Load of rubbish!!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro, co-stars of William Lustig's grimy sleaze-fest Maniac, reunite for this tacky slasher that was shot almost entirely on location during the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, and, thanks to its technical shoddiness and pretty awful script, also feels like it was written, produced, and edited during those few weeks as well.In typical slasher fashion, The Last Horror Film opens with a nekkid blonde being murdered in a hot tub, but, in the first of several plot twists (there is a double whammy right at the end), this death is quickly revealed to be a scene in a film that is being watched by Vinny Durand (Joe Spinell), a sweaty, lank-haired, delusional low-life who, infatuated with horror-star Jana Bates (Munro), travels to Cannes to try and convince the actress to appear in his non-existent movie.When members of the cast and crew of Jana's latest flick (called Scream) begin to disappear, only to turn up dead several days later, the finger of suspicion naturally points to Vinny, the crazed, drooling fan who has been stalking poor Jana, but is he really responsible, or is someone else killing time by killing in Cannes?Spinell, who was completely convincing as a deranged psycho in Maniac, fails to generate the fear this time, instead putting in a rather weak performance which sees him rapidly switching from 'threatening' to 'whimpering mummy's boy' in a rather laughable manner. However his performance is practically Oscar worthy when compared with that given by his real-life mum, Filomena Spagnuolo: she plays his on-screen mother and somehow even struggles to make this role convincing!Also disappointing is Munro, an actress who usually compensates for her wooden acting by looking absolutely stunning; here, however, sporting big hair with blonde streaks, she looks far from her best (who the hell thought it would be a good idea to make her look like a cross between The Bride of Frankenstein and Elvira?). And she doesn't even get her kit off, despite a scene that requires her to run full pelt down several flights of stairs in nothing but a towel!Fortunately, despite the iffy plot, and even iffier performances, The Last Horror Film isn't a COMPLETE waste of time: there are a couple of squishy murders (a throat slashing/decapitation and a bullet to the head); lots and lots of topless ladies (this is Cannes, after all!); clever references to some thematically appropriate current affairs stories (John Hinckley's assassination attempt on Reagan and the shooting of Pope John Paul II); and the film also acts as a nifty time-capsule—a reminder of days gone by, where titles like Cannibal Holocaust could be found adorning the billboards of sleazy flea-pits around the world.

I bought this on DVD from a Poundland for, hey! - a pound. It was re-titled as 'Fanatic'. Actually it was a double bill. Another schlock flick who's title I forget was on the flip side of the disc. So in effect, I got the Spinell picture for 50p. I'd say it was money well spent.This was shot on the hoof at the 1981 Cannes film festival. Joe is a taxi driver who goes there to seek out his idol/wet dream Caroline Munro. Caroline appears with her then real life spouse Judd Hamilton. Husband and wife are both dubbed, and Caroline looks pretty much as she did when she was a hostess on '3-2-1' with Ted Rogers. The film bears little resemblance to the previous Spinell/Munro vehicle, 'Maniac'. That was grim, gory and reprehensible. This is light, silly and incomprehensible.'The last horror film' seemed to receive an inordinate amount of coverage in the British film fantasy magazine 'Starburst' at the time. I can now see why: Spinell appears reading a copy of said periodical. Reciprocal publicity. There are also numerous references to other films, especially Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' (which Joe appeared in). In fact, there is a vaguely interesting blurring of film reality and fantasy and 'real' reality and fantasy throughout. Generally, though, it's a mess. Scenes just seem to rear up out of nowhere. But if you're interested in such things, the footage of Cannes and the general nakedness of the female cast will provide fifty pence's worth of entertainment.There's a nice story on the Spinell documentary included on the Anchor Bay 'Maniac' disc which pertains to the making of this film. The cast and crew were staying at a rather expensive Cannes hotel, and due to the penurious nature of the budget found themselves unable to foot the extravagant bill. Spinell, Winters, Munro and all concerned therefore decided to do a runner in the middle of the night and catch the nearest plane home. Pity they didn't film that little episode and stick it in here along with everything else.Watch out for Joe's verbal sparring with his real life mother Filomena (aka Mary). Pretty funny.

A mad amateur director pursues a famous actress to try and get her to star in his first film in this risible slasher, with plenty of blood-letting and cheap effects but little else. The film is set at the Cannes film festival of 1981, and makes much use of stock footage in an attempt to lend credibility to the story, unfortunately this only comes across as filler. One of the most humorous things is that we see clips of various fake horror films during the movie's course, which we are told are "masterpieces" and that the lead actress has a higher approval rating than the like of Faye Dunaway and Jodie Foster. Sadly, they look even cheaper than the main picture itself (No mean feat) so the Grand Jury is either thick or has been downing too much French wine.As the body count rises, our boredom increases rapidly too.. and we get more time-wasting montages on the beach and in some neon-lit disco which plays some of the worst early 80's hits you could ever want to here. The murderer himself is an overweight mama's boy with one of those annoying whiny dubbed voices that makes him sound like a Woody Allen wannabe. We pity him, sure, but he doesn't scare us, not for a second. As for Caroline Munro, well she's a beauty and she has more glamorous costume changes throughout the film than Joan Collins in Dynasty. But her thespian skills are virtually nil, which make her acclaimed acting talent in the movie somewhat unconvincing. Overall, not worth the 99p I spent on the DVD, and off I go to stick it on Ebay (come and bid if you like, but please don't say I didn't warn you!!) 1/10

The Last Horror Film (1982) is about a sweaty and sleazy New Yorker named Vinnie (Joe Spinell) who's totally infatuated with a B-movie starlet (Caroline Munro). He claims that he's going to make a "masterpiece" with her as the star. Vinnie has very strong psychotic tendencies and drips with sweaty ooze. The film-makers had no idea what to do with Spinell in this picture. Basically, it was an expensive shot-on-the-spot film. The movie had a huge budget (compared to the classic Maniac) and half the wit and charm. How can a director go wrong with Spinell hamming up the joint? Well, these guys did. Bad movie.Pseudo sequel to Maniac. A.K.A. Fanatic.