Program Note
This film was affected by The Virgin Spring by Ingmar Bergman. While Bergman was concerned about the possibility of salvation from a religious perspective, this film by Wes Craven is devoted to the unique features of the genre, such as violence and vengeance. It is a typical movie produced by Sean S. Cunningham, an oddball of horror cinema, which exhibits distinct features of low-budget B-movies: rough images, vivid colors, excessive violence and weird humor. It was in the early 1970s; as a new youth culture exploded, Craven turned his eyes to violence that destroyed innocence. His movies do not have any girls singing about a rainbow during her journey like in the American classic The Wizard of Oz. Anyway, this movie became a cult film once released, and various versions have been made public, as it was distributed by a major company in the DVD age. In 2009, it gained evil notoriety once again as it was released as a remake by Dennis Iliadis. (LEE Yong-cheol)