The strangest thing about this weeks movie is that it was released in an age of DVDs... The entire premise of the movie is that you, the viewer, have rented a VHS tape of a movie called 'The Last Horror Movie' only to find that (apart from the first scene) someone has recorded over it.
It really is important to the movie (especially the ending) that you buy into the 'recorded over' premise, but as far as I can tell, this movie has never been released on VHS, so a larger-than-average suspension of disbelief is required.
So, after the opening scene of what appears to be a pretty lousy DTV teen-slasher, the screen goes fuzzy, an we are presented with a 'mocumentery' in which wedding Videographer / Serial Killer, Max, attempts to explain / justify his position, while challenging the viewer to question his desire to continue to watch such a movie.
While I wouldn't want to watch a real serial killer in action, the very fact that this is only a movie kind of renders most of the points it tried to make moot. Again, willing suspension if disbelief on the part of the audience is essential here.
Some of the attempts at depth sound a bit too much like the kind of 'depth' that you often overhear in Starbucks in university cities. That said, some of Max's philosophical brain teasers are interesting; What is a random human life worth to you? If you sold your TV, you could donate the money to charity and an African child could live a bit longer... But you don't. Does that mean that human life is worth less to you than your TV?
The acting has been much praised and won awards at a whole bunch on film festivals, but personally I didn't find Max all that convincing. Clearly this is just me.
Between the acting, faux depth, and suspension of disbelief issues, I appreciate that I've given this movie a bit if a hard time, so you may be surprised to learn that I did, in fact, enjoy it.
Somehow it manages to be more than the sum of its parts, and at only 73 minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome.
Probably only one for horror fans, not because of any gore content (there is surprisingly little), but because it is squarely aimed at, and questioning of, the horror fan's mentality. That said; we're all horror fans here! Recommended.
Yay! Recommended. I very much enjoyed this one and thanks to my awful memory I was able to watch the whole thing a second time and pretty much remember none of it!
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