Last Horror Film, The (1982)

... aka: Fanatic

... aka: Fanatical Extremes

... aka: Les frénétiques (The Frantic)

... aka: Love to Kill

... aka: Maniac 2

... aka: Maniac II: Love to Kill

... aka: Shin maniakku (New Maniac)

Directed by:

David Winters

William Lustig's Maniac was released in 1980 to some controversy due to its "misogynistic" depictions of violence toward women and graphic gore. The reviews were also absolutely brutal. People expected that from, say, Gene Siskel, who claims he walked out of the theater after 20 minutes, but even reviews from most major genre publications were negative. Since then, the film has enjoyed a big boost in popularity (enough so that it was remade in 2012) and a greater appreciation for its gritty effectiveness, make-up artist Tom Savini's craftsmanship and effective performances. It was a completely different story in 1980, though. Back then, nearly everyone involved couldn't wash their hands of it fast enough! And that's a big part of the reason The Last Horror Film even came to be.

Maniac producer Judd Hamilton, who put up most of the budget, and star Caroline Munro, Hamilton's then-wife, were both upset that the original script, which apparently had more plot and better characterizations, had been sacrificed to make room for more bloodshed. The genesis for this loose follow-up appears to have occurred after a screening of Maniac at Cannes. During a press interview, Hamilton said that while he personally hated the film, he was still being inundated by offers to purchase the distribution rights. The interviewer then responded that it was "tragic" that such a film would even have an audience to begin with, to which Hamilton responded, "Maniac is a bad piece of blood and gore. We'll have a big success from an audience that shouldn't exist. Now I'd like to make a film about that audience..."

And that he did.

The audience for something like Maniac, which would be me and most of you fine folks reading this, is personified here by Vinny Durand. Played by talented character actor and Maniac star Joe Spinell, Vinny is first seen sitting in a theater watching a topless woman being electrocuted in a hot tub in some sex-n-violence slasher flick. His reaction? Breaking out in a sweat, shaking, grunting and basically acting like the whole spectacle is getting him off. Maybe it is. He's slouched down in his seat and we can't see where his hands are after all. A couple sitting behind him ("Weirdo!") walk away in disgust.

When he's not getting his jollies watching simulated murder scenes, Vinny drives a cab. He's the laughing stock of the entire neighborhood. Everyone considers him a loser and make fun of him for constantly reading movie magazines and fantasizing about being some hot shot director who wins an Oscar. He's single. He's a loner. And he lives at home in a cramped apartment with his elderly mother (played by Spinell's adorably untalented real-life mom "Mary Spinell" / Filomena Spagnuolo) who thinks he's going crazy because he's not getting enough protein in his diet. So tell us how you really feel, Judd Hamilton.

Vinny has purchased a plane ticket to France, where he's hoping to track down "Queen of Horror Films" Jana Bates (Munro), who's set to be at Cannes to promote her new film "Scream." He's bringing along his camera and, while he's there, hopes to convince Jana to star in his movie, which he then hopes will open some doors for him in Hollywood. Yes, that's just how crazy this dude is. After hitching a ride from a cowboy driving a Confederate flag-decaled Corvette (!), Vinny settles into his hotel room and then gets to work. He's at the airport the next morning when Jana and her current beau, up-and-coming director Alan Cunningham (Hamilton), arrive to a mob of screaming, adoring fans. Due to her acclaimed performance in "Scream," Jana has been short-listed for Best Actress honors alongside the likes of Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Julie Christie and Faye Dunaway (hehe).

Despite his best efforts, Vinny finds it impossible to get in contact with Jana but he doesn't let that stop him from going forward with making his horror film, "The Loves of Dracula," anyway. Instead of asking Jana to star, he'll just force her to. As for his movie's heavy, well, he'll just cut corners and play the killer himself. The only thing left is to cast some victims. Luckily, he's in a whole town full of potential victims. Who needs to hire fx people when you can really kill them yourself, right? Vinny starts specifically targeting people within Jana's inner circle. He sneaks into the hotel room of her ex-husband, producer Bret Bates (Glenn Jacobson), and decapitates him. Vinny hides behind a shower curtain and films as Jana walks in, discovers the corpse, screams and runs off. He then gets rid of the body before the police arrive.

Other Jana acquaintances, including theatrical agent Marty Bernstein (Devin Goldenberg), lowly gore film director Stanley Kline (director Winters) and actress Susanne Archer (Susanne Benton) each receive a cryptic note about how they'll never work on another horror film again and end up getting killed off one by one. Death scenes include a stabbing, an axing, a shooting, a fall from a tower, eyes ripped out, chests ripped open and a slow-motion chainsaw decapitation. In between that there are weird, stylish and highly amusing fantasy sequences where Vinny envisions himself being mocked by his peers.

Since this was filmed on location at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, it turns out to be a great little snapshot at what was going on there at the time. We gets endless guerrilla-style shots of posters and theater marquees, the crowds, the press, the nightlife / discos / clubs, the celebrities and everything else. Isabelle Adjani, who won the Best Actress award that year for, ironically enough, the horror film Possession, is seen walking the red carpet, as are Karen Black, Kris Kristofferson, Marcello Mastroianni and other celebs. Naturally, the famous nude beaches also get quite a bit of coverage as dozens of anonymous, unashamed women parade around topless.

Radio broadcasts talk about the attempted assassinations of president Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, airplane bombings, terrorist attacks and other unpleasant then-current events in between discussions about whether or not horror films have a negative psychological effect on viewers or can inspire real-life violence. Whatever messages the film is trying to get across are muddled into near-incoherence by just how busy the whole thing is, yet it is that same busyness that makes the film endless entertaining. I wouldn't call this great, or even good, but it's still fascinating in a messy, slapdash kind of way.

Holding everything together as much as he possibly can is Spinell, who gives a memorably unhinged performance and puts on quite a show here! Depending on the scene, he's either campy, creepy or pitiable. His exchanges with his real-life mom, whom he keeps in contact with from Cannes, are hilarious. He's also involved in many outrageous, head-scratching scenes like vomiting up his popcorn and running out of a theater while watching a gore movie, ripping open his shirt and rubbing his chest (!) while images of Munro are projected onto his body and going to see a buxom stripper (Sharon Hughes) and having grainy b/w visions of him gyrating on a stage while wearing a skimpy two piece bikini (!!!)

On the flip side, this is not an ideal vehicle for Mrs. Munro despite her star billing and the amount of time set aside to show her strutting around, modeling and posing for endless photo ops. Her performance is basically a non-starter because, like many others in the cast, she's been horribly dubbed by someone else (thankfully though, Spinell has not). As for her styling throughout... whew! She has a deep tan, ridiculously overdone makeup, a wardrobe selection best described as New Wave meets Ringling Brothers with Goth undertones and bleach-streaked, feathered skunk hair. Let's just say she's both looked and sounded better than what's on display here.

Among the cast of thousands (no lie for a change!) are J'Len Winters (the director's wife) showing off her enhanced chest in two different scenes, Tami Hamilton (Judd's daughter from his first marriage) as a police decoy who has the misfortune of having to copy Munro's hairstyle and June Chadwick and Robin "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" Leach as reporters. The opening credits song is "Photographic" by Depeche Mode, but most of the other songs are from Jesse Frederick (later a notable TV theme writer) and Jeff Koz, the best of which is "High Wire."

In 1982, this played at both the Sitges Film Festival and the now-defunct Paris International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantasy Films. And, yes, it also played at Cannes (in 1983). It then made its U.S. home video debut in 1984 on the Media label and has since been picked up for distribution by Troma, who've released it countless times on video, DVD and Blu-ray. Some of their releases have changed the title to Fanatic. In other countries, like Germany and Japan, the film has been marketed as a sequel to Maniac.

★★1/2

Making of a Horror Film, The (1984)

Directed by:
None Credited / Unknown

This is a really fascinating curio item: A 52-minute documentary centered around the production of DON'T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS (1984), a tasteless, gory, sleazy, mean-spirited and rather inept little British shocker about a psycho going around London viciously murdering men playing Santa Claus. The narrator informs us we're about to see “A day in the life of Dick Randall, motion picture producer” and then we see Randall (who proves to be quite the character here) sitting in a movie house watching the action on the big screen with another man as they view interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the actual film. Two girls dressed in Santa outfits expose their breasts for no apparent reason and then we're treated to a collage of some of the gory special effects featured in the film. The narrator then informs us that the film will have more to offer than just blood and guts. It will also offer plenty of “feminine pulchritude.” Edmund Purdom, former matinee idol of the 50s, would be making his directorial debut with the film. So what would attract him to such a sleazy, bloody film? Well, according to Purdom himself he became fascinated with horror and suspense movies after one of the four ex-wives attempted to electrocute him in the bathtub with a hair dryer! Next up we meet aspiring actress Allison, who'll be making her big screen debut as a peep show stripper in the film. After taking forever to film a simple scene, it's worth noting that Allison did not make the final cut and the role was later recast.

Back in the theater, Randall tells the guy interviewing him that anyone watching this are probably most wanting to see gore, so we next see a special effects scene as a Santa's neck gushes blood all over the place. Purdom can be heard dryly directing both the fx technician (“Pump. Pump. Pump.”) and the actor (“Hands. Hands. Hands.”); describing the blood-soaked aftermath as “Lovely.” The actor playing Santa in this footage is not the same actor who appears in the finished film. The narrator then informs us that Purdom was also later replaced by another director. Up next it special effects director Peter Litten, who talks about how they did a scene where a music box explodes in Purdom's face. 

Randall is then seen with American “money man” Steve Minasian, who's announced as a “co-producer of the successful Friday the 13th.” Minasian talks about working his way up from film distributor to  film producer and discusses the successful “Vomit Bag” gimmick that helped to make Mark of the Devil (1970) a big hit. He claims they spent over 100,000 dollars making the bags. Minasian says “People want to see blood” and also discusses his future plans on making a Last House on the Left sequel, which never happened.

Disguised in a wig and dark glasses, Valerie Ford (wife of the film's writer, Derek Ford) is then seen going to a butcher shop to order up “special effects” like sheep's entrails, a sheep's eye, some calf's liver and “the nearest meat really to, uh, human flesh” like “a piece of scrap venison.” To add to the indignity, she's then asked to go to a sleazy porno shop to find a dildo for a castration scene (“I'm, uh, I'm looking for a penis but, uh, I want a really natural-sized one... Can you wrap it, please?”). The butcher shop findings are then put to work in a scene where a Santa gets the top of his head blown off. The actor recruited to play the part claims they found him at a pub and are paying him with 2 bottles of scotch. The make-up artist captures a stray cat on the set that's supposedly been “... eating all of our special effects” and takes it outside.

Caroline Munro performs a musical number that's used in the film and is briefly interviewed, where she admits she enjoys more fantasy-oriented horror like Hammer's Dracula films to the gore-fest she's just signed on to appear in. Actors Gerry Sundquist and Belinda Mayne both describe the roles they play in the film and we get some more behind-the-scenes footage of on-location filming at a market where several street musicians perform, including one who sings several Elvis songs. Randall meets with a few studio musicians to have them work on a theme song that sounds like “a cross between 'Silent Night' or 'Jingle Bells' and something ominous.” 

A miserable-looking actor playing one of the Santa victims painfully attempts to get the latex make-up off after filming his scenes while Paula Meadows (who'd later go to America to appear in hardcore porn) discusses doing a “very painful” scene where she's hung upside down by her ankles while topless. Max Roman, who plays the department store Santa who gets his dick cut off while taking a piss, discusses his part and horror films in general. We even get to see a scene that didn't make the finished cut where a Santa gets Christmas lights forced into his mouth and then is electrocuted. At one point, a Margaret Thatcher impersonator flashes on the screen and Randall claims he found her at “the ugly agency.” He then reveals the film took “almost a year to make” and jokes about the possibility of the film becoming a banned video nasty and getting arrested for making it.

This mysterious production has no credits at all aside from the title written on a pane of glass with lipstick. The director is unknown. The producer is unknown. The guy conducting the interviews is unknown. Hell, the true intentions of this film aren't even known. It appears to be a promotional video for Don't, but it's so tongue-in-cheek and self-mocking it almost approaches mockumentary status. Randall and the interviewer / narrator frequently even poke fun at the film they're trying to promote, but I guess “fun” is the key word here. This is frequently hilarious and somehow manages to make Don't look like it will also be a fun film to watch, even though actually sitting through it is another story entirely. Even if this “Making of....” documentary amounts to little more than a few people taking the piss, I still had way more fun watching it than the full feature it's covering.

I don't know if this was ever seen prior to the 2005, when it was released as an extra on the Mondo Macabro DVD release of Don't. It also may have been edited together years after the fact. The title theme song for one of Randall's final productions; THE URGE TO KILL (1989) aka Attack of the Killer Computer, plays over some of the footage.

★★★