Nostalgia Kinky

Only briefly previously available via a very limited and costly 4K only Severin release, the fully restored version of David Winter’s The Last Horror Film (1982) is now available on Blu-ray from Troma. For fans who don’t have the now very hard to come by 4K, this new Troma package is a no-brainer as it ports over all of Severin’s exceptional disc extras, the restored new scan of the film, an additional new commentary as well as a selection of Troma’s usual label-related oddities. The only downside of this new package, of course, is the lack of the 4K UHD as well as the usual gorgeous Severin goodies like the bonus book, pins etc. Otherwise this new Troma disc is an excellent release, a great-value and a big step-up from their older Blu-ray of the film from about a decade ago.

Shot mostly on location at the Cannes Film Festival, The Last Horror Film has always been a delightfully deranged highly self-referential movie. Viewed more than four decades after its initial stuttered release, David Winter’s film has never been more entertaining and fascinating. It is a bizarre and fractured film that blends a hysterical narrative and real-life into something oddly compelling.

The Last Horror Film was one of just many slasher adjacent films that appeared in the splattered wake of William Lustig’s masterpiece Maniac (1980) although, unlike all the others, Winter’s film has actual strong connections to Lustig’s savage film. The two films shared ae executive producer (Judd Hamilton), a leading lady (Caroline Munro) and most important of all, a star.

Even though just a couple of years separate Maniac and The Last Horror Film, Joe Spinell had appeared in a slew of films between the two star-turns. Spinell in fact appeared in nearly a dozen films in this period all via memorable supporting turns. These films saw Joe working with on/off old friends (Gazzara, Stallone), bona-fide legends (Redford, Sinatra) up-and-coming hot shot directors (Demme, Howard) and even Lustig again on his first film after Maniac, Vigilante. For one of the best character actors of the seventies, this was a hell of a start for a new decade but growing addiction issues and personal disappointment that more starring roles weren’t coming his way haunted Spinell. The Last Horror Film is not the classic Maniac is by a longshot but it did offer Spinell another leading role as well as allowing him once again the opportunity to blend his own personal life in with the narrative.

Spinell plays Vinny Durand, a New York cabbie who lives with his mom and dreams of directing his favorite leading lady, Jana Bates, in a horror film he’s written. After finding out Bates is going to be appearing at the Cannes Film Festival promoting her new film Scream, Durand buys a plane ticket in the hopes of tracking her down to present his script. After Durand’s arrival in Cannes, members of Bates personal and professional entourage start getting picked off by a psychotic maniac.

Spinell plays disappointed and desperate loners well and Durand is a perfect role for him. Spinell throws everything he has left to the role and utilizes his own apartment and even mom in the film. Joe’s mom ‘Mary’ (Filomena Spagnuolo) is just great in The Last Horror Film and her scenes with Joe are both funny, and kind of heartbreaking as Spinell lost her a few years after this sending him into a final two-year spiral that ultimately led to his untimely death in his early fifties.

The Last Horror Film’s strong-point is absolutely the Cannes footage, but the early New York scenes where we see Spinell driving his own real-life cab are quite effective, particularly knowing how closely connected to Spinell everything is in this section. The NYC location footage is strong as well and I especially loved seeing a marquee for Cecil Howard’s GOAT adult film Neon Nights at one point.

It is the Cannes footage that supplies the real cinematic jaw-dropping moments in the film. Shot initially without permits seemingly with a front row seat to everything except the actual awards, The Last Horror Film documents the 1981 festival better than most documentaries could. Highlights are just too numerous to mention but certainly the sight of Isabelle Adjani at the festival with Zulawski’s Possession and Ivory’s Quartet is a big-one. Also seeing the Heaven’s Gate team arriving is just a WOW moment. Shots of vendor stands attempting to sell now cult adult and horror titles is super-cool, as is watching Spinell entering a theater showing Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust! Personally speaking, having much of the action take place at a theater running Beineix’s cinema-du-look rocket Diva was my own absolute favorite.

Sharing more in common with The King of Comedy rather than Maniac, The Last Horror Film works less as a chiller and more a self-referential satire. Someone over at Letterboxd described this as like a sequel to Taxi Driver that follows Spinell’s character’s story instead of Travis Bickle and that kind of nails the mood here. There is a lot of fantasy in The Last Horror Film, some of it obvious some not. Hell, the whole film could be a fantasy and, like Taxi Driver, it shares a final section that may or may not be in our lead character’s head. Either way, Cannes and Jana Bates really need to beef up their security!

The Last Horror Film wasn’t the notorious sensation Maniac was, although the behind the scenes drama definitely gave the film a level of notoriety that did it no favors. All of that is detailed on Severin’s features that have wonderfully been carried over to this Troma disc. The audio interview with Judd Hamilton is especially filled with OMFG moments that soured him on film forever and damaged his marriage to Munro beyond repair.

Securing some international deals, The Last Horror Film played under a variety of titles in its sporadic runs including Fanatic (I wonder of Fred Durst showed this to John Travolta before they made their The Fanatic?) and even Maniac 2. I’d bet the 12.39 cents I have in my checking currently that most back in the eighties saw this initially on VHS, where it became an absolute staple of mom and pop shops all over the country. The box-art is still sealed in my memory.

The Last Horror Film is a fairly easy work to pick apart for any looking to do so. The narrative is ridiculous, some of the post-dubbing distracting (where is Caroline’s beautiful British accent?!?) and the entire film feels like it is on the edge of falling apart at any moment. Viewed with even just a passing interest in cinema and/or Joe Spinell though transforms The Last Horror Film into something quite special though.

Troma originally released The Last Horror Film on DVD as Fanatic in, I believe, 2002. The film the made its way to Blu-ray, via Troma, in 2015 with a release that was faltered for its unrestored picture and print. While a commentary was included for that release (ported over here as just one of a whopping 3 commentary tracks), most of the extras were Troma specific. Over in Europe the film began appearing uncut in the late 2020s before Severin’s acclaimed 4K print, restoring all the gore, was unleashed a couple of years back.

Even without the extras, Troma’s new Tromatic Special Edition Blu-ray would be valuable just for the uncut restored scan of the film. Including all of Severin’s extras makes this release an easy purchase though, especially with its 20 dollar price-tag. Speaking of the comprehensive extras, all three commentary tracks are informative and entertaining. The location featurette (featuring Michael Gingold in New York and and David Gregory in Cannes) is fascinating and the aforementioned interview with Hamilton is brutally honest and really wild. The behind the scenes drama here would make a swell film on its own.

My personal favorite extra Severin put together is the interview with Spinell’s close friend Sal Sirchia. This very moving, insightful, warm and sad chat is really special and a great companion to Severin’s David Gregory’s earlier extraordinary Joe Spinell Story documentary. I like Sirchia very much and this interview very much. It is worth the price alone.

The Last Horror Film is one of the great weirdo works of eighties American indie cinema. What it lacks in chills it makes up for in sheer strangeness and Joe Spinell is still such a goddamn prince and always will be. The film, Troma’s new Blu-ray and Severin’s very hard to come by 4K are all highly recommended.

The Last Horror Film Troma Blu-ray is currently on sale at MVD.

It can also be purchased directly from Troma.

-Jeremy Richey, October 2025-