The Last Horror Film

This is a deliriously demented early 80's horror film with a curious self-reflective feel to it, that gives this a rather run of the mill camp tone to it, but with some brutal violence thrown in for good measure. The movie is driven by its central star Joe Spinell & supercharged in a visual fever dream with production boasting a fantastic atmospheric punch & a fun fantasy infused world. Dripped in sleazy tones & unhinged mayhem.

The plot follows Vinny Durand (Joe Spinell), a mentally unstable cab driver that believes that he has the ideal script for actress of his dreams Jana Bates (Caroline Munro), he heads off to the Cannes film festival to convince her, but as soon as he arrives people on her crew start getting brutally murdered one by one, is Vinny the killer though... who knows?

Joe Spinell takes on the role of the distressed and manic Vinny with extreme grit & hopeless sympathetic overtones & he knocks it out of the park with his fantastic performance. His co-star Caroline Munro really exudes beauty with an alluring performance as Jana Bates.

There is a subtext going on throughout on whether horror films can affect the minds of the viewer, which adds an interesting layer to the whole thing. When it comes to having anything to say about the nature of horror films & horror fans, it becomes rather confused, but ignoring that this is still a fun little horror flick with some great dream like atmosphere & a rather strange feel to the whole thing. The mystery angle doesn't quite work, but this is still a delirious good time.

I saw this movie last night. I had got it in my collection for a good while but I've only now got round to see it and I must say that the first scene does make you think this is going to be just another one of those 'video nasties' done on a tight budget using horror and are naked women to sell it. Okay granted there are quite a lot of topless women in this movie :) which is nice :) and there is also a nice amount of gore for example, people getting their throats cut, decapitated, stabbed in the back, burned in the face, electrocuted in a bath, shot and chopped up by a chainsaw. I thought it was really good gore done in a not very serious way. The main character is really good he's a taxi driver who wants to be a movie director so he goes to the cannes fim festival to see his favourite horror movie star, but he can't get to her and people start dying. The comedy in the film in great the main charactor and his mum providing most of it and it has some good surprises in it, they even surprised me! it's a great plot if not perfectly executed and it's certainly worth going through the whole movie just to see the end which I thought was brilliant and was a lot better than I expected it to be. If you can ignore the badly dubbed voices you will find this movie quite enjoyable especially if you have a sick sense of humour. Also, watch out for Cannibal Holocaust being shown at a cinema he goes to and one of the germans from Allo' Allo' as one of the cannes film board. :) 8/10

I was expecting a lot from this so-called horror also know as the last Horror Film. Why, because the combination of Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro is back on the screen best know for their cult classic maniac (1980). Joe plays Vinny, obsessed with Jana Bates (Munro) who he wants to play in his last horror flick. He travels to Cannes to convince Jana to play in his flick but people surrounding Jana disappear.

I thought that this would be a brutal horror but it's really low on every part. Some scene's are clearly filmed at the festival without knowledge of the organization but it just doesn't work. Spinell's acting is okay and did remind me of Maniac especially when he's projecting Jana's face over his body. It's funny to see the promoting of flicks at the festival with a lot of posters and marquees. Also funny is the ending were Spinell has a scene with his real mother.

One to see for Spinell or Munro fans but horror buffs will be disappointed because this isn't another Maniac and is a bit low on red stuff, although it contains a bit of nudity. Not as good as expected.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Crude, low budget shocker is undeniably fascinating for its setting, and its portrayal of the movie business. It reunites the two stars of "Maniac", Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro, in a story of NYC cabbie Vinny Durand (Spinell), a pathetic aspiring filmmaker who's obsessed with horror film star Jana Bates (Munro), tailing her to the Cannes Film Festival where she's promoting her latest film. In between Vinnys' desperate attempts to make contact with Jana, a psychotic killer is at work brutally dispatching various people in Janas' life. The film is co-written by Judd Hamilton, then married to Munro, and director David Winters, along with Tom Klassen, and Hamilton and Winters also play film directors on screen. Winters is more ambitious with his ideas and set ups than one would think, going for the surreal and laying on the creepy imagery at select points, and his framing is likewise interesting. The non stop pop / rock soundtrack helps to keep "The Last Horror Film" moving forward adequately, and there are some genuinely effective sequences, such as when a terrified Jana flees in terror from Vinny, clad in only a towel, and bemused onlookers think she's merely participating in a publicity stunt. Use of gore is entertaining - there's not a whole lot of it, but we do see a fair bit of the red stuff spilling. Cameos include June Chadwick and Robin Leach, and one truly compelling facet of this movie is the way it works as a snapshot of a particular place at a particular time, with many shots of posters of then current productions. Intriguing at every turn, "The Last Horror Film" also has a certain seedy ambiance going for it, with some nudity to go with its lurid thrills. Spinells' own mother Mary is hilarious as Vinnys' overbearing ma, and Munro is as gorgeous and appealing as she's ever been, but ultimately this is a vehicle for Spinell, who proves once again his ability to elicit some feelings of sympathy even when playing a disturbed character. This is not up to "Maniac", but it's not bad, and worth a look for fans of the stars. The final scene is especially funny, ending the movie on an irresistible high note. Seven out of 10.

Plot: Joe Spinell plays a guy who desperately wants to make a movie with his dream-girl a famous actress portrayed by Caroline Munro. His mom thinks the idea` is cuckoo but he travels to Cannes anyway to make his movie......

Form: The acting is splendid. The story has twists and hints all the way through and the ending, the finale, it`s eminent. Lovely movie by all means.

Who is it for?: Sensitive viewers should be advised, the movie is pretty harsh and contains violent images and a haunting atmosphere in the horror-filled scenes. It is not suitable for kids. Adult horror-fans with a taste for blood will probably enjoy this movie a lot.

Grade: 7 out of 10