Before Wes Craven's New Nightmare and Scream made self-reflexivity cool in horror films, there was this unknown little gem that reunites Maniac stars Joe Spinnell and Caroline Munro to make an, at times, hilarious send up of both Hollywood and horror films.At first glance, it might seem as if Spinnell is resuming his role from Maniac, but his Vinny is a far more sympathetic and likable guy. He has big dreams to quit his taxi driving job and make a film with his favorite leading lady, Jana Bates (Caroline Munro with a hideous skunk-like white streak in her hair). He scrambles the money together to go to the Cannes Film Festival and pretty much stalk Jana until he can be alone with her and persuade her to be in his film. Naturally, someone is killing off people in Jana's entourage and it might be Vinny.Whereas Maniac was grim and sleazy, The Last Horror Film is pretty upbeat and silly. I really can't imagine someone not finding a lot of fun in this. Spinnell and Munro seem game for anything and some of the murder set pieces are fairly imaginative and fun. There's even a nifty twist at the end followed by one of the strangest final scenes in horror history.Seeing all the famous celebrity cameos and movie marquees during the Cannes scenes is a treat as well. Horror fans should give this one a chance.

Let me understand - a horrible actress is playing an actress who's greater than Julie Christie, Faye Dunaway and Jane Fonda? And Joe Spinell is some kind of genius actor because he embodies the loser he looks like? Add some really horrible 80's rock and this get 5.4 stars? No. I'm sorry. No.This movie is sad. Grindhouse is grindhouse. Grindhouse doesn't win awards in Cannea. Attempting to con the viewer into believing Jana Bates is anything more than a scream queen (and don't get me wrong, I love scream queens) might make this movie some kind of self-referential meta-statement...if you're in junior high school, on planet Earth, however, cloying doesn't being to cover it. The constant references to Hinkley and global violence doesn't add weight. It makes it more laughable. Put in a dose of "taxi driver saves enough money to fly to Cannes, stay in a decent place *in town*, builds an elaborate shrine to his stalkee AND has time to spare" Not to mention how this out of shape schlub with man-boobs can hang by his fingers from a balcony. Naturally, there's a Scooby-Doo twist at the end...BUT IT'S NOT REAL EITHER! The actual ending just insults the viewer making the 84mins pointless. There's no good reason for it other than to make stoners go "duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude...."2 stars because it's really not worth it. (PS - I'm not sure there's a single scene where Vinny isn't sweating.)

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.

Last Horror Film, The (1982) ** (out of 4) 1980's Maniac was such a hit that producer's wanted a sequel to follow but the director didn't go for that so the producer's went off and made this film that re-teamed Caroline Munro and Joe Spinell. A psychotic taxi driver (Spinell) travels to France to track down his favorite horror star (Munro) so that she'll appear in his latest film. When he can't get close to her he decides to start killing off the people around her. This film had a horrible shoot due to several reasons and some of them show on screen. There are many fascinating ideas thrown around the film but sadly the very poor direction by David Winters really kills things. The idea of a fan killing people and filming it to turn it into a horror film was a nice touch. Another nice touch was adding questions about the controversy of horror films and the effect they have on the public. Both Spinell and Munro are pretty bland in the film but I'm sure a better director would have gotten a bit more out of them. On DVD under the title Fanatic.