Video:Last House on the Left - Spencer Treat Clark
with Rebecca MurraySpencer Treat Clark took time away from college to go and work on 'The Last House on the Left.' Why? Find out why this particular movie moved him to leave school for a while in this interview from the film's world premiere.
Transcript:Last House on the Left - Spencer Treat Clark
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the World Premiere of The Last House on the Left.
Spencer Treat Clark – 'Justin' in The Last House on the Left
You actually left college to come and film this. Is that true?Spencer Treat Clark: "I did. I did the first few weeks of the semester and I got this opportunity to go to South Africa and do such a great film. And I dropped out for the semester. I'm back at school now. It was pretty tough to go back, so I've got to get my degree and graduate so I can start acting full time."
What was it about this script that made you actually leave college to go do it?
Spencer Treat Clark: "I mean it's one of the defining movies that helped, to use that word, define the genre. And this guy [Dennis Iliadis] right here after seeing Hardcore, his first movie, was definitely an inspiring factor in me joining this film. I know it was for a lot of the actors, in fact."
Were you familiar with the original movie?
Spencer Treat Clark: "In fact, I'd never seen it until I saw the script so it was pretty neat to sort of… Before this movie I was never a big fan of the genre, so I got a chance to look at all these Wes Craven films and really sort of figure out what it was all about."
This movie puts you through emotional hell. Everybody else seems to be going through physical hell in it, but you're going through an emotional hell in it. How is that to play?
Spencer Treat Clark: "It was cool. We did a week of rehearsals beforehand that was very influential."
Just a week?
Spencer Treat Clark: "Maybe a week and half. But we were in there all day. Honestly, it was much more rehearsal than I'd done on any other films to this day. That really gave us a chance to develop our characters. It was so helpful for me. I honestly…when I flew out there I really had no idea who Justin was, and that gave me a great opportunity to sort of figure him out."
So you came up with him pretty quickly.
Spencer Treat Clark: "I guess. I don't know. With the help of Dennis and the help of the other actors, I really got a chance to sort of figure out who that was."
What is it that you think sets this movie apart from every other horror movie, because it is a lot different?
Spencer Treat Clark: "It's funny because as one of the movies in the genre that sort of came before the rest, there's no supernatural. There's none of this sort of popping around corners really. There's no monsters. The story alone carries it itself. There's also a lot of the revenge from the good guys against the bad guys, which that definitely makes it one of the unique factors."