When fledgling director Wes Craven took this film to the MPAA, they slapped it with an "X" rating. Wanting an R rating, for wider release, Craven went back and removed several minutes of footage. However, this still wasn't enough and the film still got an "X" rating. Once again Craven removed footage, but that still wasn't enough. Finally, Craven put all of the original footage back in, got an authentic "RATED R" seal of approval from the film board from a friend of his, who put the rating on the film, and released it.
A mixture of red and blue food coloring mixed with caramel syrup was used for the fake blood, which contrary to most film "blood," actually looks real.
According to director Wes Craven, the crew set up a special editing office to restore prints returned from cinemas because "every one would come back chopped up by theater owners."
When this movie was first released in '72, most critics found it disturbing. However, Roger Ebert gave it 3 and half stars and he got letters from people asking him how he could possibly support a movie like this.
According to Wes Craven he never anticipated the extreme reactions that audiences would have to Last House on the Left. Audiences were said to have vomited, fainted, and (rumored to have happened to one unfortunate moviegoer) had a heart attack during initial screenings of the film.
Jonathan Craven: Director Wes Craven's son plays the little boy who has his balloon popped by Krug Stillo's cigar.