Sweaty mama’s boy Vinny Durand (Joe Spinell, Maniac) spends his time driving a cab around the greater Manhattan area, jerking off to grindhouse flicks, and dreaming of making a motion picture with world famous Scream Queen Jana Bates (Caroline Munro, Starcrash).
So what does our hero do to make those dreams come true? Why, he hops a plane to the Cannes Film Festival, and begins filming Jana and her entourage without their knowledge… mostly because he’s insane, but also because he doesn’t have an agent.
Since he’s a nobody… and a profusely sweating, often crazy-acting one at that… no one gives a singular shit about his picture… and before long, those close to Jana begin turning up dead… but is Vinny to blame? Maybe not since so much of his time is spent calling his mother and harassing strippers…
Coming from Director David Winters (Space Mutiny), The Last Horror Film is a (partially) guerilla-style affair, shot on location without permits for many of the sequences (with liberal use of voice-over and inner monologues to help make the narrative happen) that manages to make an effective statement about celebrity worship taken to extremes (which in turn mirrors various news items of the early 1980’s).
As we are treated to a fascinating, fly-on-the-wall tour of the 1981 Cannes festival, we get to experience another bonkers turn from Spinell who is completely believable as our main character, and delivers a performance filled with child-like wonder, star-struck by a world of celebrities one second… then turning on a dime to sink into depths of nervous voyeurism and unstable mental delusions the next. It’s a trip, and once again proves Spinell was the master of portraying absolute maniacs.
Not for nothing, Spinell’s frequent co-star (in films such as the aforementioned Maniac and Starcrash) Munroe is also perfectly cast as a beautiful horror flick starlet… admittedly not really a stretch there, and she’s joined by her real-life husband at the time, Judd Hamilton (Starcrash… again) who also produced and co-wrote the film as well.
While some of the shots were “stolen”, there is plenty of production value here. such as Vinny’s neon drenched hotel room (looking not unlike Spinell’s character’s environs in Maniac), opulent digs, and a moody, candle-lit chateau featured in the picture’s climax… not to mention some solid practical effects work.
Of note, the film’s soundtrack features an early tune from Depeche Mode!
As for special features to accompany The Last Horror Film, we begin with an intro by Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman, followed by three audio commentaries including archival chats with Spinell’s friend Luke Walter (who provides plenty of colorful anecdotes about the late actor), Caroline Munroe (who fills us in on details of the film’s production), and a new conversation with Walter where the stories continue!
Also featured are a hilarious remembrance of Spinell from Musician/Actor Sal Sirchia, a tour of the film’s locations, Buddy Giovinazzo’s (Combat Shock) short film Mr. Robbie (starring Spinell), and a trio of theatrical trailers for the film (some utilizing it’s alternate title of Fanatic).
The Last Horror Film is sleazy, violent, and everything fanatics of Maniac will want to wickedly witness!
