The Last Horror Film

I had put off seeing this for a long time because, although an admirer of Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro, I am NOT a fan of gore. When the only video store in my area with a copy told me they would be closing, I finally gave in and rented it, knowing it may very well be my last chance. I was pleasantly surprised to see how little gore there was (and what WAS there was either too brief to really disturb me, or was obviously "movie-within-movie" fake), and by the cleverness of the script. The brilliant performance by Joe Spinell, however, came as no surprise. Playing an obsessed fan and would-be director, Spinell was both pathetic and sympathetic. I found myself feeling sorry for this desperate loser, even as I dreaded what he might do.

The Cannes Film Festival setting makes this a must-see for movie buffs, who will enjoy going frame-by-frame through the montages of movie posters and marquees.

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

This film is freely based on a true incident that happened in the early 1980s when a weird fan did an assault on US-president Ronald Reagan, just to impress his fave actress Jodie Foster whom he saw her in Martin Scorsese´s cult classic. Now, Joe Spinell plays a quite strange taxi driver who´s possessed by the idea to shoot a movie that stars his beloved horror star Jana Bates (as sexy as ever: Caroline Munro!). As soon as he arrives at the film festival in Cannes/France some bloody murders shatter the surroundings of the actress...

I know that this film was released in Germany under the title "Maniac 2: Love to Kill", however until its two main actors "The Last Horror Film" has got nothing to do with William Lustig´s explosive shocker! The gore keeps within the limits, some sedate humor is brought on and the sleaze factor is satisfied by some naked chicks running over the screen. Some surreal impressions are given by a few film-in-film-interruptions, the atmosphere of glamorous Cannes reminded me on a soap opera, though quite likeable at all, and the ending features a pretty surprise! Don´t expect a second "Maniac" or you´ll surely be disappointed! Enjoy this nice little horror thriller for the amazing appearance of great Caroline Munro and you´ll worship her like a Godess!!!

A taxi driver is dangerously obsessed by a horror movie actress. He travels to Cannes to convince her to star in the movie he fantasises he is going to direct. A series of killings start.

On the face of it this is one of the many films from the early 80's slasher cycle. However, it's hardly typical of that genre. Sure, it has the usual slasher ingredients – lots of gory violence and lots of semi-nude girls – but overall the tone is quite different. There is a definite comic feel to this one. Much of that is down to lead actor Joe Spinell who plays the deranged taxi driver. Spinell is a good enough actor to make, what could easily be a very unlikable character, sympathetic. His interplay with his mother is also kind of funny and I suppose is a jokey take on the stereotypical mother-fixated psychopaths from these types of movies. Joe's delusional world view is illustrated with segments that blur fantasy and reality. We see him as a ludicrous tuxedoed famous director interspersed with the scenes of his grim reality. All of this stuff gives The Last Horror movie a definite difference from other movies with similar scenarios.

The film also stars Caroline Munro as the famous scream queen. And she looks pretty striking with her black and white mane of hair. Interestingly she is making a movie called 'Scream' and this was way before Wes Craven came up with his post-modern slasher. In fact, you could argue that this very film was playing around with a few of the ideas that Craven would use over a decade later to great commercial success. After all, this is a film that playfully points out the conventions of the slasher film while still essentially delivering various methods of bloody murder. What was also pleasing was the way that The Last Horror film winds things up with a pretty decent ending that wasn't obvious. So, all in all, this has to be considered one of the more innovative slasher flicks of the 80's.

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.