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Reviews
The Last Horror Movie (2003)
The movie that couldn't figure out it's goals, identity
THE GOOD
- Given the direction and script, Kevin Howarth did an outstanding job playing Max.
- The idea that a killer tapes-over a horror movie rental with his own footage of real murders is neat.
THE BAD
- First of all, the movie isn't sure what it wants to accomplish or what it wants to be; is it a fun shlock/slasher, or is it an ultra-realistic, gritty, horrible psychological terror flick?
-- very minor spoilers ahead --
Max uses a meat tenderizer/hammer thingy, made out of extremely light pine wood to kill someone by hitting him on the head with it (off screen). The camera falls on the floor and you hear screams of pain and terror. Accepting how ridiculous that was, I thought it would probably be just a fun slasher (a bit more stylish too), but no. The thing about such a scene is that it's horrible because of the style where you hear the scream off-screen, but the notion that a small man like Max killed him with a meat tenderizer is unrealistic and belongs in a slasher flick. The entire movie functions this way. It appears the screenwriter and director did not do any real research on serial killers at all, but rather studied serial killers in other "serial killer" movies -- because Max is not realistic at all. His psychological dynamics are completely all-over-the-map. Even for anomalous serial killers like Carl Panzram, where he didn't follow any known M.O., Max is far too uneven and extreme. Sometimes he's a sociopath, others a psychopath - oh, and also, he's a cannibal - it doesn't hold together. A real character that had these problems would be completely unhinged! If the movie would have wanted to be serious about this, it would have been the most disturbing movie experience ever - totally worth seeing. But he talks to the audience like he's someone in the audience himself. Either you go that direction or you make a really hard-core slasher flick. At many points during the monologues I got extremely bored and wanted to see him kill WAY more people. I felt like saying "stop talking you pompous bore and kill people already!"
- Second, when you make a movie with only one character taking-up almost all of the screen time, you better make sure he's damn entertaining or fascinating (or both), otherwise you just killed your movie. Who the hell wants to listen to some boring guy talk non-sense for 90 minutes? Will he shock me with his murders and sadism(sort of)? No! It's not real, and I don't care! Not only am I aware that it's not real, but the filmmakers keep pounding it in by making him do and say things that are stupid.
LAST WORDS... Everyone compares it to Man Bites Dog (C'est arrive pres de chez vous). It had a much better focus on it's goals than The Last Horror Movie. It was meant to entertain and that's it. Ben was a character that had his own logics and was better developed. It wasn't trying to do anything, it just did it and that's it. If you're considering The Last Horror Movie and haven't seen Man Bites Dog, see Man Bites Dog - it's far superior.
Kyûtî Hanî (2004)
Sweet, sweet HONEY!!!
I saw this film at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, right after Blueberry. Holy smokes, this movie is totally awesome!!! Why can't north Americans make cool movies like this? It's super happy and action-packed, and it even makes fun of itself = it's perfect!!! For this vein of movies, Cutie Honey is the best I've ever seen!!!
If you have a vague idea what this movie is about, you'll be blown away by the extremes and humour presented on the screen. It's not serious. But a most excellent treat indeed!
All the acting is superficial, there's a constant(but not tumultuous) music track throughout, all the photography is extreme and the story itself is completely retarded. A lot of the humor comes from making fun of stupid little "cutesy" movies --> also, the sexism is exaggerated too: Cutie Honey behaves in a ... "special" way: always innocently making sexy poses wearing only underwear, etc... All the action sequences are completely over the top, super loud, and mixed with cartoons as well.
For what it is, it's unbeatable.