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.
Friday the 13th (franchise)
The original "Friday the 13th" was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously worked with filmmaker Wes Craven on "The Last House on the Left" (1972). Cunningham, inspired by the success of John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978), wanted "Friday the 13th" to be shocking, visually stunning, and "[make] you jump out of your seat". Distancing himself from "The Last House on the Left", Cunningham wanted "Friday the 13th" to be more of a "roller coaster ride". The first film was meant to be "a real scary movie", and at the same time make audiences laugh. The concept for "Friday the 13th" began as nothing more than a title. "A Long Night at Camp Blood" was the working title Victor Miller used while he drafted a script, but Cunningham believed in his "Friday the 13th" moniker and rushed to place an advertisement in "International Variety". Worrying that someone else owned the rights to the title and wanting to avoid potential lawsuits, Cunningham thought it would be best to find out immediately. Cunningham commissioned a New York advertising agency to develop his visual concept of the "Friday the 13th" logo, which consisted of big block letters bursting through a pane of glass. In the end, Cunningham believed there were "no problems" with the title, but distributor George Mansour contends that there was an issue: "There was a movie before ours called "Friday the 13th: The Orphan". Moderately successful. But someone still threatened to sue. It is unknown whether Phil [Scuderi] paid them off, but the issue was eventually resolved."