Director – Julian Richards (Shiver)
Starring – Kevin Howarth (Gallowwalkers), Mark Stevenson (Frankenstein’s Army), and Antonia Beamish (Dead Creatures)
Release Date – 2003
Rating – 2.5/5
Tagline – “Wait until you see the final cut…”
When I was growing up the go to horror magazine was Fangoria. Fangoria offered up some amazing content for horror fans and helped me find some great horror films and music. Sadly, as I got older their content seemed to switch from all types of horror to more mainstream horror and I have since turned my back on the once popular publication.
During the early 2000s Fangoria dabbled in the film distribution business and attached their name to several releases. One popular release was The Last Horror Movie which was originally released in 2003 and was later re-released on DVD just last year. I was sent the movie to review at that time and forgot about it until now. Sadly, I feel I didn’t miss much.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows Max (Howarth) who is being followed by his assistant and recorded. He uses a video store rental to record over so someone will unwillingly see his atrocities. Max is a serial killer and has been killing for some time. He is cool and calculating as to avoid capture from the police. He then maliciously stalks his victims and then has his way with them in different ways that way the police can not piece the murders together.**Spoiler Alert**
The Last Horror Movie was a film that I never really had an interest in checking out and once I found out it was a found footage flick I wanted to avoid it. I thought the movie would be a one trick pony so to speak with the film dragging out just one instance and turning it into a feature length movie. For the most part I was right.
The acting in this one is amazing. Kevin Howarth is brilliant as Max. His character is always collected and charming. He has a more realistic approach to his character and puts Patrick Bateman to shame. He is a great character and the only thing stopping him from becoming iconic is the fact he is not attached to an actual story. The remainder of the cast is rather bland and boring. They have no depth to their characters which results in boring scenes.
The story for this one is very simple and very boring. The film follows Max around as he spends time with family and friends, working at his day job recording weddings, and then killing people in pretty boring ways. The film offers up nothing new or something to hold the viewer’s attention.
Finally, the film does have a few on screen deaths but they, too, are like the story. They are boring and lackluster with no redeeming quality. The practical effects are very minimal an do just enough to make the gag work. Overall, The Last Horror Movie is a film that could be something more especially considering the charismatic killer the film delivers. Instead, it is boring offering up the same situation over and over again. I recommend the film just to watch Max but that is all I can recommend.
