Last House on Dead End Street
The original three-hour-long version of the film, titled "The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell", was screened in 1973, and purportedly caused theater riots in New York City and Chicago. It was claimed that the theater in Chicago was burned down. The following year, the film had a brief release under the title "The Fun House". In 1977, it was released yet again, through Cinematic Releasing Corporation, under its most widely known title, "Last House on Dead End Street", a play on the title of the Wes Craven film "The Last House on the Left" (1972). Both of these later releases of the film were significantly shorter, running 78 minutes, as opposed to the original 175 minutes.
Wes Craven
Craven left the academic world for the more lucrative role of pornographic film director. In the documentary "Inside Deep Throat", Craven says on camera he made "many hardcore X-rated films" under pseudonyms. While his role in "Deep Throat" is undisclosed, most of his early known work involved writing, film editing, or both. Craven's first feature film as director was "The Last House on the Left", which was released in 1972. Craven expected the film to be shown at only a few theaters, which according to him "gave me a freedom to be outrageous, and to go into areas that normally I wouldn't have gone into, and not worry about my family hearing about it, or being crushed." Ultimately the movie was screened much more widely than he assumed leaving him ostracized due to the content of the film.