minutes, only two persons have been killed - but they are shown in the true nature of what homicide is, real people dying tragically.

In past films, criminals are made glamorous and heroic. We identify with them in a happy and pleasant manner. In Last House on the Left the criminals are shown for what the really are, mean and horrible.

Nor does the film make any attempt to minimize or make pleasurable experimentation with drugs. This is risky business which can only produce consequences as shown in the film.

This, then, is a moral film. A film which has become all the more gripping because we have become so unused to seeing how wicked and unforgivable violence and killing are.

For as long as records for numbers of homicide are broken each week in our urban centers, and the evening news brings us new tales of violence and burning, and we continue to treat these horrors in a nonchalant manner, it will be necessary for films like Last House on the Left to bring the true measure of violence to the consciousness of us all.

It is indeed ironic that the criticism which this film has received is because the worth of its message has been improperly assessed. The large numbers of parents now bringing their children to the theater is perhaps illustrative that the true meaning of this film, is now being properly received. The film is rated "R" in the best sense of that rating.