Synopsis
She's Dying To Be In His Film…
A New York taxi driver stalks a beautiful actress attending the Cannes Film Festival, which coincides with a series of violent killings of the lady's friends.
1982 Directed by David Winters
A New York taxi driver stalks a beautiful actress attending the Cannes Film Festival, which coincides with a series of violent killings of the lady's friends.
Caroline Munro Joe Spinell Judd Hamilton Devin Goldenberg David Winters Susanne Benton Filomena Spagnuolo Glenn Jacobson J'Len Winters Sharon Hughes Sean Casey Don Talley June Chadwick Robin Leach Richard Marner Marie Jose Welsch Isabelle Adjani Karen Black Cathy Lee Crosby Kris Kristofferson Marcello Mastroianni Isabelle Huppert
Последний фильм ужасов, Maniac 2 - Love to Kill, El último filme de horror, Fanatismo letal, Fanático, The Fanatic, Fanatical Extreme, Les Frénétiques, Maniac 2 - Love To Kill, 最后的恐怖电影, 광란의 깐느, 新マニアック, O Último Filme de Horror
"The Last Horror Film" is a 1982 exploitation slasher film directed by David Winters. It is loosely assembled under the moniker of being a sequel to William Lustig's "Maniac" (1980) but only as a spiritual successor mentality more than anything else. In this, it's an assembling of characters from that film for an entirely new narrative but still holding the prior film in energy on their backs as they proceed forward. No real mention of "Maniac" is in this, so it works in either fashion to watch as a standalone film for those who haven't seen the prior to enjoy on their own accord, or on the opposite end, for fandom of the prior to come back and get a…
"The Last Horror Film" was marketed as a sequel to "Maniac" because of the inimitable Joe Spinell and the serial killer motive. While one is the oppressively gloomy study of insanity, this flick is a grotesque on the (horror) movie industry in the guise of a conventional slasher.
Fanaticism, frustrated masculinity with mommy issues and the inability to distinguish between cinematic fiction and reality, assassinated his way through the environment of his adored Scream Queen during the 1981 Cannes Festival, whom he penetratively stalked to death.
From the opening titles pounding out Depeche Mode, I knew I was in store for something much odder than what I had signed up for. The Last Horror Film is a like a film geek's fever dream after watching Maniac. Joe Spinell gives a similarly sobbing madman performance as he, once again, stalks his Maniac co-star Caroline Munro. But, despite the gore and Spinell's sweaty face, this is a very different film from Maniac. This has its tongue firmly placed in cheek and is happy to give the middle finger to its audience with some truly outrageous twists and turns that shatter the conventions it plays with. The film's ridiculous, wonderful ending in particular had me internally cheering with glee.…
Insane, glowing, gleaming (cause Spinell doesn't sweat, he glows) batshit energy at times, and the music was great. There were a few lagging moments but the weird hair choices for pretty much everyone onscreen more than makes up for that!
And the scene at the end would have made the movie worth it even if it had been a complete snooze! Plus I just automatically love movies within movies so this wasn't exactly a hard sell.
I'm even more determined now to rectify never having seen Maniac. If his performance is anywhere near this high octane, I'm definitely in! To the very top of my watchlist it goes!
Joe Spinell's schlubby, sweaty, and downright sticky stalker energy is like no other man. One minute he's frightening as hell, obsessing over his unwilling star-to-be, mumbling mad ramblings, and the next minute he's on the phone blubbering to Mama and you just want to give the poor thing a hug. A much more sympathetic character than in Maniac, but with all the uncomfortable vibes that go along with it. Nobody could tap unhinged lunacy quite like Joe.
And what a unique film-within-a-film perspective this takes. Shooting without permits on the grounds of Cannes 1981, my eyes were constantly wandering from one glorious poster to the next, one star-studded marquee after another, the atmosphere is just so alive. Possession! Night of…
basically Bowfinger for deranged people -- an incredible Joe Spinell performance and an even more incredible, and unexpected, time capsule of movie marketing from Cannes that year
"Oh Vinny, you're such a dreamer"
Joe Spinell plays Vinny a sensitive, pitiful creep that is obsessed with Jana Bates(Caroline Munro) a beautiful actress he wants to star in a movie he claims he is directing. This mama's boy is determined to prove to his skeptical mom he is making a movie and Miss Bates will star in it, while all the people around Jana are being killed.
Sweaty Spinell does plenty of creeping around in a very convincing way up to that suprising, cunning twist at the end.
There is blood shed and gore effects with some brutal kills but not over done and some comical moments with mom that will tickle you.
If you are a fan of…
Trans-dimensional weirdness slathered in disco grease. Spinnel will always and forever be cinematic dopamine. Awash in color and heat and awkward anxiety, an odd gem that just kind of gets it. This is art.
When we first meet Joe Spinell in this movie, he's sitting in a darkened theatre watching a violent horror movie, drenched in sweat, making some kind of repetitive motion that's thankfully obscured. There's a good chance this guy is getting off to the movie, literally. This guy is obsessed by an actress played by Caroline Munro, whose hair has streaks that make her resemble a sexier Blackie Lawless. He spends his free time poring over movie magazines. His room is covered in pinups and glamour shots. He tells anybody within earshot (including his mother, played by Spinell's real life mother) any chance he gets that he's gonna make a movie with her. When you tell normie acquaintances in real life…
VHS HELL #51
62
"I've seen enough fake blood to know the real thing when I see it."
This is pretty much Maniac except Joe Spinell‘s character’s mom is still alive (and is actually played by his IRL mother) and he’s stalking a movie star for his “movie” rather than stalking prostitutes to take his mom’s place. It even reunites the main actors from Maniac, so it almost feels like a Part 2. It’s got a really eclectic 80s score too, so you know, that’s always a plus. Cool, moody lighting as well. Also, it was really cool to see posters and billboards for some great movies, including Possession, Polyester, and Fascination. Worth a watch if you’re a Joe Spinell or a Maniac fan.
“I made you some baked macaroni.”
David Winters’ gorilla production provides a beautiful fly on the wall view of the 1981 Cannes festival, reuniting Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro for a third time – in what can best be described as the feel good Maniac.
I’m not even sure what I experienced. Hollywood sleaze in France, with a child in a man’s body trying to make a horror film. That final song sent me, the one about his mum. I expected a lot more gore, it was just beheadings.