By Becca Johnson August 23, 2024
Directed by Dean Alioto, the same director who helmed the well-loved pre-Blair-Witch found footage movie The McPherson Tapes back in 1989, The Last Podcast stars Eric Tabach, Gabriel Rush and Charlie Sexton. It’s a dark, twisted horror comedy about an ambitious podcast host named Charlie and his podcast ‘ParaNormalcy’, which aims to take the mickey out of those who believe in ghosts. Charlie’s girlfriend, Brie, wishes he wasn’t so mean-spirited about debunking spirits, but Charlie’s humorous and sarcastic style is what his audience he loves. This soon changes when Charlie meets Duncan, a junior professor at Pasadena-Tech University, who claims he can scientifically prove there’s no afterlife. When the experiment goes awry, Charlie’s life and career are turned upside down.
Effective and entertaining with good performances yet often taking itself too seriously, The Last Podcast is a middling effort that introduces exciting ideas but doesn’t quite stick the landing due to a messy ending.
Review
It’s undeniable that The Last Podcast is a really, really fun idea. We live in a world where podcasts are everywhere, and those in the industry joke about how ‘everyones got one’. The Last Podcast has arrived at the perfect time, showcasing what many of our home set-ups look today, and harnessing something that’s so prevalent in the media. To add to this, it brings in an intriguing topic that’s crossed all of our minds at some point - death. Is that really the end? Are ghosts real? Most importantly, is there an afterlife, and what does that look like? Pairing this idea with a podcast host who is also a debunker makes for an engaging, interesting watch with some intriguing ideas to explore. The performances behind our two leads Charlie and Duncan are great, with Tabach acing the excitable, slightly annoying nature of podcaster Charlie, and Rush doing well to put a creepy, stoic and uneasy spin on dead scientist Duncan. The pair work well together, and their tricky bond is the movies best asset. Their strange relationship also fuels the most thought-provoking theme of the movie - how far would we go for online success, and if our podcast really took off and gained traction, would we too put ourselves in harms way or jeopardize our closest relationships? The writing does a fantastic job with this idea.
There is one main negative which unfortunately bogs The Last Podcast down - the lack of comedy. The premise of a ghost guesting on a podcast is wacky and unashamedly batshit, but the movie often takes itself way too seriously given the silly nature of the plot. There are admittedly a few attempts at humour yet they often don’t land, and it certainly doesn’t inject enough fun into the script. It’s great to have those dark, intense themes within the storyline as they definitely add a gritty layer to the film, but they just aren’t balanced well enough with the humour for The Last Podcast to be a true horror comedy.
Horror fans may also be a little let down by the amount of scares - outside of Duncan’s creepy zombie-like make-up and one particularly memorable kill, there’s not much on offer here. Furthermore, there are times in which the storyline gets a bit convoluted. Once Charlie Saxton’s character becomes more prevalent during the final act, the movie takes an unexpected yet particularly left-field turn that becomes tonally inconsistent and a little messy. The Last Podcast is actually better and much more enjoyable when the storyline is simpler - it’s ideas and character discussions are far more effective than the twists and turns it aims to include. There is a lot of promise and several cool ideas, yet it perhaps tackles too many at once.
The Last Podcast is definitely worth a viewing for podcasters or podcast listeners, as it does well to explore the drive and detriment of racking up views and subscribers. The performances from the two leads are great, the themes explored are certainly thought-provoking and it does well to maximise its lower budget with simple yet effective settings and decent make-up and practical effects. It doesn’t quite hit a home run due to a lack of humor and horror, a messy final act and a few too many ideas squashed into a short run-time, but with interesting conversations and a unique plot, many will find something to enjoy here.
Star Rating
The Last Podcast had it's world premiere August 23 at Frightfest
SEE THE REST OF OUR FRIGHTFEST COVERAGE
(CLICK IMAGE BELOW)
Comentarios