What actually happens
Mari's 17th birthday
Mari Collingwood is turning 17 and wants to see a concert with her friend Phyllis Stone. Her parents, Estelle and John, are uneasy about Phyllis, but they agree to the outing and hand her a peace symbol necklace as a gift. On the way into the city the girls hear a radio report about four escaped criminals: Krug Stillo, who is a serial killer and rapist, his son Junior, who is addicted to heroin, Sadie, a sadistic psychopath, and Fred Padowski, called Weasel, a child molester and murderer. Before the concert the girls try to buy marijuana, and Junior leads them to an apartment, where the gang traps them. Phyllis tries to escape and talk her way out, and she is gang-raped. Mari's parents, meanwhile, have no idea any of this is happening and keep preparing a surprise party.
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The woods near Mari's house
The next day the criminals tie up and gag the girls and drive them to the woods in the trunk of Krug's car. Mari realizes the road is close to her home. The gang also forces the girls into sexual acts with each other. Phyllis distracts them so that Mari can slip away, and Sadie and Weasel chase Phyllis while Junior stays with Mari. Mari tries to win Junior over with her necklace and by calling him Willow. Phyllis reaches a cemetery, where Weasel corners her and stabs her, and she dies against a tree. Mari persuades Junior to let her go, but Krug stops her. He carves his name into her chest and rapes her. Mari throws up, says a quiet prayer and walks into a lake, where Krug shoots her. This is the hardest scene in the movie to watch, and it comes early.
Traveling salesmen at the Collingwoods'
The gang changes out of their bloody clothes and goes to Mari's family home, claiming to be salesmen on the road. Mari's parents offer them a bed for the night. Photos of Mari around the house tell the gang whose home they have walked into. Later, Junior is going through heroin withdrawal, and Estelle goes into the bathroom to check on him. Around his neck she sees the peace symbol necklace that belonged to Mari. She then finds blood-soaked clothing in the gang's luggage, and she overhears them discussing Mari's death and where they left her body, in a lake nearby.
Estelle and John find Mari
Estelle and John rush into the woods and find Mari's body, and they decide on revenge. Estelle pretends to seduce Weasel and bites his penis off, and Weasel is left to bleed out. John takes his shotgun and fires at Krug and Sadie. Krug overpowers him in the living room, but Junior bursts in with a gun and threatens Krug to save John. Krug talks the distraught Junior into shooting himself. Using the distraction, John gets a chainsaw from the basement. Sadie tells Krug to leave by the back door, which has an electrocution trap on it. Terrified of both Krug and John, Sadie runs outside, where she fights Estelle and falls into the pool, where Estelle slits her throat. John kills Krug with the chainsaw at the moment the sheriff shows up. At the end, the police and Mari's parents somberly look over the scene, covered in blood.
The ending, explained
Estelle lures Weasel in and bites off his penis, and he bleeds to death. Junior shoots himself after Krug manipulates him, Estelle slits Sadie's throat after Sadie falls into the pool, and John kills Krug with a chainsaw as the sheriff arrives. Mari and Phyllis are already dead. The movie ends with the police and Mari's parents standing together, covered in blood, looking at the damage.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Last House on the Left scary?
Yes, The Last House on the Left is a 7 out of 10. It is a grim crime thriller with high dread, sexual violence, a few graphic moments, and a middle section that people find upsetting.
How does The Last House on the Left end?
Mari and Phyllis are dead before the revenge begins. Mari's parents take revenge on the gang, and John kills Krug with a chainsaw just as the sheriff arrives. Weasel, Junior and Sadie are dead by then too.
Does the dog die in The Last House on the Left?
No dog dies in The Last House on the Left. A radio reporter describes a dog being beaten to death, and nothing about it is shown.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Last House on the Left?
Nobody has confirmed whether The Last House on the Left has a scene after the credits.
Who kills Mari in The Last House on the Left?
Krug Stillo shoots Mari in a lake after he rapes her and carves his name into her chest. Her parents later find her body and take revenge on the gang.
