wrote The Virgin Spring gave "a relatively auspicious heritage" to rape and revenge films, and was "an art classic" with "sumptuous black and white cinematography", and that the reuse of the story in The Last House on the Left (1972) indicated "remarkable longevity" for the plot. Robin Wood wrote, "The Virgin Spring is Art; Last House is Exploitation". Leonard Maltin, giving The Virgin Spring three stars in his 2013 Movie Guide and calling it "Fascinating, beautifully made", felt it was more proper to say The Last House on the Left "ripped off" Bergman's film than remade it. The film was a major influence on Taiwanese director Ang Lee and American film maker Wes Craven. The aggregation site They Shoot Pictures, Don't They has found it to be the 639th most acclaimed film ever made. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, also reports 88% approval among 24 surveyed critics, with an average rating of 8/10. Accolades The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the first time Bergman won the award. The film was also entered into competition for the Palme d'Or at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. See also Middle Ages in film List of historical drama films List of submissions to the 33rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film References Bibliography External links Per Tyrssons döttrar , also known as Herr Töres' döttrar'' – a version of the old ballad, in Swedish The Virgin Spring: Bergman in Transition an essay by Peter Cowie at the Criterion Collection 1960 films 1960 crime drama films 1960s fantasy drama films 1960s Swedish-language films Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Films based on Norse mythology Films directed by Ingmar Bergman Films scored by Erik Nordgren Films set in the Middle Ages Swedish black-and-white films Swedish crime drama films Rape and revenge films 1960s Swedish films