Craven brings back in the "Scream" series.
It's not even close to the gruesome gore you see today. But the raw nature of its violence, I can see some of it still being incredibly disturbing.
A cool watch.
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