When Max von Sydow's young daughter is raped and gruesomely murdered, fate delivers the killers into his hands. The plot of The Virgin Spring is as simple and as clear as a parable, but the power of the film comes from Bergman's ability to give all the blood-letting a real impact. The Virgin Spring remains a shocking film, and sadly, its ambivalence about retaliatory violence has also retained its timeliness. (Horror fans will note that the film was remade as Last House on the Left by Wes Craven.)