Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Scott LeBrun Crude, low budget shocker is undeniably fascinating for its setting, and its portrayal of the movie business. It reunites the two stars of "Maniac", Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro, in a story of NYC cabbie Vinny Durand (Spinell), a pathetic aspiring filmmaker who's obsessed with horror film star Jana Bates (Munro), tailing her to the Cannes Film Festival where she's promoting her latest film. In between Vinnys' desperate attempts to make contact with Jana, a psychotic killer is at work brutally dispatching various people in Janas' life. The film is co-written by Judd Hamilton, then married to Munro, and director David Winters, along with Tom Klassen, and Hamilton and Winters also play film directors on screen. Winters is more ambitious with his ideas and set ups than one would think, going for the surreal and laying on the creepy imagery at select points, and his framing is likewise interesting. The non stop pop / rock soundtrack helps to keep "The Last Horror Film" moving forward adequately, and there are some genuinely effective sequences, such as when a terrified Jana flees in terror from Vinny, clad in only a towel, and bemused onlookers think she's merely participating in a publicity stunt. Use of gore is entertaining - there's not a whole lot of it, but we do see a fair bit of the red stuff spilling. Cameos include June Chadwick and Robin Leach, and one truly compelling facet of this movie is the way it works as a snapshot of a particular place at a particular time, with many shots of posters of then current productions. Intriguing at every turn, "The Last Horror Film" also has a certain seedy ambiance going for it, with some nudity to go with its lurid thrills. Spinells' own mother Mary is hilarious as Vinnys' overbearing ma, and Munro is as gorgeous and appealing as she's ever been, but ultimately this is a vehicle for Spinell, who proves once again his ability to elicit some feelings of sympathy even when playing a disturbed character. This is not up to "Maniac", but it's not bad, and worth a look for fans of the stars. The final scene is especially funny, ending the movie on an irresistible high note. Seven out of 10.

Witchfinder General 666 "Fanatic" aka. "The Last Horror Film" (1982) is sometimes labeled "Maniac 2", which cane merely be interpreted as an attempt to cash in on William Lustig's ultra-nasty 1980 shocker "Maniac", which featured the same cast. The incredibly creepy-looking Joe Spinell played the eponymous girl-butchering maniac in Lustig's film, and he once again plays a rather demented role here. However, as opposed to "Maniac" which is easily one of the most disturbing American Horror films of the early 80s, "Fanatic" is rather a dark comedy, or a darkly but strongly satirical Horror film to say the least.Spinell plays Vinny Durand, a New York taxi driver, mama's boy, total psycho and fanatical film fan, who plans to make his own Horror movie starring the star he worships, Horror beauty Jana Bates (played by Caroline Munro, who also played the female lead in "Maniac"). He follows her to the film festival in Cannes, where he tries to stalk her, but never manages to come close to her. In the meanwhile, more and more of Jana's associates in the film business end up in gory massacres..."The Last Horror Film" satirizes the 80s controversy whether watching violent and gory Horror films will turn viewers into violent psychopaths. Some fellow reviewers seem to state that the (gory) film absurdly agrees with that ridiculous assumption, but, as far as I am concerned, the opposite is the case: Some people's cry for censorship in the 80s (the decade of the UK's infamous 'Video Nasty' list) is ridiculed by the film. Joe Spinell is always great for extremely sleazy, perverted and creepy roles, and his performance is doubtlessly the main reason to watch "The Last Horror Film". Caroline Munro is a beauty as are most other female cast members, all of whom are eager to expose their breasts. Sadly, "Fanatic" features no suspense at all, and while there is some gore it is not comparable to the disturbing nature of "Maniac". The film has its very funny moments though, mainly provided by Spinell's character's extreme eccentricities. The film is certainly no must-see, but it nonetheless provides a good laugh.

Woodyanders Deranged, obsessive and delusional psycho cab driver Vinny Durand (a gloriously crazed and off the wall performance by Joe Spinell) fantasizes about being a great famous director. Vinny goes to the Cannes Film Festival and stalks horror actress Jenna Bates (a perfectly cast Caroline Munro). Folks close to Jenna start getting bumped off in various gruesome ways. Is Vinny the killer? Director/co-writer David Winters soaks up the heady and raucous festive atmosphere with tremendous aplomb, relates the engrossing story at a constant snappy pace, and gives Spinell free reign to totally ham it up in a rare substantial lead role. Moreover, the murder set pieces deliver the gory goods, with a hot tub electrocution, a throat slashing, and a juicy decapitation by chainsaw rating as the definite grisly highlights. Better still, we even get a bunch of hot chicks baring their breasts with pleasing regularity and a deliriously trashy throbbing rock soundtrack. June Chadwick and Robin Leach briefly appear as reporters while such people as Karen Black and Cathy Lee Crosby can be quickly glimpsed as themselves. There's even a nice subtext about illusion vs. reality and a heavy theme on how movie violence possibly influences people to do horrible things (there are then timely and topical references to John Hinkley's bungled assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan and the shooting of John Lennon). Of course, Spinell's sweaty histrionics are the key attraction here and Big Joe certainly doesn't disappoint with his eye-rolling turn as one totally nutso dude (the scenes with his real-life mother Filomena Spagnuolo in particular are absolutely hysterical). The scene where Vinny chases Jenna through a hotel lobby gets mistaken for a publicity stunt by onlookers is genuinely clever. The fake-out ending is very cool as well; the closing scene with Vinny and his overbearing mom is hilarious. Tom Denvoe's bright cinematography gives the picture an appropriately glittery look. The shuddery and spirited score by Jeff Koz and Jesse Frederick likewise hits the spot. A fun piece of junk.

Michael_Elliott Last Horror Film, The (1982) ** (out of 4) 1980's Maniac was such a hit that producer's wanted a sequel to follow but the director didn't go for that so the producer's went off and made this film that re-teamed Caroline Munro and Joe Spinell. A psychotic taxi driver (Spinell) travels to France to track down his favorite horror star (Munro) so that she'll appear in his latest film. When he can't get close to her he decides to start killing off the people around her. This film had a horrible shoot due to several reasons and some of them show on screen. There are many fascinating ideas thrown around the film but sadly the very poor direction by David Winters really kills things. The idea of a fan killing people and filming it to turn it into a horror film was a nice touch. Another nice touch was adding questions about the controversy of horror films and the effect they have on the public. Both Spinell and Munro are pretty bland in the film but I'm sure a better director would have gotten a bit more out of them. On DVD under the title Fanatic.