The Last Matinee

SYNOPSIS: The audience attending the last showing of a horror film in a small downtown cinema are terrorized by a murderer who begins to pick them off, one by one. The only person to notice that something strange is going on is the projectionist’s daughter.

I had to Google the film while watching to make sure it wasn’t a restoration. Every single aspect, from the costumes to the sets, to the audio editing screams a genuine 80s slasher. The Last Matinee is created as the perfect piece of genre nostalgia. Horror fans should keep their eyes peeled for Easter eggs and cinematic homages. The kills get progressively more gruesome. I’m particularly fond of #2. Undoubtedly Giallo inspired from the black gloves, the faceless killer, to the candy-red lighting and gore, The Last Matinee is a goddamn bloody treat. Don’t get too attached to anyone. No one is safe. The practical FX are so good, I almost lost my lunch. That rarely happens to me. I’ve watched so much horror that I’ve become a bit numb. This got me looking away wondering if I need to press pause just in case. The synopsis pretty much tells you everything you need to know, so do yourself a solid with this one. Turn off your brain and turn on your love of horror. Make some popcorn and settle in for the night. I hope you survive.

The Uruguay-Argentinian horror film THE LAST MATINEE is available TODAY on VOD, Digital, and DVD courtesy of Dark Star Pictures and Bloody Disgusting.

Directed by Maxi Contenti (Muñeco viviente V, Neptunia) from a script by Manuel Facal (High Five, Fiesta Nibiru) and Contenti, the film stars Luciana Grasso (El Secreto de Julia), Ricardo Islas (El Que No Corre Vuela, Bailiwick), Julieta Spinelli, Franco Duran and Pedro Duarte.