The Last Horror Film (1982)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fantastic!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Joe Spinell goes nuts again. This time he's a New York taxi driver, with an unhealthy obsession over a horror actress named Jana Bates (Caroline Munro) He decides to stalk her at the Cannes film festival, so he can make the ultimate movie. Jana's friends get killed off one by one, and the killer is now after her. Jana's ex husband, and now producer of her films, Bret Bates gets killed. Everyone thinks he's disappeared, but that may, or may not be the case. Those expecting the quality of Maniac will feel vast disappointment. I didn't hate this movie, but I wasn't particularly enamored with it, despite a few flourishes here and there. Spinell has mommy issues, here again to a lesser degree. (Ironically the mom is played by Spinell's real life Mom) Joe Spinell gives another brave performance, with another psychotic character. This movie has a lot of interesting ideas, but fails to capitalize on them. The thought of a fan (Spinell) killing people to turn it into a horror film was very ingenious, but there is so much tedium in this film. There was quite a few times where I looked at my watch. It has major pacing issues, and ruins what could have been a clever film. Caroline Munro is making a movie called Scream, and weirdly enough. Scream would be made in 96, and rejuvenate the horror genre. It also takes shots at Hollywood's gossip garbage. There isn't a ton of gore here. We get a slit throat off screen, an Axe in the back,chainsaw decapitation, among other things. It's pretty dry. As I mentioned previously, Joe Spinell is quite good in this movie. He's not nearly as deranged as he was in Maniac, but he's still off his rocker to say the least. It's not pleasant to watch him pleasure himself over Caroline Munro, but he is fully committed as the basket case, and gave a solid performance. Caroline Munro doesn't give much of a performance, but she's certainly gorgeous to look at. The re-teaming of her & Spinell disappoints in the long run. There is a poster, advertising a Bond film with Roger Moore. I believe it was For Your Eyes Only. This is relevant, because Caroline Munro was a Bond girl in The Spy Who Loved Me. The twist ending is actually awesome. It caught me completely off guard, and it was done with bravado. It's just too bad the movie wasn't interesting enough. I suppose it's worth a look, but there isn't a whole lot to recommend4.3/10

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.

A mad amateur director pursues a famous actress to try and get her to star in his first film in this risible slasher, with plenty of blood-letting and cheap effects but little else. The film is set at the Cannes film festival of 1981, and makes much use of stock footage in an attempt to lend credibility to the story, unfortunately this only comes across as filler. One of the most humorous things is that we see clips of various fake horror films during the movie's course, which we are told are "masterpieces" and that the lead actress has a higher approval rating than the like of Faye Dunaway and Jodie Foster. Sadly, they look even cheaper than the main picture itself (No mean feat) so the Grand Jury is either thick or has been downing too much French wine.As the body count rises, our boredom increases rapidly too.. and we get more time-wasting montages on the beach and in some neon-lit disco which plays some of the worst early 80's hits you could ever want to here. The murderer himself is an overweight mama's boy with one of those annoying whiny dubbed voices that makes him sound like a Woody Allen wannabe. We pity him, sure, but he doesn't scare us, not for a second. As for Caroline Munro, well she's a beauty and she has more glamorous costume changes throughout the film than Joan Collins in Dynasty. But her thespian skills are virtually nil, which make her acclaimed acting talent in the movie somewhat unconvincing. Overall, not worth the 99p I spent on the DVD, and off I go to stick it on Ebay (come and bid if you like, but please don't say I didn't warn you!!) 1/10

The Last Horror Film (1982) is about a sweaty and sleazy New Yorker named Vinnie (Joe Spinell) who's totally infatuated with a B-movie starlet (Caroline Munro). He claims that he's going to make a "masterpiece" with her as the star. Vinnie has very strong psychotic tendencies and drips with sweaty ooze. The film-makers had no idea what to do with Spinell in this picture. Basically, it was an expensive shot-on-the-spot film. The movie had a huge budget (compared to the classic Maniac) and half the wit and charm. How can a director go wrong with Spinell hamming up the joint? Well, these guys did. Bad movie.Pseudo sequel to Maniac. A.K.A. Fanatic.