Mari Collingwood
Mari Collingwood is a fictional character in The Last House on the Left series of films. Created by the writer and director Wes Craven, she is portrayed by Sandra Peabody in the 1972 original film and by Sara Paxton in 2009 remake of the same name. Making her debut appearance in The Last House on the Left, Mari serves as the heroine; predating the characters of Nancy Thompson and Sidney Prescott who served as the protagonists of Craven's landmark series A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, respectively. The 2009 incarnation of the character has been observed by some scholars to follow the "final girl" archetype, contrasting with her original depiction. Outside of film, Mari has appeared in merchandise based on the original film.
Appearances
In film
Original
Mari is planning on going to a concert to see the controversial band Bloodlust with her more world weary best friend Phyllis Stone for her 17th birthday despite her parent's initial reluctance to allow her to go. Mari's mother expresses her disapproval of her friendship with Phyllis and her father questions why she's interested in a band mostly known for notoriety. Phyllis arrives and before Mari leaves, her parents give her a peace sign necklace for her birthday gift. While in the city, they are lured into an apartment to buy marijuana. Inside the apartment, they are held captive by a group of escaped convicts by the names of Krug, Fred, Sadie, and Junior. Mari and Phyllis are abducted and taken into the middle of the woods. Mari realizes in horror that she is by the road near her house but is unable to escape there for help. While in the woods, the girls are humiliated and assaulted. Phyllis runs away in an attempt to distract the killers so that Mari can escape. However, Mari is being watched by Junior and she attempts to gain his trust by renaming him "Willow" and by giving him her peace sign necklace. This works and the two attempt to evade Krug, Sadie, and Fred. Phyllis is killed and after being assaulted, a hopeless Mari wanders into a nearby pond knowing that she is going to be murdered. She is shot multiple times by Krug and is left for dead. She is found dead by her parents. Mari subsequently appears in Junior's nightmares.Remake
Mari is a competitive swimmer who goes on vacation with her parents John and Emma to their lake house. Mari takes the family car and drives into town to hang out with her friend Paige. While Paige is finishing her shift as a cashier, they meet a teenager named Justin, who invites them both back to his motel room to smoke marijuana. While there, Justin's family members return: Krug, Justin's father; Francis, Justin's uncle; and Sadie, Krug's girlfriend. Due to the widespread media coverage of Krug's recent escape from police custody, the criminals decide to kidnap them and steal Mari's car to leave town. Mari convinces Krug to take a road that is in the direction of her parents' lake house; in an attempt to escape, Mari burns Sadie's face with a cigarette lighter and attempts to jump out of the vehicle, but is unable to when the car crashes. After being raped by Krug, Mari manages to escape the criminals and make it to the lake so she can swim to safety. However, Krug shoots her in the back and she is left for dead, but she is later revealed to have survived. Mari manages to reach her parent's porch and with them seeks revenge; Mari, John, Emma, and Justin then take a boat to the hospital.In merchandise
Pallbearer Press released LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT SHIRT, a Horror T-shirt with Mari being the main part of the design.Development
Returning to New York after a cross-country road trip, Peabody was originally asked by the film makers to audition for the role of Phyllis after responding to casting notice in the trade publication Backstage. After meeting the producer Sean S. Cunningham she was cast as Mari. Craven stated, "I liked Sandra Peabody a lot; I thought she was very pretty, and very plucky... because she was a very young actress, she wasn't nearly as confident and easy going as Lucy was, and she had become involved in something very, very rough. And she hung in there. When the character was raped, she was treated very roughly, and I know Sandra said to me afterwards, 'My God... I had the feeling they really hated me.'"Jacob Knight interpreted that Wes Craven created Mari with the intention of her being a metaphor of peace and innocence during an era of apprehension, "He wants us to see her as a sexual object, the peace sign necklace her parents gift to her before she heads into the city no match for the angry, depraved, aggressors who tear her and Phyllis’ clothes off. In this way, Craven has molded Mari to be something of an avatar for how he views the “Love Generation”; inexperienced balls of flesh who think their hippie posturing will save them from society's wolves."
attending the premiere of The Last House on the Left
Various cast and crew of the original film have stated that Sandra Peabody was genuinely unnerved during the entire making of the film and at one point walked off set. In an interview for David A. Szulkin's non-fiction book Wes Craven's Last House on the Left, Peabody confirmed the discomfort that she felt throughout the making of the film and the difficulty of working with Method actor David Hess, who threatened to assault her to get a genuine reaction from her.
Sara Paxton revealed that she only auditioned for the film as an acting exercise and was not expecting to obtain the role. In an interview, Paxton stated, "In the audition, Dennis was like, 'So how’s your swimming ability?' And I was like, 'I played a mermaid. I’m an amazing swimmer. You have no idea. I’m great.' And they were like, 'Oh wow, she’s a great… Hey, she’s a good swimmer.' Then I actually got on set and I just remember submerging under water and hearing, 'Cut! Oh my God, she is drowning! She is drowning right now. Somebody get her some floaties, something!' I guess I wasn’t that good. I was more talk."
Despite the intense subject matter, Paxton described her experience on set as a positive one and when asked about what it was like to work with the producers Wes Craven and Jonathan Craven, she stated:
Dennis Iliadis, the director of the 2009 film, wanted to add more characterization and depth to the character of Mari and revealed that the writers decided to make her a competitive swimmer which attributes to her character development and survival later on in the film. In an interview, Iliadis stated:
Reception
Film critic John Kenneth Muir described Mari as a "well-developed character." Editor Stefano Lo Verme compared Peabody's performance as Mari to the performances of Marilyn Burns as Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in Halloween. Similarly, in an article published for The Washington Post, film critic Ann Hornaday noted the similarities between Collingwood and both Strode and Hardesty, writing that all three characters "personified the qualities and character beats of the quintessential final girl at her most admirable and frustrating: She was virginal, whereas her contemporaries were hormonal and sex-crazed. She was levelheaded when all around her were giving way to hysteria. She was fiercely protective of those in her care rather than merely out for self-preservation. Most important, she outlived the villain, or at least didn’t allow herself to die at his hand."In Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas notes that that 2009 version of the character, unlike the original incarnation, exhibits traits of the "final girl" trope, stating:
In an interview with The Terror Trap, David Hess discussed the relationship that he had with Sandra Peabody on set and the audience's emotional connection to Mari, stating: