The Last Showing

Like most horror fans, people will know Robert Englund best for his portrayal as spikey-fingered immortal nut-job, Freddy Kruger. No doubt about it – he was great. Whether he was darkly evil in the first few films, or comically evil in the franchise's dying days, he always turned in a good performance. Which is pretty much why I gave 'The Last Showing' a chance. I wish I hadn't.

It's about a couple – the girl from The Inbetweeners 2 and one of the guys from Game of Thrones – who watch a midnight screening of a horror film, only to find that the projectionist (Englund) is intent on making his own – murderous – movie. Sounds good. And, to be fair, the PLOT is. In fact, it could have been so much more. As it is, the two 'good' leads are pretty damn awful. Now, I'm guessing this isn't the actors' fault, as I've seen them both in the afore-mentioned shows and they're both capable of turning in decent performances. They just don't here.

I cringed when they were first introduced as they wandered around the empty cinema, spouting *supposedly* knowing social commentary on the state of horror/slasher films in general. Tip to film-makers: just because it worked well in the 'Scream' franchise, doesn't mean it'll work every time.

By the time Englund goes off the rails and starts torturing them, we're almost on his side. After all, he is – by far – the best performer in the movie. And he's the nut-job baddie. If you're a massive fan of Englund, you'll probably get more than most out of it. I did enjoy watching him, it's just he wasn't in it enough to really save it from being anything other than a – questionably-acted – B-movie.

The story is pretty good on how a projectionist wants to make a real horror movie by trapping a couple inside the movie theater. The movie have good suspense to it and I really like how the movie points fun of other horror movies throughout. Also the movie is really clever on how it's presented here with the style of the entire movie. Out of the characters, there's only one that stand out from the rest and that is Stuart. Stuart is a great villain who have a mess up mind and is really intelligent on what he's doing. He also the one who points fun of other horror movies which is pretty clever. And Robert Englund does an amazing job as the character who is both threatening and charming. I really like the whole atmosphere to this movie on how it's both creepy and dread on being trapped in a theater with a deranged guy who is filming you for his sinister motives.

Man loses his cool and decides to create his own horror film, setting the stage himself using the unsuspecting patrons of a late night movie showing. Englund does well as the crazed film maker, but the premise becomes a bit to cliched and contrite to make the conclusion worth the ride. Decent effort, well produced, solidly acted, but it doesn't quite add up to what the parts could have made it.

The plot of the movie was kinda interesting and I decided to watch that movie, because I would like to give a chance to that low budget film. The storyline was average, because there were some plot holes, but sometimes it was well-written. The characters weren't very interesting, nor well-developed and not really likeable (they were all kinda annoying). The filming location of the movie was only one (the movie theater) and I really liked it. In my opinion, the concept of the movie was really interesting and I really liked it, but it wasn't very well-developed.. The killcount of the movie wasn't bloody at all, nothing wow. Of course, it was a really intense movie, but most twists were definitely expected. The ending scene was kinda expected and it was just okay.. Overall, it was an average low budget thriller/action film that didn't had any unexpected twists, but the concept of the film was really interesting.

At the start of the movie it's not clear what is going on, but everything seems creepy because of the editing, the camera work, and the music.

I have seen Robert Englund, but I don't recall whether I've seen him as a horror movie villain, and I certainly haven't seen his trademark role. He is outstanding here as a villain, and now I want to see him in the other role. Here, he is creepy but calm and intelligent, sometimes friendly, occasionally funny, rarely angry. I'm not saying I was rooting for him, but Stuart is the type of villain one is tempted to see succeed.

Emily Berrington does a good job as well. She's pretty and adorable but slightly edgy and quite tough. We don't actually see that much of her, and much of the movie is a cat and mouse game involving Martin and Stuart. Finn Jones is capable of handling himself, but it is a challenge.

Malachi Kirby is tough as a boss when he has the authority, but in a crisis he's more of a coward. That still could mean a good performance.

I don't know the name of the police officer in charge, but he's really good.

There is some violence, but mostly the movie is very tense. It's effective as a thriller. There are so many challenges to be met.

I'm not a fan of horror, but this was really good, mainly due to Englund.