Ur/Ch/Arg, 2020
Review:
JA Kerswell
An effective South American retro slasher that shares some stylistic flourishes with its Italian cousin the giallo, but is much more rooted in North American genre film. Set in 1993, an eyeball-plucking psycho hunts down the audience at a sparsely attended cinema showing of a bloody horror movie. Locked inside, the remaining patrons try to outwit the killer until the last reel rolls. Stylishly shot, but its initially leisurely pacing might put some off. However, those with patience will be rewarded with a gory and well-staged cat-and-mouse finale.
College student Ana (Luciana Grasso) offers to cover her father’s late-night projection shift after his colleague fails to turn up for work at a cinema in Montevideo. After a kids' showing, she cues a bloody horror film based on FRANKENSTEIN. Trying to study, she rebuffs the small talk of annoying usher Mauricio (Pedro Duarte). Inside the cinema, a small and disparate group of people gather to watch the film - including a couple on a date; some tipsy teenagers and a young kid who has stayed behind to catch the creature feature.
Also in attendance is a rain-slicker-clad killer, who grasps a bag in one of his black leather gloved hands and a knife in the other. In the flickering light of the cinema, he systematically kills the audience in a variety of gory ways and collects their eyeballs for his supper later. Once the few patrons left alive realise what is happening they rush to the exits only to find the killer has locked them in …
THE LAST MATINEE is a candy shop of genre references. Probably the biggest influence is Bigas Lunas’ unique Spanish film-within-a-film slasher ANGUISH (1987), where another killer goes on an eyeball-plucking spree at a cinema. The poster for Lunas’ movie is even seen in the lobby here - although Contenti’s film doesn’t come anywhere near the masterful sheer mindfuckery and self-reflexive nature of ANGUISH. Another cinema poster glimpsed is for Dario Argento’s giallo OPERA (also 1987). Many reviewers have called THE LAST MATINEE a tribute to the giallo - and the director has said the same, as well as being a tribute to 80s slashers. Whilst it is true that Contenti’s film shares some stylistic flourishes and typical obsessions of the giallo - such as the black-gloved killer; a fetishism and close-ups of murder weapons typical of Dario Argento, as well as a tribute to the colour palette of some of that director’s most famous films - its roots lie very much more in the body count cinema of early 80s North American slasher movies.
Perhaps surprisingly, this isn’t a whodunnit typical of the giallo - or many slashers for that matter. The film makes no attempt to really hide the eyeball-munching killer’s identity (played with demented gusto by Uruguayan director Ricardo Islas). A standout scene has him try to intimidate a small group of survivors by opening his mouth to a grin; showing the severed eyeball he has just cut from his own face. The ocular obsession continues with a striking sequence where human eyeballs tumble down a set of stairs; neatly mirroring an earlier scene where a child's dropped gobstoppers tumbled down the same steps. All the splashy special effects are practical. The most inventive kill in the whole movie is the smoking character who has his throat slit, only for the fumes to continue pouring out of his gaping wound. Incidentally, it is Islas' 2011 movie FRANKENSTEIN: DAY OF THE BEAST that provides the film-within-a-film here (which is arguably shown too much).
Depending on your point of view, the lack of backstory or motive for the killer might not matter Paradoxically, the movie patrons are fleshed out more than we might expect in a similar movie - and means we do often care whether they live or die. This gives the movie some meat to its bones that might be missing because of the killer’s blank anonymity. Thankully, the last half satisfies from a pure slasher perspective with a showdown between the psycho and survivors. A cinema is a great location for a horror film and the film can’t help but recall another Italian genre classic, DEMONS (1985) - the double impalement of the kissing couple was probably a nod to it, too. The Indonesian slasher gem MIDNIGHT SHOW (2016) also makes great use of its setting and is worth a look as well.
THE LAST MATINEE was an international co-production film between Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina. Shot in 24 days during the winter of 2019 at two cinemas, including the Opera theatre in Uruguay. Originally, the film was due to feature more comedic elements, but the decision was made to emphasise its thriller aspects. It premiered in Uruguay on 3 September 2020.
It could be argued that the film is really an exercise in style over substance (something many retro horror films are accused of). Whilst THE LAST MATINEE may not have any real depth, it does succeed in its aims more than many other similar throwbacks. Ultimately, it is a beautifully shot, grab-a-bucket-of-popcorn slasher movie. And who could ask for more?
BODY COUNT 14:
Female 4 / Male 10
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THE LAST MATINEE trailer