CULT – Last House on Dead End Street

Published on: 6th October, 2009

CULT - Last House on Dead End Street  | read this item

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Perhaps a horror film’s greatest triumph is when the viewer believes what they are seeing is real. Michael and Roberta Findlay succeeded with their appropriately titled exploitationer Snuff in 1976, Conan Le Cilaire (real name John Alan Schwartz) followed suit two years later with his pseudo-documentary Faces of Death and Ruggero Deodato even faced criminal charges when the Italian authorities were convinced that the deaths depicted in his video nasty Cannibal Holocaust were not genuine. Even in this cynical day and age, the viral marketing campaign based around the 1999 sleep hit The Blair Witch Project, directed by independent filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, caused the media to speculate whether the footage discovered online was authentic. Yet perhaps the most notorious of all of these was Victor Janos’ 1977 grindhouse classic Last House on Dead End Street; a shameless Manson Family-style feature that saw a group of young filmmakers creating obscenity in the name of art.

For over two decades the identity of Victor Janos remained elusive. But eventually the truth was revealed when Roger Watkins, who had since paid his bills with adult movies, confessed to his involvement. What was more surprising was when he admitted that Janon was not the only pseudonym he used throughout the production: he was also the writer Brian Laurence, the editor Brian Newett, the producer Norman F. Kaiser and even the star, credited as Steven Morrison. Last House on Dead End Street was delayed for several years and then eventually disappeared into obscurity with countless other exploitation flicks of the era. Watkins had moved on with his life and career and the truth about his involvement with the movie seemed safe. But since his confession, he had become something of a cult oddity, with a new generation of fans discovering the film all over again.

Born on September 17 1948 in Binghamton, New York, Roger Watkins was nine-years old when he first discovered what he wanted to become. Having been invited by Jim Brochus, an older boy in his neighbourhood, back to his house to look at his movie projector, Watkins was amazed when he saw a 16mm black and white Felix the Cat film from the 1930s projected in front of him. It was not the footage itself that fascinated but what he could do with it: a crank on the side of the machine allowed the user to speed up the film, play it backwards or stop it all together. Watkins was mesmerised by the device that, as he saw it, allowed him to play with time. He would repeatedly visit Brochus’ home to experiment with the film and by his tenth birthday he had asked his parents for a camera. A Brownie Fun-Saver was a cheap 8mm designed by Kodak and would become Watkins’ most cherished possession.

Having already begun devising various concepts for a film, his first effort was Masque of the Red Death, which would co-star his best friends Dave Day and Ed Beverly in all of the principal roles, often having them reappear in disguise as other characters. Having experimented with both practical and visual effects, Watkins became a relatively competent director by the time he left school and took a short trip to Britain before enrolling at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His other passion at that time was chemicals and so his work began to suffer. Eventually, at the suggestion of a girl that he had a crush on, he decided to transfer to SUNY in Oneonta, where he found his grades improving. His film professor on campus was renowned author Paul Jensen who, despite being blind, was a valuable tutor to Watkins as his ambitions began to grow.

Having devoured the likes of Ingmar Bergman’s Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal) and Federico Fellini’s 8½, Watkins experimented with various films, including 1969’s Ron Rico and Requiem, in which he explored his own feelings about a friend who had died in Vietnam. After graduating in 1972, he head out to California where he found himself working on Blood Orgy of the She-Devils, the latest low budget horror from Ted Mikels, the director of The Astro-Zombies and The Doll Squad. Having hated the experience, Watkins returned to New York, where he was introduced to Otto Preminger, the legendary filmmaker responsible for such classics as Laura, Anatomy of a Murder and Exodus. Having appeared uninvited at his home, Watkins was invited back to showcase his work. Preminger would prove encouraging for the young wannabe director and the two would become close friends.

Soon afterwards, Watkins made the acquaintance of Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) and had taken residence at his house as he edited his latest movie. Having been approached by producers to shoot a movie in Czechoslovakia with Richard Burton and his then wife Elizabeth Taylor, Ray instead asked Watkins if he would go to the meeting in his place. Arriving at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan, the meeting failed to result in an agreement, but the man had suggested that Watkins make a movie based on the Manson Family murders that had occurred three years earlier. Having read The Family: The Story of Charles Manson’s Dune Buggy Attack Battalion by Ed Sanders, published the previous year, Watkins was aware of the concept of ’snuff’ films and his imagination immediately began to run wild with ideas.

At that time, Watkins had become an avid reader of Kurt Vonnegut, whose influential work had included Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions. But it would be his 1961 novel Mother Night, which told of Nazi playwright Howard W. Campbell Jr. awaiting trial for war crimes during the mid-1930s. One passage in the book had referenced the cuckoo clocks of hell, that only tell the correct time once a millennia, and this would inspire the title of Watkins script – The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell. In much the same vein as the Manson Family, Watkins’ story would focus on Terry Hawkins, a petty crook (recently released from prison after one year for possession of drugs) who bands together a group of easily-influenced youths to make real-life snuff films. Although Manson had been a repeat offender and charged with a variety of crimes, no known snuff films were ever recorded by the group during their various murder sprees.

To help produce the film on an extremely low budget, Watkins hired students from SUNY and also used the facility to obtain equipment, whilst the film stock was provided by his father, who worked at the General Aniline and Film Corporation. The initial budget for the feature was approximately $1,500, although Watkins would eventually spend around $300 of it on drugs. He had developed a taste for amphetamines and would more often than not appear on set under the influence, although the speed would usually give him more energy. Whilst the surgical gloves and masks were purchased from a local drug store, the theatrical-style masks were borrowed from of a professor who had recently completed a production of Oedipus. Jensen, meanwhile, had managed to help Watkins find a suitable camera, an Arriflex 16S.

Principal photography took place in and around Oneonta, New York, throughout December 1972 and January 1973. His right-hand man during the shoot was Ken Fisher, who worked as his cinematographer (under the alias Alexander Tarsk) and took the role of Ken Hardy (acting under the name Dennis Crawford). Fisher would constantly motivate Watkins, who was usually preoccupied with narcotics, and was the driving force that he needed to keep him focused. Most of the cast members would also be credited under pseudonyms: Bill Schlageter was billed as Lawrence Bornman, Kathy Curtin as Janet Sorley, Pat Canestro as Elaine Norcross and many others. The initial cut of The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell had ran at almost three hours, forcing Watkins to slice it down to less than two hours (although it would constantly be re-cut throughout its life). Having secured a studio in Princeton, New Jersey, thanks to Francis Ford Coppola who was in town to give a talk, Watkins had dubbed the movie with the help of his wife and Nan Bernstein, who would later become a successful producer for United Artists.

Although the movie was completed in 1973, Watkins would encounter further problems when one of his actresses, Barb McGraw, had demanded that her scene be cut (she was to have appeared in one of the adult films) due to her fearing it would ruin her chances of becoming a Broadway star. Although her footage would be removed, she still ordered her attorney to sue the filmmakers, which would result in the movie remaining unreleased until 1977. After a brief run under the name The Fun House, the distributors chose to rename the film Last House on Dead End Street, to capitalise on the phenomenal success of Wes Craven’s 1972 shocker The Last House on the Left. This was not to be the first movie marketed this way: Mario Bava’s Reazione a catena (Twitch of the Death Nerve) was also released as The Last House on the Left Part 2, despite being produced a year earlier, whilst Aldo Lado’s L’ultimo treno della notte (Night Train Murders) was renamed The New House on the Left and Pasquale Festa Campanile’s Autostop rosso sangue was also known as Hitchhike: Last House on the Left (which also co-starred David Hess of The Last House on the Left). Sadly, however, Watkins would pass away just a few years after the truth about Last House on Dead End Street was revealed. He was only fifty-eight.

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