The Last Cabin

People take found footage movies too seriously, and I say this as a huge fan of the genre.

What this Director/cast and crew consistently get right is a humorous tone that works for these types of movies, that helps set off the dark stuff going on. People giving this a 1 have never seen found footage moves or low budget before. People giving this 10 are being realllllly nice lol.

Look, its low budget, like all of this director's films. But it's well done in terms of found footage, there's a lot worse out there, and it manages to stay entertaining. Also, the acting is pretty good, especially for a found footage movie. It's worth watching for fans of the genre.

Again, I CANNOT stress it enough, this is A LOT better than other found footage movies. Rudnicki is one of several found footage directors working today, and I would say he's one of the most consistent ones.

This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Shirly from Entertainment Squad who sent over the screener. This movie was picked up by the Horror Collective. Both of these groups tend to put out things that I enjoy so I was intrigued to check this out. What I figured coming in was that this was going to be a low budget horror film to help my end of year 2025 list. What I didn't realize until this started was that I've heard members of the production crew, DBS films, on my friend's podcast - The Night Club. Also, I recognized one of our stars' names in a Discord chat group.

Synopsis: trapped in a remote cabin, a film crew finds themselves stalked by three masked people who know the isolated woods and their every move.

We start with seeing a couple in the middle of the woods at night. This is filmed in the style of found footage. There is a third with them holding the camera. We see Amanda (Kyree Cook) and Dale (Austin J. Rhodes). They are looking for their campsite and when they can't find it, they're trying to find the road. Instead, they're attacked by a trio of people in creepy clown masks.

It then shifts over to the group we're following. They are behind the scenes crew members. Hope (Isabella Bobadilla) is a location scout. She works with Ben (Brendan Goshay) and they're with Shawn (Tanner Kongdara) who is filming. Hope is stressed as she can't seem to find a cabin that fits what they're looking for. She lashes out at Shawn, telling him that she doesn't think the production team wants him filming this and he's following what he was told to the letter. They continue searching as the stress mounts.

This leads them to a cabin that is in the woods. It seems like the exact fit. They go to check the door and find a padlock. It is here that they hear screaming so they go inside to make sure no one is hurt. It turns out to be a movie. They also upset the property manager, played by John Fantasia. He wants them gone. Hope sways him by telling him what they're looking for and offering him the budget she's been allotted to rent the place. He declines at first, but they do come to an agreement.

With the location secured, Hope reaches out to the producer. He is a guy named Kevin (Benjamin L. Newmark). He is heading out there to check the place. In the meantime, our team starts to run cables to prepare lighting. It is by doing this in the surrounding woods, they find a masked man watching them. This is terrifying so they lock themselves inside the cabin. Kevin arrives, mocking their fears. That is until he's attacked. It then becomes a fight for survival as they try to get away before it is too late.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is by commending this movie. It knew what it had to work with and didn't waste any time setting the stage, then getting us over to the group that we're following. There are issues that I have with things the later we go, but on the whole, this was a solid, low budget effort.

Now that I have that set up, let's delve more into what we're getting here. This is a combination of slasher and home invasion. Our trio that goes out to this cabin doesn't know it as well as the people that are stalking them. What makes it even scarier is that they don't know who they can trust either. This has the vibes of The Strangers with them being trapped inside and our killers surround them. Building on that idea as well, Hope discovers something in one of the rooms where this cabin isn't as secured as she thought. That plays with this idea of they've created this safe place, but there are holes where the killers can still get in. This keeps the tension rising and prevents slipping into a lull.

There is a slight negative that I need to discuss. I think it's great that this film keeps building from the opening shot to our group being stalked. My problem is that even though this runs for about 70 minutes, my interest wanes when they flee into the woods to survive. It is the next logical step, especially since there isn't safety inside the house. My problem is that it is so dark in the woods, we're filming this with handheld cameras that it was difficult to follow what was happening. I'm a big fan of found footage. If you can make it believable when they continue to film, I don't nitpick. This does that, but I just got lost at times while in their woods. It doesn't ruin it, but it didn't fully work for me.

I'm going to then shift gears to talk about the acting performances. I've seen similar films where the acting wasn't as solid as what we get here. I like our main trio. Bobadilla seems like this woman who so badly wants to work in the industry. She doesn't want to ruin this chance and it puts stress on her. It is from there that she takes blame as they're attacked. Where her character ends up makes sense. Goshay and Kongdara were solid as the two guys who are trapped with her. I like Newmark and Cashmere Moniqué as others who end up here. That helps provide more bodies. Dylan DeVane, Tagen Crossley and Kellan Rudnicki all work as the people under the masks. The acting brings the characters to life for a movie like this for sure.

All that is left then should fall into filmmaking aspects. I've already said that I have my issues with this being found footage. It doesn't ruin it though. I actually like making a slasher/home invasion film as it feels like we're with them. It just didn't work for me as well when they went into the woods. The framing and the shakiness of the camera made it difficult to follow. What impressed me though were the effects. I loved the clown masks, those are terrifying. They don't show a lot of blood and gore, but what we do looks good. This is where the cinematography comes back as a positive for me. They hid the seams well. Other than that, they are solid things done with the sound design to add tension and build the needed atmosphere.

In conclusion, this is one where most of what they did worked. This team has a limited budget, but they used it well. I like filming a slasher/home invasion film in the style of found footage. That puts us right there with our characters as they try to survive the night. The acting is solid in bringing the characters to life. They're also distinct enough. I also thought that the practical effects were also good. My only issue is when they flee into the woods. It was just hard to follow and to see things. Other than that, I'd recommend it if you like lower budget films like this.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

Lovible and likeable characters till they come a knocking. Very fast paced and when the momentum picks up and doesn't stop. Pros and Cons Pro: well written and keeps your attention all the way to the end. (I didn't even need a smoke break.) Con: some of the scenes could have used more gore and blood. After being hit with a particular item you would expect more blood. There comes a time when you have house in the woods vs a cabin in the woods. But I totally get it.. it's a movie.. Overall it is definitely a good watch.

Was impressed with majority of the actors and the direction of the film....

This was a nice hybrid of found footage and slasher. The premise of a film crew getting stalked by masked killers is a neat touch with Shawn (Tanner Kongdara) being the anchor and a representation of the audience getting sucked into the forest of what our main cast is going through. Ben (Brendan Goshay) and Hope (Isabella Bobadilla) were a phenominal pairing. The found footageness adds to the frantic nature and action of the film. Even though the film is shot in a found footage style it still had that cinematic flare and edge to it. Highly recommend to fans of not only indie horror but just fans of the horror genre in general. Only wished the kills were more visable and a longer run time.

Trying to find a spot for the night, a group intended to be on-set at a film shoot in the area get stranded at a remote cabin which is soon inundated by a group of asked intruders looking to play a series of brutal games that involve killing them in graphic ways forcing them to get away alive.

Overall, this was a fairly fun and somewhat enjoyable found footage effort. One of the better elements here stems from the strong and enjoyable setup that brings everything together incredibly well. With the group arriving at the house with the intent to find a property that will work as a filming location and managing to negotiate a way to stay there for their shoot, everything comes together with a fun way of starting this with a fun reason why the group is out there in the middle of nowhere. While the group is staying there and preparing for the arrival of the rest of the crew, the few hints that this one goes for involving the masked lunatics who are following them around the property provide a fantastic intensity that adds a solid sense of creepiness to this one. That provides a solid baseline for the later stalking scenes, where it's revealed that the lunatics are intending to enter the cabin and begin torturing and killing others with them. These scenes play off quite nicely with the idea of the unfeeling and just plain eerie figures standing there trying to instill fear so that they panic and make mistakes to bring them into contact with the killers around the property in some chilling encounters. Since it introduces them quiet early on and never relents from that point on, the escalating encounters and brutality get some fun moments here which offer up a strong sense of tension with how they're going to get out and prevent the killers from getting inside with the close-quarters filming style and great gore having quite a lot to like. There are some slight flaws with this one, holding it down. The biggest issue here is the moronic sense of stupidity on display that keeps the group in danger the entire time. There are so many instances where they continually discuss and debate what's going on to the point of them forgoing somewhat sound advice and opportunities to leave by keeping them in harm's way only through that setup. It brings down some of the film's suspense when most of it is done because of inherently dumb and stupid characters much like how the finale continues through a series of situations involving them being stupid than anything, and with a rather underwhelming finale that tends to break the found-footage rules it's set for itself, are what come to bring this down the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.