|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
3
|
|
 |
|
5 |
|
10
= Highest Rating |
|
Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
The
Last Horror Film relates
the sad tale of Vinny Durand (Joe Spinell). A New York cab driver
who lives at home with his mother (Spinell's real-life mom),
Vinny has dreams of becoming a Hollywood film director. Obsessed
with horror film actress Jana Bates (Caroline Munro), he's convinced
that if he can just speak to her she will recognize his genius
and be thrilled to star in his movie. He is, of course, delusional
— and if there is any doubt seeing his bedroom covered in photos
of Ms. Bates from floor to ceiling will put them to rest. Determined
to persevere over all obstacles, he loads up his 16mm camera
and sets off to the annual Cannes Film Festival to somehow meet
with his beloved actress.
Once
he's in France Vinny begins darting around Cannes, camera on
shoulder, trying any way he can to get in front of Jana and
attract her attention. The actress is being feted about town
and spoken of as "in the running" for awards for her
roles in a string of horror movies — my favorite unbelievable
element of the film. At the same time someone starts killing
movie-makers at the festival... all of whom are connected to
Vinny's favorite actress in some way. Is the clearly unstable
Vinny doing the slicing and dicing? Or is there something else
going on? And who is sending notes to Jana and her filmmaker
boyfriend (Judd Hamilton, Munro's actual spouse) stating that
they have made their "last horror movie"? Is it Vinny?
Someone with a 16mm camera certainly seems to be able to catch
Jana's reaction to the discovery of her dead ex-husband on film
just before the body mysteriously disappears.
Does our erstwhile
obsessive film fan have more than a single screw loose or is
he just a determined man misunderstood by less discerning people
trying to hold him back? Actually, that's a silly question.
Vinny is obviously nuts. Unable to hold his shit together long
enough to watch a gore film, or control his lustful urges while
a nude woman dances in a club, he's the classic repressed sicko
with no good way of expressing his feelings. The film tries
hard to slather a sense of social commentary over these goings
on with a reoccurring voice-over that lets us partially inside
Vinny's mind, but it doesn't work very well. Even less effective
is the repeated, intrusive radio news broadcasts relaying violent
real-life incidents from the year the film was made. The filmmakers
were trying (I guess) to underscore the harsh, terrible reality
of the world that makes horror movies such a tame thing in comparison,
but it just comes off as pointless. I agree with what I think
the film is saying with these inserted news stories but it would
take a better movie to effectively communicate the idea without
seeming inane.
There comes a point
while watching a movie when the viewer realizes that they are
watching a bad 'un. No matter when this moment comes it's immediately
followed by a conscious decision to either keep watching or
to move on to some other, less crappy thing in life. I almost
always opt for sticking through to the bitter end just to see
if there is anything of note in the disaster onscreen. Often
this can be a fool's game and a real waste of time, but on occasion
there are benefits to my drive to complete whatever I've started.
In the case of The Last Horror Film
there are a number of reasons I'm glad I stayed until the end
credits — but the script is not one of them. The reasons to
soldier on are the two stars and the one stroke of brilliance
the filmmakers mustered up: shooting the entire thin tale on
location during the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. The movie could
be a whole lot less good and still be worth watching simply
to see the amazing sights of Cannes in full movie spaz-drag.
I found myself pausing and rewinding several times to get a
better look at posters, theater marquees and strange advertising
gimmicks that litter the French landscape. My favorite is the
hotel entrance made up with the artwork for the Bond film For
Your Eyes Only that places the doorway between a pair of
shapely female legs. Mon dieu!
And I'd be lying if
I claimed I didn't enjoy some aspects of the movie. I always
like seeing Caroline (The
Golden Voyage of Sinbad) Munro onscreen, even in such a
poorly written, underdone tale. She is a true beauty and was
at the height of her stardom when this was made. She's a pleasure
to behold even with the awful white frosted stripes running
through her huge '80s-style hair. And Joe Spinell (Maniac,
1980) is really good here, putting his all into a performance
that didn't require much more than a half-assed effort to get
the job done. He sputters, stumbles and sweats his way across
the screen looking at times like a kid in a candy store and
at others like a bad boy caught looking at Playboy magazine.
His frustration, anger and naivety combine to make Vinny a sad
sack you end up pitying, even as you know he can't come to a
good end. His dreams are simply too big for his abilities.
|
|
|
| Troma
(of all companies) has brought The
Last Horror Film
to DVD in an uncut special edition. This might excite a fan looking
for a great presentation of the movie so let me calm everyone
down. The movie is presented in a 1.33 aspect ratio, i.e. fullframe,
which seems to be the only way to see the uncut version of the
film. The movie doesn't look great, with darker scenes becoming
harder to see as the light sources dim with a graininess that
can sometimes distract. The movie is in 'watchable' condition
but this is far from a superb-looking print. Of course,
I doubt there's a better way to see the thing so I'm willing to
smile and be happy. There is only the mono soundtrack available
and no subtitles options are offered, but on the plus side the
disc is packed with extras that focus on Joe Spinell and his career.
First is a fascinating interview with Spinell's longtime friend
Luke Walter, in which he relates tales of his actor buddy. Full
of energy, Walter talks about Spinell's life, loves and personality
in a very endearing manner. Walter also provides a commentary
track over the film (in which he had a bit role). He was Joe's
right-hand man for the entire shoot and has a wealth of info about
what you see in the finished film. The track is surprisingly entertaining,
with some very funny stories I'm not sure everyone will appreciate.
There is also a short interview with Maniac
director William Lustig relating what he knows of the movie's
production and its ballooning budget. The best extra has to be
Buddy Giovinazzo's short film Mr. Robbie, with Spinell
as a kid's TV show host who takes his viewers wishes to heart.
Elsewhere there are some photos from Luke Walter's collection,
the film's trailer and a raft of Troma extras for fans of the
studio. 7/14/09 |
HOME
| REVIEWS
| TOP
|
