Of all the decades in cinema history, the eighties arguably had the biggest impact on horror. Or, more accurately, on the popularity of the genre. This surge in interest was, at least in part, due to the rise in VHS. Suddenly audiences could take films home, and watch them over and over. Then came the advent of video rental stores. Sadly, these days, most such stores are dead, replaced by online streaming services. For many, visiting the video store was a weekly highlight; new film The Last Video Store acts as a love-letter to the now departed era.
Set in the present, The Last Video Store joins Nyla (Yaayaa Adams) as she goes to return some videotapes on behalf of her father. Once inside Blaster Video she comes face-to-face with Kevin (Kevin Martin), the store’s owner. Kevin is delighted to have a captive audience and Nyla finds it difficult to leave. Then an accident during a rental rewind, traps the pair inside the store. Even worse, several characters from Nyla’s dad’s rentals have somehow escaped their celluloid containers.
The Last Video Store is a true ode to a bygone era. Everything on screen is tinged with nostalgia and this horror comedy presents a real treasure trove for genre fans, both new and old. As Nyla enters Blaster Video, television screens display trailers for a string of movies that will become significant later on. Although all fabricated, it is easy to work out which real world movie they are homaging. The Last Video Store is a true celebration of all genre cinema though, as the walls are adorned with a plethora of posters advertising some of the best independent horror in recent years, including Skull, Psycho Goreman, Let Her Out, and Crabs!
It isn’t specifically horror that The Last Video Store homages. The film expands to include science-fiction, action, and martial arts movies; essentially all the genres that burned brightest during the eighties and early nineties. This widens up the audience pool and also allows directors Cody Kennedy and Tim Rutherford to inject even more fun elements into the film. A highlight is Viper, played by Josh Lenner. One of the characters that has broken free from his movie, Viper is a pastiche of all the eighties action martial arts God’s. He’s part Stallone, part Van Damme, and his journey from hero to the realisation that he might actually be a zero is one of the more interesting character arcs.
Kennedy and Rutherford ensure that every component of The Last Video Store sings about cinema’s yesteryear. Benji Irwin’s cinematography screams cult eighties video tape with its use of its dark setting and neon lighting. Similarly, composer Brandon Boucher has crafted an pulsating synth heavy score that conjures Brad Fiedel level chills. Boucher’s work is the beating heart of the film, effortlessly blending the different genre styles of the characters on screen, creating one cohesive umbrella under which they can all work. The icing on the cake though comes via the special effects work. Conducted by Steven Kostanski, director of Psycho Goreman, the blood gushes and the design of several characters, Caster in particular, is a beautiful combination of homage and deviation.
The story plays somewhere between Final Girls and Last Action Hero, but in reverse, and is a pure hit of nostalgia for the dedicated genre cinephile. This houses a beautiful message about getting left behind, clinging too hard to the past, and the power of friendship to overcome even the strangest of scenarios. A delightful pastiche of a beloved bygone era, The Last Video Store will have audiences seeking out the films of their youth once again.
The Last Video Store
Summary
Moody neon’s, a pounding synth score, and buckets of gore, create the perfect fertile ground for this loving throwback to the movies that made horror and cult cinema what it is today.
The Last Video Store was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Halloween 2023. The Last Video Store is now available on ARROW and Limited Edition Blu-Ray.
