The Last Matinee – Movie Review (3/5)

THE LAST MATINEE is a horror movie set in an old movie theater. This one is from Uruguay (org. title Al morir la matinée) but it feels very universal and familiar. It should be good fun for any horror movie fan. Read our full The last Matinee movie review here!

THE LAST MATINEE is a horror movie from Uruguay, which obviously means it’s in Spanish (org. title Al morir la matinée). However, this is far from a dialogue-heavy film. Also, it feels very universal because it’s set inside the wonderfully familiar setting of a movie theater. Plus, the movie they’re all watching is a horror movie in English.

I truly believe this movie would be a fun 88-minute movie for any horror movie fan, I’m not sure a wider audience would enjoy it as much. Then again, they’re not really the audience this was made for. We are!

Continue reading our The last Matinee movie review below.

A serial killer finds victims in the dark movie theater!

While there have been some very tragic examples of people being killed in movie theaters, The Last Matinee isn’t using these real-life stories. Instead, the approach of this serial killer is taken directly from classic slasher movies. And speaking of slasher movies, the practical effects used in this horror movie are actually very impressive.

Sure, they’re over the top at times (they’re supposed to be), but they do also look more realistic than I expected.

Also, the ending of this movie was a straight-up survival movie. The potential victims have to first discover the serial killer and in a half-empty movie theater, screening a horror movie, that kind of thing takes a while.

Having the entire story play out in a movie theater is pretty genius in many ways as well. The only minor setback – for me, anyway – was that this one venue made it feel a bit long and repetitive at times. Oh, and I should also mention that there are a few scenes prior to entering the movie theater.

The opening scene (and score throughout, but especially in that first scene) is one big The Shining tribute. You’ll see!

Watch The Last Matinee in movie theaters or On-Demand

Maximiliano Contenti is the director of The Last Matinee. He also came up with the original idea while Manuel Facal wrote the screenplay. Previously, Maximiliano Contenti has been doing mostly short films, but I hope he’ll continue working on feature films. While this one is part horror-comedy and part slasher, I would love to see him do a full-on horror-comedy!

I suspect he would be really awesome at this genre hybrid!

One of my favorite details of this good ol’ slasher movie was the setting (it takes place in 1993). Also, the fact that the serial killer was played by Richardo Islas, who is the director of the horror movie being shown during the slayings. It’s a movie that came out in 2011 and it does not look good – which many in the movie theater comment on.

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If you just read the plot, you’ll know this wasn’t a movie that was supposed to be taken too seriously. Taking this into consideration makes The Last Matinee seem even more like a wonderful inside joke and a very ironic and satirical jab at the director himself. You wouldn’t see many other directors take on a role like this, but slasher directors tend to have a laid-back approach to many things.

THE LAST MATINEE is out in theaters from August 6, 2021, and on VOD, Digital, and DVD on August 24, 2021.

Details

Director: Maxi Contenti
Writers: Maxi Contenti, Manuel Facal
Stars: Luciana Grasso, Ricardo Islas, Julieta Spinelli, Franco Duran, Pedro Duarte