The Last Horror Film: Tromatic Edition Blu Ray Review (Troma)

The Last Horror Film (aKa Fanatic and Maniac 2) is a 1982 slasher co-written, produced, and directed by David Winters (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, That Was Rock, Mission Kill, Thrashin’, Code Name Vengeance, The Dangerous, and Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare). It was co-written by Judd Hamilton (Starcrash and A Talent for Loving) and Tom Klassen (The Oasis). It was shot guerrilla style without permits at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. It had an estimated budget of $2,000,000. Vinny Durand (played by: Joe Spinell from Maniac, The Godfather franchise, Rocky franchise, Vigilante, The Undertaker, and Taxi Driver) is an ambitious cab driver from New York with huge dreams of being a major Hollywood producer someday. He feels like he has the perfect script and concept that could give him that chance. He’s determined to have Scream Queen Jenna Bates (played by: Caroline Munro from Maniac, The Spy Who Loved Me, Dracula A.D. 1972, Faceless, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, and Slaughter High) star in his first film. Vinny follows her all the way to the Cannes Film Festival where she’s busy promoting her latest horror flick. He is completely obsessed with the actress. He becomes fanatic when the dangerous and deadly side of obsession while the stalking begins. When will all of the brutal carnage in Cannes end???? The Last Horror Film aKa Fanatic is one of the best features that Troma picked up for distribution from the 80’s. It’s honestly one of the better movies in their entire catalog. This low budget slasher reunites Maniac stars Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro for this gruesome showdown that takes the mayhem to the Cannes Film Festival. This is why it was titled Maniac 2: Love to Kill in Germany when it was released over there. Director David Winters took some major risks while shooting this project. He went to the 1991 Cannes Film Festival and he just started filming this one while all of the events were going on around there. That’s why it ends up having some uncredited cameos from Isabelle Adjani (Possession), Karen Black (Trilogy of Terror), and Kris Kristofferson (Blade franchise). The Last Horror Film does have similarities to 1980’s Maniac but it’s own separate universe. Legendary character actor Joe Spinell gets one of his rare starring roles as the deranged Vinny Durand. He’s a guy with some huge dreams and goals. He’s used to be considered nothing in life and he really wants to change that. His delusions create so many problems and fatal situations. His performance is so creepy and unhinged. Scream Queen Caroline Munro basically plays an amped up version of herself as Jenna Bates. So it’s easy to say it’s one of her better performances. She’s the star that uses whoever she can to get ahead. Her fame starts to rise even more but that’s what brings out a stalker like Vinny here. Everyone associated with her ends up in serious trouble after it all comes apart. The rest of the supporting cast includes Filomena Spagnuolo (Easy Money), Susanne Benton (A Boy and His Dog), Glenn Jacobson (Wild Gypsies), Judd Hamilton (The 1980 Sci-Fi Awards), David Winters (West Side Story), Devin Goldenberg (Savage Weekend), and Robin Leach (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous). The Last Horror Film has a nice build up to it. The tension, thrills, and suspense just gets crazier as it goes on. I liked the paranoia, wrong suspect, and planned promotional subplots. It added something different rather than your typical slasher. The ending has a nice twist to it and I’ve always appreciated it. The Last Horror Film delivers when it comes to violence and gore. The special fx gives the audience that classic 80’s feel to it. I like that it has some humor to it all. I still feel like The Last Horror Film / Fanatic is beyond underrated when compared to other horror put out at the same time. I just think more people need to actually check it out because it’s always flew under the radar. It’s streaming right now at a few spots which includes Tubi, Fawesome, Plex, and Prime Video so give it a shot sometime. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Troma! This 1080p (1.85:1) unrated transfer is definitely an upgrade compared to the original 2015 blu ray home video release. It appears to be the newer 4K restoration from Severin Films in 2024. I always like when Troma sublicenses their films to another boutique label then they get it back at a much higher quality than before from those collaborations. It has an English: Dolby Digital 2.0 track on the disc. The audio is real solid, it really stands out during it’s suspenseful scenarios and it’s score. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the slashing is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has a hilarious little over 4 minute “Intro” with Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman. It has a brand new “Audio Commentary” with producer Luke Walter that’s moderated by Evan Husney. Just a warning, it’s silent for the first 30+ seconds but they show up on the track. He chats about being a producer on this production. They had some issues getting lead Joe Spinell tickets to travel for this. He goes over his long friendship with the actor. He talks about the cast, characters, locations, and the film within a film here. He shares plenty of stories and information about the slasher. It has an additional “Audio Commentary” with lead actress Caroline Munro and Alan Jones. She says that the opening scene wasn’t liked by some that worked on the film. She chats about her relationship with producer Judd Hamilton. She shares her experiences working with director Winters and lead actor Spinell. She talks about them filming while Cannes was going on without any permission. This mainly a scene by scene conversation. It’s much different than the other commentaries so you end up learning so much between all 3. This wasn’t on the original home video release so this is a great addition to this brand new Tromatic Edition. It has an archive “Audio Commentary” with Joe Spinell’s friend Luke Walter that’s moderated by David Gregory. This is very similar to his other track but there’s other stuff mentioned from time to time. It has the 21 minute “Like a Father Figure”. Sal Sirchia remembers the legendary character actor Joe Spinell here. He chats about how he first met him. He tells some interesting stories related to the performer. He discusses some of his favorite moments with him. He brings up about his death and being found in his apartment. This wasn’t on the other release so it’s a nice added bonus to this. It has the 19 minute “My Last Horror Film Ever!”. It’s an audio interview with producer, actor, and co-writer Judd Hamilton. It has illustrations to go with this audio conversation. He chats about meeting Joe Spinell. He talks about his relationship with Caroline Munro and producing this horror feature. He’s very blunt and honest in this. They had lots of trouble with funding for The Last Horror Film. Spinell actually almost got arrested while they were at Cannes. This is another special feature that wasn’t on the first few Fanatic home video releases from Troma. It has the 14 minute “The Last Horror Film New York and Cannes Locations Visit” with writer Michael Gingold. Gingold handles all of the New York spots here and Severin Films own David Gregory does the French locations from Cannes. Most of these have changed so much since this was filmed in the 80’s. It has the unfinished 8 minute horror short “Mr Robbie” that was going to be Maniac 2 directed by Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock, No Way Home, The Unscarred, and The Theatre Bizarre) and starring the late great Joe Spinell (Night Shift). This was shot to promote and help sell the possible full length project but unfortunately Spinell passed away before they could work on it. There’s so much potential here and it’s a real shame that it never happened. It has the little over 5 minute “Tromadance 2015 Highlights”. It has the almost 10 minute “Kabukiman’s Cocktail Corner” directed by John Patrick Brennan (The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs) with the band Twelve A.M. and tattoo artist Paul Booth. It’s full episode of the Tromatic web series. It has the almost 5 minute “Return of Dolphin-Man” directed by John Patrick Brennan (Grindsploitation franchise). One of the lesser known Troma characters helps out trying to find out who stole some Troma DVDs in this silly short. It has a few “Trailers” for the movie plus a few Troma related “Trailers”. I really hope Troma keeps doing this with their re-releases. It’s great that they put a good amount of special features that weren’t on the previous releases so it gives you more reasons to upgrade it if you are already own it. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!