Director: Benjamin R Moody
Writer: Benjamin R Moody (Screenplay)
Starring: Akasha Villalobos, Danielle Evon Ploeger, Brian Villalobos, Jason Vines, Laura Ray, Ryan Hamilton, Kelsey Pribilski
Plot: She survived a brutal massacre, but lost her life. What happens to the final girl after the credits roll?
Tagline – What happens after the horror movie?
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Last Girl Standing starts as Camryn (Villalobos) is left as the lone survivor of an attack by a masked killer known as The Hunter (Vines), left traumatised by the events, she is left to try and get on with her life as if nothing happened, working in a dry cleaners, suffering nightmares every night.
As Camryn starts to finally let someone back into her life in Nick (Villalobos) a new guy at work, she starts to believe the Hunter has returned, not to stalk her, but the new group of friends she is making.
Thoughts on Last Girl Standing
Characters & Performances – Camryn is the lone survivor of a serial killer who butchered her friends, she is left traumatised by the events, suffering nightmares years after the event, living in fear alone away from people in the world. As soon as she starts letting people back into her life, she starts to believe the killer has returned hunting the new friends down. Akasha Villalobos is great in the leading role, bringing a character we haven’t seen before too life, the aftermath of a serial killer. Danielle is one of the new friends that Camryn has, someone that knows what pain is, a person to support her through the most difficult time of her life. Nick is the new guy at work, someone that talks a lot and has a positive look on life, trying to make sure people remain happy around him. Danielle Evon Ploeger and Biran Villalobos do work well in the supporting roles, with anyone else we meet only needing to fill the generic figures we expect in a slasher film.
Story – The story here follows the lone survivor of a serial killer attack trying to put their life back together after years of living through the trauma of what happened before, as she is finally looking to move on, despite fearing the killer has returned. This is a brilliantly clever spin on the slasher genre, showing the lone survivor needing to readjust to their life after the incident, filling the film with the trauma she went through, rather than just going for a full blown sequel to the events, needing to fight the killer again, bringing the survival into the real-world. The story will keep us guessing as to what might be real or not with what Camryn is going through, is the killer really returning or does she need help, which is key to keeping us on the edge throughout the film.
Themes – Last Girl Standing is a horror thriller with a twist, the lone survivor has the big battle in the open sequences, as we go more into a psychological battle within her mind, never knowing what is real in life anymore or the killer is just playing games again. This theme of the lone survivor trying to live on is something we haven’t seen before and is a very interesting spin on the slasher side of horror.
Final Thoughts – Last Girl Standing is a smart genre spinning idea for a slasher side of the horror world.