The Last Horror Film
In Cannes to promote her latest film Scream, Jana Bates is the queen of horror films, at her side her director and boyfriend Alan Cunningham and also in town her producer and ex-husband Bret Bates, such strange arrangements nothing new to visitors to the beaches and warm waters of the south of France, everyone there to be seen and admired, buying and selling and making deals… or stalking.
A New York cabbie who has become obsessed with Jana, an unrecognised “wizard of the cinematic arts,” Vinny Durand dreams of directing what he believes will be their masterpiece collaboration, The Loves of Dracula, but any attempt to speak to her to pitch the script is thwarted by those close to her, he a scruffy outsider who has no agent or credentials, his frustration pushing him over the edge and anonymous threats made soon afterwards…
With shooting having taken place at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, sometimes without permits, taking advantage of the spectacle, festivities, crowds and the attending celebrities in addition to the sunshine, The Last Horror Film was directed by former actor David Winters whose varied resume includes co-directing Space Mutiny, Alice Cooper’s concert movie Welcome to My Nightmare and choreography on the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special.
Starring Caroline Munro and Joe Spinell who previously worked together on Starcrash and Maniac as Hollywood star Jana and hopeless loser Vinny, while she drinks champagne and flits between galas and press calls he is turned away from clubs and mocked by the bikini clad revellers at the beach, an unwanted man who does not fit among the beautiful people though his efforts to blend in could be more refined, the Fantatic of the film’s alternate title.
A lumbering oaf who can afford an international air ticket but makes no effort on a haircut or suit, breaking and entering is not traditionally a winner with the ladies though it does make an impression, Jana terrified though, as lead in a horror film nominated for an award, her terror is dismissed as a publicity stunt and ignored by the police, even those who know her best thinking she just needs a rest.
Never quite fulfilling its potential, the news reports of assassination attempts creating context which parallels the murders depicted at screenings but never coming full circle, The Last Horror Film struggles with the limitations of ambition and production values despite the superb locations, reporters asking about the effect of horror movies but the script moving onto the next kill before the question can be considered deeply, positioned to examine an industry which sells artifice but reliant on behaviour only characters in a horror movie would consider rational, frustratingly opting for the superficial rather than self-awareness.
The Last Horror Film is streaming on Shudder now
