The Last Showing (2014)

Such a frustrating disappointment

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

At the start of the movie it's not clear what is going on, but everything seems creepy because of the editing, the camera work, and the music. There is little or no sound telling us what is happening, but there seems to be a party with young people, and we also see a movie theater.In England, Martin and Allie are a young couple out on a date. He gives her jewelry and then takes her to a multiplex with 12 theaters. Their plan is to watch a horror movie. What they don't know is they are about to be in one.Stuart is not at the concession stand like he is supposed to be. He is actually in a room where he can watch footage on security cameras. His boss Clive is not happy. He tells Stuart to run the concession stand, and Stuart says there is something wrong with one of the movies. Clive said Stuart is not qualified to fix it because he hasn't had the training in digital movie technology, and that is why after more than 20 years, he is also no longer the projectionist. Stuart protests that he is smart enough to continue as the projectionist, and to fix whatever needs fixing. Still, Clive is the boss. But as we see throughout the movie, Stuart is brilliant at dealing with new technology.The couple buys their popcorn. There is something wrong with the lemonade, as Allie discovers when she tries some. Stuart has actually tampered with it. And the adventure begins ...I have seen Robert Englund, but I don't recall whether I've seen him as a horror movie villain, and I certainly haven't seen his trademark role. He is outstanding here as a villain, and now I want to see him in the other role. Here, he is creepy but calm and intelligent, sometimes friendly, occasionally funny, rarely angry. I'm not saying I was rooting for him, but Stuart is the type of villain one is tempted to see succeed.Emily Berrington does a good job as well. She's pretty and adorable but slightly edgy and quite tough. We don't actually see that much of her, and much of the movie is a cat and mouse game involving Martin and Stuart. Finn Jones is capable of handling himself, but it is a challenge.Malachi Kirby is tough as a boss when he has the authority, but in a crisis he's more of a coward. That still could mean a good performance.I don't know the name of the police officer in charge, but he's really good.There is some violence, but mostly the movie is very tense. It's effective as a thriller. There are so many challenges to be met.I'm not a fan of horror, but this was really good, mainly due to Englund.

Allie, and her boyfriend Martin, go to see a midnight showing of The Hills Have Eyes 2 and find they're the only ones in the cinema screen. Stuart, is an old school projectionist, who has since been relegated to concessions, following the advent of digital projection. He slips drugs into Allie's lemonade, before her and Martin go into the movie. From there, Stuart proceeds to make his own movie, even though Allie and Martin, are less than willing to star.....For a low budget horror movie, it's surprisingly well made, and for once Englund isn't really hamming it up like he does in non Freddy horror movies. His Stuart is very mild mannered, almost Ned Flanders mild mannered, but you can understand why he is disgruntled in this digital world, his fellow colleagues and employer offer no respect, so why not take revenge by making your own movie.By the time the second act begins, you can understand why the budget was so low, it's filmed in a Vue Cinema somewhere in Chester I believe, and I think the staff just locked the doors and let them get on with it.It can get pretty tense in places, the stand off between Martin and the cinema manager is a highlight, but then it turns from a light horror film to 'Die Hard in a cinema', something that I thought would never be made.And the ending is something that I wouldn't have expected the makers or the writers to, so kudos to them for coming up with something original, rather than going down the safe path, even though you subliminally promise a sequel.But sadly, Berrington spends the majority of the film unconscious, Martin looks too much like Harry Styles from One Direction to convince as the hero, and Keith Allen pops up at the end looking for his career.It references old school horror, and there is a slight message of Old School cinema is the best, but its worth watching, even though it can get a little formulaic.

Horrible acting, horrible plot, horrible cast, horrible sound, horrible dialogue, horrible everything. This is easily one of the worst movies I've watched in a long time. There wasn't even any boobs! I really wish I had not watched this movie. The plot was predictable. The acting was horrendous. The gunshots sounded like a cap gun. The main characters must have had part of their brain removed.The movie tried really hard to be clever, and if there was a twist I must have missed it. The other reviewers for this movie are either paid or they didn't see the same movie that I did. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

The synopsis on IMDb didn't make this sound very good, and I almost skipped watching it. The only reason I did watch it was because I like Emily Berrington. She was great in 24: Live Another Day, as well as in The White Queen. Robert Englund always ads a sense of fun in the horror/slasher genre. Finn Jones is good in Game of Thrones, so here's my review British lovers, Allie (Barrington) and her boyfriend Martin (Finn Jones), go to see the last showing of The Hills Have Eyes 2 and find they're the only ones in the theatre. Stuart (Englund) is a disgruntled cinema employee who is working as the concessionaire. He slips some drug into Allie's drink, just before she and Martin go into the movie. From there, Stuart proceeds to make his own movie, even though the actors - Allie and Martin - are less than willing participants.The movie is well done, and the acting is good. The ending isn't what I expected, so I was pleased by that. I like being surprised. I don't know if this was exactly what would be called a low-budget, because all three of the stars are hardly no-names, and they probably were not cheap, but then again, none of them are especially sought after either.I gave it a 6-star rating, because the story was original, as was the setting for it. I liked the cinematography, and the script was pretty good. I don't know that I'd watch it again, but I would recommend it. However, there are no jumps, but it was still fun enough for what it was.