Production Year: 2003 - Horror - Director: Julian Richards - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Kevin Howarth, Mark Stevenson, Antonia Beamish more
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A review by lustba on The Last Horror Movie (DVD) March 7th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Good
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Good
How does it compare to similar films?
Not applicable
Advantages:
Horrific, Gruesome, Different
Disadvantages:
Very short, Low Budget
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I saw this film when it first came out on DVD. Me and a group of friends rented it out from Blockbusters. The girls really didn't like the sound of it at all, but it was our turn to chose. (And we had been subjected to what i would say is much more horrific - a ROMANTIC COMEDY!!)
So we got it back and chucked it in the DVD player, everyone getting comfortable, with the lights off setting the scene for the film and making sure we was in the right environent. Being a horror film, this is obviously the best way to watch it. Even better, on your own in your house late at night, thats the best way!
The film itself follows a filmmaker and wedding photographer who is bored of his current lifestyle and wants something interesting and exciting to do. However, the things that interest and excite him, are somewhat different to the interests of most of us. He enjoys sadistic, slightly ritualistic, horrific, random acts of cruelty and murder to absolutely anyone. Ranging from traffic wardens to housewives.
Each gruesome act is documented on his home video camera, held by his terrified, yet intrigued and i would say, possibly innocent, assistant. We witness a series of horrific acts, performed by Max. The lead character. The murders start of simple and slowly, and as he gradually grows in confidence they become worse and worse. One of his victims is bludgeoned to death with a frying pan in their own home. This is perhaps the scariest part of the film. The fact that the majority of the murders are actually performed in familiar homely surroundings to the victim. Each of us know our own homes exactly, and to think that someone coulc hide in it and kill us is very haunting. This thought is provoked very well by the director and the way in which it is filmed. Many of the murders look very sketchy, but also maticulously planned at the same time. With the usage of the home video camera illustrating this very well.
Perhaps the most haunting scene in the whole of the film, is not a murder, its not gruesome and its not sadistic in any way at all. We see a small glimpse of Max's family life. Visting his son at home with his ex partner. These two obviously don't get on but they have a unity in their son. The video camera is still following Max, which illustrates his obsession with documenting everything that he is doing. The twist is that we know what has been going on with the video camera, and his family have absolutely no idea, and believe the innocent excuses that he tells them. After all, why woud they think he is a sadistic serial killer? He is a middle class man who seems happy with his career and lifestyle.
Max's psychopathic tendancies are illustrated throughout the film, but he also feels very human aswell, there is a strange mix of emotions felt towards him when you watch this film. He is very manipulative and seems to persuade you that what he is doing is not wrong at all. But you can see he is quite evil when he tries to get his assistant to commit a murder. Which does not happen, and leads to quite a funny scene of dialogue between the 2. And ending in max committing one of his most horrific murders. Not quite as horrific as when he set a man on fire in his own home though.
The ending has a massive twist to it and i am going to reveal it, so if you do not want to know then please do not read on as it is a SPOILER!!!
The end shows a couple, going into a rental store and picking up a dvd that they would like to watch. (Probably a ROM-COM) getting home to watch it, and it has been replaced with the film that Max had been making, he taped over a film he rented in the first place. Just as you realise this. The same view from the homemade camera is viewing them from outside. The film comes full circle, and it sends a chill down your spine. He could be watching you as yopu watch the film.
Personally, i think that there would be no way of Max knowing who had rented the film out and when they had rented it, or even where they live. So this is a bit unrealistic, the only part of the film that is. As everything else is so believable, because of the brilliant acting.
The film is also very low budget. Obviously it is meant to look like this, But you can tell when a film genuninely is low budget rather than a bigger film pretending to be. Im not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but it definitely works for the film. This is probably because it is an independent film and these tend not to have a massive hollywood style budget.
Overall it is a very good film and i would definitely reccommend it to people who like horror films, and like to be scared. I found it for £5.99 on PowerPlayDirect using WWW.FIND-DVD.CO.UK.
Advantages: Horrific, intelligent, surprising, satirical, philosophical, good acting, good special effects Disadvantages: Chatty, low budget, short
...character who is something of the new millennium's equivalent of Benoit Poelvoorde's serial-killing Ben in the 1992 Belgian film Man Bites Dog. There's also a charming lack of politically correct restraint shown, which counts for more than you might think in a film that's essentially one long confession of modi operandi from a gloating psychopath. Best of all, however, may be the film's central conceit. Howarth's Max is a wedding videographer by ... ...slasher horror film, which, in the context of the film's shadow reality, has then been rented by you, the unsuspecting viewer. Director Julian Richards (Darklands) has much to say on the topics of horror films and societal violence and the bloody intersection of the two, and all of it comes out of Max's mouth, as he offers nearly nonstop running commentary over jittery handheld scenes of home-invasion mayhem. Fans of the genre will be quick to point ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Scary, good acting, convincing sfx, intelligent, great twist in the tail Disadvantages: short, filmed on video,
...has made a fly on the wall documentary about murder. By copying his movie onto a rental tape at his local video shop, he gets people to unwittingly watch his opus, in which he delivers a snuff showcase of his greatest 'hits', whilst glibly commenting about the nature of killing. Director Julian Richards delivers a grisly film that succeeds in being genuinely disturbing. The catalogue of stabbings, beatings and strangulations are filmed with a gritty ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average not helpful
Advantages: Damn scary, intelligent and very well made for a horror film Disadvantages: A little difficult to take the rotating head seriously i'm afraid!
...When I first saw this film (actually it was an edited down version on super 8mm) about 20 years ago, it scared me rigid. Mind you I was 12. I've been trying to watch the whole film since and at last they've put it on DVD and it almost scared me rigid again. It can lay claim to being the best horrormovie ever made because it deals intelligently, frighteningly and realistically with it's subject of the nature of evil. I've read the novel and it's pretty close to that - William Blatty wrote the novel and the screenplay so it follows. Director William Freidkin utilises his gritty 'French Connection' style to great effect with grainy, deeply coloured film stock and natural lighting, and the music is just right. But it's the gradual build up of terror and suspense that make it so good....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Classic trailers for awful films Disadvantages: None
...DVD was so unexpected that Nucleus films headed up by film historian Marc Morris and movie maker Jake West are about to release a second volume of this compilation series.
To be honest with you, there is not much you can say about a two hour DVD of trailers, however I can tell you about some of the trailers. The combination of trailers varies from horrormovies, thriller, soft porn classics, and sex comedies.
Switchblade Sisters sees a gang of teenage girls who have a thirst for blood, and a love for sharp knives. Eyeball offers a red raincoat wearing serial killer as they select a series of victims, "No Suspense has ever gone this far" tells the narrator of the trailer. Wes Craven's Last House On The Left trailer features footage actually edited out of the UK DVD release for the movie, making this a must for fans of the movie...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Strangely compelling to watch Disadvantages: Not as scary as i had thought it would be
...My husband bought this DVD for me for Christmas last year as he knows I like a good horrormovie or one that at least makes me jump a bit. Knowing how much I had enjoyed watching the original Exorcist film, when he saw this one on sale for about £14.99 (it was in the new release section when he bought it) he decided to buy it for me. Certainly if you shop around online you are sure to get this one much cheaper.
The Plot
~~~~~~~
Well, in the original Exorcist movie we meet Father Merrin for the first time. As you may or may not know, he is the priest who performs the exorcism on the young girl. But how does he come to be the Exorcist? This film was made in 2004 and is the prequel to all 3 of the other Exorcist films. This is the background on how Father Merrin became that priest.
Father Merrin (played by Stellan Skarsgaard...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Max works by day as a wedding photographer, but at night he becomes a serial killer.
Technical information
Special Features: Audio Commentary By Max, Audio Commentary With Julian Richards And Kevin Howarth, Selection Of Short Films By Julian Richards, Film Notes, Original Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio: 1.78 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: DTS 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Dubbing Sound: DTS 5.1 Surround English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English
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Listed on Ciao since : 30/10/2005
Professional reviews
Review: An inventive twist on the serial killer genre (Film Review, )
Stomps in the footsteps set by Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (Hotdog, )
Insidiously scary...should really be seen on video, home alone (The Times, )
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