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Released by: Troma
Released on: December 15th, 2015.
Director: David Winters
Cast: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munroe
Year: 1982
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The Movie:
Just as well known as Fanatic (the title Troma originally released it on DVD under) this film was released in some markets as Maniac 2 in an attempt to cash in on William Lustig's far superior Joe Spinell and Caroline Munroe vehicle. That said, David Winters' The Last Horror Film is a pretty interesting movie in its own right.
Vinny Durand, a New York City cab driver, has an unhealthy obsession with a scream queen named Jana Bates (Caroline Munro). Vinny returns home from work one day to the apartment he shares with his mother (played by Spinell's actual mother in Spinell's own apartment) and he tells her he's going travel to France. Why? So he can attend the Cannes Film Festival in hopes that he can meet up with Jana and convince her to star in a movie he hopes to make. Mom doesn't pay her son much mind, chocking his scheme up to nothing more than a strange idea, but Vinny really does make it to France. Here he tracks down the object of his affection only to meet with a seriously cold shoulder. Jana's in town to promote her new film, not to deal with strange men like Vinny. On top of that, Vinny is none too impressed by the fact that Jana's spending most of her time with her ex-husband/manager Bret Bates (Glenn Jacobson) and film producer/current love interest Alan Cunningham (Judd Hamilton).
Things take a strange turn when, later on, Jana gets a bouquet of flowers with a note inside that reads 'You've made your last horror film.' When she returns to her room to find Bret brutally murdered, she immediately goes to the cops. They head to the scene of the crime only to find that the body has gone missing. As Vinny goes about following Jana with his camera, trying to make connections to get his film made and always meeting with rejection, the bodies keep piling up. But Vinny keeps making his movie, and it seems that Jana is playing the star role whether she likes it or not.
Nowhere near as fantastically bloody as Maniac, The Last Horror Film never-the-less features a few decent kill scenes and some nice atmosphere. Much of this atmosphere is derived from shooting, guerilla style, in Cannes (keep your eyes open for some interesting marquees in the background) during the festival in 1981.Of course, since the footage was shot at the festival, you will see some interesting people pop up in the background now and again. It's unlikely that Karen Black or Kris Kristofferson knew they would wind up in this movie, but there they are regardless. This 'instant atmosphere' helps compensate for the film's obvious low budget, though the fact that quite a few of the performers, including Ms. Munroe, were dubbed by voice actors in post is definitely a strike against things.
That complaint levied, this is really Spinell's show all the way. Munro is great to look at and she fits the part well but the heavy lifting is handled by Joe who flat out oozes with sleaze appeal. He brings a true eccentricity to the role and really makes it his own without ever going so far over the top that he breaks character. The scenes with his mother and the scenes in which he's rejected by pretty much every person he approaches at Cannes are the ones that stand out and show off his acting ability. That's not to say that he doesn't shine in the more manic moments, because he does, but we expect that from him. The more somber bits are a little more uncharacteristic of the types of parts he traditionally played and for that reason, they stand out more.
When the end credits role and the picture is finished, you won't have been frightened or shocked very much. As a horror movie in and of itself, The Last Horror Film is pretty forgettable. The location footage and fine performance from Spinell, however, make this more than just another low budget stalk and slash picture and elevate to something wholly worthy of your time.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Last Horror Film is presented on a 25GB Blu-ray disc in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen (past DVD releases were 1.33.1 but this framing looks okay). Things have definitely been brightened up in the outdoor night time scenes, to the point where contrast is pretty brash looking, and it doesn't look like a whole lot of cleanup work has been done here as there is minor print damage evident throughout and things often look somewhat noisy and messy. The transfer also shows some compression artifacts in some of the darker scenes, while skin tones look a little ruddy and color reproduction is a bit flat. There's definitely more detail here, in some shots (though not all) then there was on the DVD and this movie has never looked amazing to begin with, but there's some very definite room for improvement here.
The only audio track on this DVD is an English language Dolby Digital Mono track - no alternate language dubs or subtitle options have been provided. There's a little bit of hiss present in a few scenes and the high end borders on shrill in a few spots but these problems aren't a constant. Generally the dialogue is easy enough to follow and while the movie doesn't sound great, the mix is serviceable enough.
The biggest and best of the supplements on this disc is an audio commentary track from Spinell's closest friend and one of the associate producers of the film, Luke Walter, who is joined by moderator Evan Husney. This is a pretty solid track and Walter's memories are interesting stuff. He was on the set almost the entire time, working with Spinell and the crew and he shares some great stories about what it was like shooting this movie without any permits, collecting footage from both the Cannes Film Festival and the New York City locations. Husney asks some good questions about the movie, its star, and its cast and keep Walters talking at a brisk pace. Walters talks about the material that he and Spinell were responsible for shooting, what locations were used and why, and about various bits involving the actor's penchant for improvisation in front of the camera.
Also included on this DVD is the rather infamous Mr. Robbie/Maniac 2 footage that Buddy Giovinazzo shot with Spinell before he passed away. This ten minute short was originally shot in 1989 as a promo to help secure financing for the proposed film, but obviously Spinell's death from a heart attack later that year wound up making completing the picture impossible. The footage doesn't really have much to do with the story of the original film, but it's definitely worth a watch as it has that great, seedy feel and it features Spinell going all out.
Rounding out the extras is a theatrical trailer for the feature, highlights from Tromadance 2015, a short called The Return Of Dolphinman, an episode of Kabukiman's Cocktail Corner, trailers for a few unrelated Troma titles animated menus and chapter selection. A newly shot introduction from Lloyd Kaufman plays before the main menu on the disc loads. The My Best Maniac featurette, the William Lustig featurettes and a few of the other extras that were included on the last DVD release have not been carried over to this Blu-ray.
The Final Word:
The Last Horror Film is a must own for Spinell fans, it's a fairly fascinating slice of low budget horror with a uniquely personal slant to it and a nice turn from Caroline Munro as well. Troma's Blu-ray offers a very modest upgrade from the DVD in terms of the transfer quality but so too does it leave room for some serious improvement. On top of that, it loses some of the extras from the previous DVD release. One step forward, two steps back?
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
