The Last Showing

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.

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.

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.

I certainly didn't expect much at first, but then I read some very positive reviews and also thought the first few minutes were really well done, so my expectations were heightened. I definitely think that the first half of this film is better than the second, which is why it's ultimately sort of disappointing. It's still watchable, if barely entertaining, but I feel like it definitely could have been more regarding its premise and its pretty original setting for a horror film. The acting is passable, but Englund really does bring a wicked charm to the role that he showed in the Elm Street films. Overall, I barely recommend this.

After working as a projectionist for 25 years he decides he wants to make movies and his genre of choice is horror. The angle he wants to use is having real people commit the murders in his film. He hones in on a couple as his casting choice and starts filming. At the end of the film playing the couple find no one else around and before you know it she's been kidnapped with him locked inside the theatre. The boyfriend receives instructions from the disturbed projectionist on what to do if he ever wants to see... you know the rest.

Robert Englund plays the projectionist who has been told he can no longer be the projectionist limiting him to selling popcorn and cleaning. This of course helps in his new psychotic career choice. Englund plays the part to a tee. This wasn't too bad as watch how deep of a hole the boyfriend digs himself into. The ending might upset you if you like regular happy endings.