Last Girl Standing

My rating was waffling between 6 and 7, so I rounded up because I both enjoyed it and respect what was done with a small budget. I had no idea this was a Kickstarter funded movie, until the credits rolled.

I DVR'd this movie, months ago, and like most of the things I record, they sit there, waiting to get deleted or watched later. I originally came to IMDB and saw a lot of reviews stating that this movie was boring or not that good. But, a few positive reviews kept me from deleting it, so it sat...

Last night, I was channel surfing and this movie was on. I was only going to watch a minute or two, but It was right around the part where Nick introduces Camryn to his roommates. I soon realized that I was getting drawn in and was interested in seeing more of these characters, so I loaded up the DVR'd version and started from the beginning. I'm glad I did, otherwise, I would have missed the whole setup!

I got sucked in because of Camryn's predicament and how well fleshed out all the characters were, right down to the boss and complaining customer. Nick's friends include the bitchy, elitist, Maelyn, the compassionate, but clingy, Hannah, the responsible paying roommate and undergrad student, Danielle (also played by someone named Danielle), purist and woodworking artist, Tyler, a likeable moocher, named Griffin, and of course the leads, Nick and Camryn, played by people with the same last name. Was it a brother and sister? As it turns out the onscreen couple happen to be married in real life. "Whew!"

Nick is a person who could be the killer, or who could just be an empathetic guy, who has his act together. Camryn has survivor's guilt and nightmares. The lead up to the finale was good. While I didn't really like where the story ended up, it made sense. There are some gory moments, but only during a few sequences.

If you snip off the beginning and end of the movie, there is not a lot in the way of horror or action. That's not a fault, as I found the characters and interactions to be interesting and genuine. It was that interaction which motivated me to watch the movie from the beginning. I do agree with another reviewer's point, that the beginning of this movie could have benefited from a few more introductory moments. It still works well, though.

Overall, it was decently produced. Good electronic music score and some cool background songs. The cinematography and editing (particularly some recurring transitions to images of the killer) were pretty good. Nice gore effects. Most of all, I liked the way the director and actors presented these characters.

The movie starts with a brutal massacre a-la-Jason-Voorhees courtesy of a masked man called "The Hunter". In this sequence we receive the first batch of slasher movies clichés, last "heroine" and all. Of course, she kills the bad guy (obviously) and from there we jump 4-5 years into that last survivor's life.

Camryn is just a typical girl struggling with all the aftermath of that horrible experience. But, unlike what we see in most of these girls in other movies (the last survivor trying to go on with her life), she is a very shy and almost obnoxious kind of girl. No new friends, no nothing...except for her job.

Aside for the daily nightmares, everything is OK in her life until one day Nick arrives to her job, as the new cashier. And then, all of a sudden and without any sort of rational explanation, weird things start to happen and Camryn's life goes to hell.

At that point, we receive a new batch of clichés: now for a "is it real or not?" type of thriller.

And then...13 minutes before the movie ends we need to endure the beginning of one of the worst endings I have ever seen.

The only "redeeming value" of this movie are the practical FX for the killings. They're pretty good, especially for an indie flick.

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is complete garbage. The movie is predictable as hell, so much that there's simply no way that anyone will not know how it will end. It's just a matter of "expertise" at these kind of movies: if you've seen a lot of them you can predict that lame ending more than an hour before it arrives. If this is the first time you see one of these then you'll see the ending coming 15-20 minutes before. And if no matter who the viewer is he/she can predict the ending from miles away...you have a very very bad movie in your hands.

Other than the aforementioned FX dept. Writer/Director Benjamin R. Moody can't seem to do anything "right": photography is bad, the script is awful, acting is weak and it doesn't have one shred of originality. Anywhere.

The concept of "What happens to the final girl after the credits roll?" is very interesting and has the potential for greatness. Unfortunately this movie does it in an uninteresting and very dull way. Suffice to say that if you've seen a lot of slasher movies in your life then you've basically seen this one. Because although it may seem like an original idea, the way Mr. Moody did it is just...well the opposite of that.

And if you were thinking "well, at least it's a scary movie"...well no, it has nothing actually scary in it, except for maybe 60-90 seconds of mildly "scary" stuff.

Don't waste your time with this movie. It's boring as hell, as derivative as a high school project and has almost nothing to offer.

I don't know why others have felt this movie deserves such negativity in their reviews.

The story is good and the acting and technical aspects of the film are professional and of a high standard.

I found I was drawn into the story as each actor played their character brilliantly - especially the gorgeous Akasha Villalobos and stunning Danielle Evon Ploeger.

The film won't win any awards for flashy special effects or groundbreaking technical work - but its not that kind of film. It is a solid, well-made movie which tells a believable story.

Apparently the director's reason for making this cheap, independent slasher movie was the question "what happens to the final girl after the credits roll?". He answers his own question in a no budget way in this derivative and uninteresting movie, that seems to hinge on a familiar old twist that I already saw played out - better - in previous slasher sequels and the like. It's hardly original.

Akasha Villalobos plays the sole survivor of a massacre at the hands of a bizarrely-costumed killer in the film's opening sequence. She struggles to adapt to normal life afterwards, but ends up alienating herself from her social group. The problem the viewer has is that the character is completely unlikeable and as an actress Villalobos is quite horrible, never displaying a moment of emotion despite her character's ordeal.

Of course it transpires that the bloodshed isn't over yet as LAST GIRL STANDING hinges on a major twist ending involving another killer. The cheap gore effects flow freely here but the twist itself is quite laughable and overstated. Sadly this is a film that never quite manages to overcome a lack of talent and budget and ends up being completely forgettable as a result.

The other reviewers have been very generous with their scores. I really can't see anything of merit in this movie.

The plot is extremely poor, spending a long time to build to the easily predictable ending. Human interaction is very forced and unnatural. I was irritated throughout the movie by it's stupid events and ridiculous character reactions.

I've seen a lot of bad movies but generally 90% of them have some kind of redeeming element even if it's just unintentionally funny. This movie really doesn't have anything. The entire production was unimaginative and bland.