By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Maximiliano Contenti
Starring: Bruno Salvatti | Franco Duran | Julieta Spinelli | Luciana Grasso | Ricardo Islas | Vladimir Knazevs
Original language title: Al morir la matinée
Country: uruguay
Year: 2021
Running time: 88
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13049760/reference
Brett says: “THE LAST MATINEE is the horror film that producers and directors seem afraid to make anymore. And it’s certainly the type of film major motion picture studios are currently scared to death to take a chance on. I’m not sure at what point ‘fans’ of horror decided they had to have bells and whistles to distract from the root concept of sheer terror, but it has diluted or nerfed the genre for quite a long time, much to this fan’s dismay.
“This, however, is a no frills plot that avoids the deep end of complexity and takes horror back to the roots of creating an atmosphere that causes audience members to wiggle in their seats as the events unfold. It’s a giallo style slasher that pulls no punches and doesn’t over complicate things. Yet, the film still manages to create a satisfying gimmick for our roaming stalker/killer that sets it apart from others. The suspense is menacing and I applaud the willingness to go to the necessary measures to achieve the barebones goal of creating anxiety and dread for its audience.
“The setting is a independent movie theater straight out of the early 90s. The costuming, lighting, and production design create a sense of stripped down simplicity reminiscent of old style horror cinema that leaves us vulnerable and ready for scares. A small sampling of movie goers attend a screening of a low budget horror slasher, each with their own trivial reasons for being in attendance, which creates a nice hodgepodge of victims to see meet their respective fates. Unlike most modern horror, however, director Maximiliano Contenti doesn’t spend flat, eyeroll-inducing, wasted efforts trying to create a reason to care for a majority of them. Most of the characters here are thrown into the setting and the film respects the audience enough to allow them the opportunity to figure each person’s own reasons for attending and get right down to the goal of creating atmosphere instead.
“The theater as the setting is massive, a true delight to immerse oneself in and an imaginative playground for cinephiles who constantly long for the random evening treks to rundown venues that ooze a sense of their own history and character. In fact, the full experience and immersion of this film may be best achieved by being one of half a dozen filmgoers watching on a big screen in the middle of a tattered seat, chipped floor movie theater.
“Recommended for fans of Dario Argento who wonder what a 2010s production of his might have been like in his prime
“Recommended for fans of the traditional 70s/80s slasher flick
“Not recommended for members of the fanbase that have been conditioned to need excess in addition to the actual horror itself
“And it goes without saying, but not recommended at all for non-horror fans.”