Last Girl Standing

I like independent films and don't try to compare them to Hollywood blockbusters with big budgets unless they deservedly out do the latter. I especially love horror. I enjoy independent horror sometimes way more than anything Hollywood could produce. Unfortunately, in this case it was not the result. I've been interested in seeing this film after reading about it and seeing it won some independent film awards. The movie starts off very good. Gory slasher, even if a bit cliché, but it was a nice stat. Then it just died into an abysmal tedious 45 plus minutes of drama, non sense talking, scenes that didn't fit, and could go on but like the movie I don't want to bore you here in the middle. But nothing happens. Then the last 15 minutes picks up were the beginning left off as a good gory slasher, again even if predictable and cliché. If you want t add this to horror movies that you have seen by all meas watch it. It is definitely not the worst. If you choosenot to, you are not missing anything.

My rating was waffling between 6 and 7, so I rounded up because I both enjoyed it and respect what was done with a small budget. I had no idea this was a Kickstarter funded movie, until the credits rolled.

I DVR'd this movie, months ago, and like most of the things I record, they sit there, waiting to get deleted or watched later. I originally came to IMDB and saw a lot of reviews stating that this movie was boring or not that good. But, a few positive reviews kept me from deleting it, so it sat...

Last night, I was channel surfing and this movie was on. I was only going to watch a minute or two, but It was right around the part where Nick introduces Camryn to his roommates. I soon realized that I was getting drawn in and was interested in seeing more of these characters, so I loaded up the DVR'd version and started from the beginning. I'm glad I did, otherwise, I would have missed the whole setup!

I got sucked in because of Camryn's predicament and how well fleshed out all the characters were, right down to the boss and complaining customer. Nick's friends include the bitchy, elitist, Maelyn, the compassionate, but clingy, Hannah, the responsible paying roommate and undergrad student, Danielle (also played by someone named Danielle), purist and woodworking artist, Tyler, a likeable moocher, named Griffin, and of course the leads, Nick and Camryn, played by people with the same last name. Was it a brother and sister? As it turns out the onscreen couple happen to be married in real life. "Whew!"

Nick is a person who could be the killer, or who could just be an empathetic guy, who has his act together. Camryn has survivor's guilt and nightmares. The lead up to the finale was good. While I didn't really like where the story ended up, it made sense. There are some gory moments, but only during a few sequences.

If you snip off the beginning and end of the movie, there is not a lot in the way of horror or action. That's not a fault, as I found the characters and interactions to be interesting and genuine. It was that interaction which motivated me to watch the movie from the beginning. I do agree with another reviewer's point, that the beginning of this movie could have benefited from a few more introductory moments. It still works well, though.

Overall, it was decently produced. Good electronic music score and some cool background songs. The cinematography and editing (particularly some recurring transitions to images of the killer) were pretty good. Nice gore effects. Most of all, I liked the way the director and actors presented these characters.

Even if you don't enjoy the story... it's shot really well!

The other reviewers have been very generous with their scores. I really can't see anything of merit in this movie.

The plot is extremely poor, spending a long time to build to the easily predictable ending. Human interaction is very forced and unnatural. I was irritated throughout the movie by it's stupid events and ridiculous character reactions.

I've seen a lot of bad movies but generally 90% of them have some kind of redeeming element even if it's just unintentionally funny. This movie really doesn't have anything. The entire production was unimaginative and bland.

You always wonder what happens to the final girl and we occasionally get sequels where they are fighting a bigger, badder version of the big bad. But what happens after the big bad is actually dead? This movie does a take on the same premise with a brilliant concept... set the girl forward in time, with a job, new mundane life respectably afraid of making friends, etc. Well, the set up is indeed brilliant but then the movie falls off the rails mis second act. I suspected the ending when the movie started and prayed all throughout that I was wrong. I was not. Low budget does not, for once get in the way here (the top three leads are very capable actors) even if it does impact technical values of the production. It is the poor third act and pedestrian genre tropes that the movie falls into... Could have been so awesome. Danielle Evon Ploeger and Brian Villalobos strand out, even if the story eventually let's them down.