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The Last Victim (2021 film)

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Wikipedia article




'The Last Victim' is a 2021 American neo-Western crime-thriller film directed and produced by Naveen A Chathapuram in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Ashley James Louis, based on a story by Doc Justin and Chatapuram. It stars Ali Larter, Ralph Ineson, Ron Perlman, Kyle Schmid, Dakota Daulby, Camille Legg, and Tom Stevens. The plot follows a sheriff's pursuit of a violent gang that is chasing a witness to their crimes.

The film premiered at the Oldenburg International Film Festival on September 16, 2021. It was released in the United States on May 13, 2022, by Decal.

Premise



A group of outlaws, led by the charismatic Jake, is pursued by an aging sheriff named Herman Hickey and his Deputy after a crime goes wrong in the American Southwest. The gang of outcasts soon crosses paths with Susan, an anthropologist with OCD, and her husband, Richard, who witness them in the midst of covering up a horrendous crime. Soon after, Susan is pursued by the outlaw group with the hopes of making her the last victim.

Cast



* Ali Larter as Susan

* Ralph Ineson as Jake

* Ron Perlman as Sheriff Herman Hickey

* Tahmoh Penikett as Richard

* Kyle Schmid as Bull

* Dakota Daulby as Tad

* Tom Stevens as Manny Randowski

* Camille Legg as Deputy Mindy Gaboon

* Paul Belsito as Snoopy

* Gregory Fawcett as Deputy Dale

* Matt Brown as Monroe

* Kit Sheehan as Glenda Hickey

* Trish Allen as The Waitress

* Budge Winter as The Old Man

Production



'The Last Victim' was conceptualized over fifteen years before its release. Director Naveen A Chathapuram was introduced to the storyline by anthropologist Dr. Neal 'Doc' Justin and the two were originally going to make the feature as an ultra-low budget independent genre film in the vein of Breakdown (1997). After a fire at the intended shooting location shelved the project, Chathapuram went on to make other films in the role of a producer, such as CA$H, which was an early starring role for Chris Hemsworth. About fifteen years after shelving the project, Chathapuram rediscovered the idea for 'The Last Victim' while he was planning his directorial debut. Chathapuram approached up-and-coming screenwriter Ashley James Louis to write a new version of the script based on the original story Chathapuram and 'Doc' Justin had written. The project needed to be updated and fleshed out if it was to meet the new ambitions Chathapuram had set out for this his directorial debut. Louis agreed, and soon turned in a first draft that went on to get a Script Score of "76" on [https://www.slated.com/films/210786 SLATED]. Chathapuram then brought on a series of producers and investors and was eventually able to raise around $2 million dollars in order to fund the low-budget independent film. During this time, Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Green Knight) was cast as "Jake Samuels". Ali Larter (Final Destination, Resident Evil franchises) was cast as "Susan Orden" and Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Nightmare Alley) was cast as "Sheriff Hickey". With the principles and supporting actors cast, the film went into production, and was soon after shot in Canada in just under three weeks. The covid-19 pandemic interrupted post-production, pushing back the premiere of the film until 2021's Oldenburg International Film Festival. Decal would later release the film in theaters and VOD on May 13, 2022. The film serves as Chathapuram's directorial debut.

Release



The film premiered at the Oldenburg International Film Festival on September 16, 2021, where it was nominated for The German Independence Award "Best Film - Audience Award". Decal acquired the distribution rights soon after. The acquisition deal was negotiated by Ayo Kepher-Maat of Decal with Jared Goetz at Ascending Media Group. The film was released in theaters and on VOD on May 13, 2022.

Reception



On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of 13 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.7/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 34 out of 100 based on five critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". These reviews include Joe Leydon of [https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/the-last-victim-review-1235265631/ Variety], who called it "the latest in a seemingly endless line of neo-noir thrillers with a neo-western gloss" and Derek Smith of [https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-last-victim-review-ron-perlman/ Slant Magazine], who gave the film "2 out of 4 stars", saying it was "distractingly indebted to No Country for Old Men". Tim Cogshell of [https://www.kpcc.org/show/filmweek/2022-05-13/filmweek-operation-mincemeat-montana-story-mau-and-more FilmWeek] also gave The Last Victim a moderately negative review, saying, "This is a film with a lot of good performances that gets off to a really good start... It loses the thread in the third act. I was really disappointed."

However, several critics praised The Last Victim, as well, with [https://www.rabbit-reviews.com/movie-recommendations/thriller/the-last-victim-2021/ Rabbit Reviews] giving the film "9 out of 10 stars", pointing out the "philosophical" narration as a highlight of the feature. Andrew Buckner of [https://withoutyourhead.com/viewnews.php?autoid=111534 Without Your Head] and Jim Morazzini of [https://www.voicesfromthebalcony.com/2022/05/12/the-last-victim-2021-review/ Voices from the Balcony] both gave the film "4 out of 5 stars", with Andrew Buckner calling it "...a layered, thoughtful, and satisfying dose of gritty cinematic pulp fiction" and Jim Morazzini saying of it, "...you have a film that, despite the need for better editing is a tense and satisfying thriller. The Last Victim is a film that marks its makers as talents to keep an eye on". Brian Fanelli of [https://www.horrorbuzz.com/movies/the-last-victim-is-a-thrilling-neo-western/ HorrorBuzz.com] called the film "a thrilling neo-western", giving it a "7/10". Alex Saveliev of [https://filmthreat.com/reviews/the-last-victim/ Film Threat] also gave the film a "7/10", saying that it "explores what it is that makes us human and separates us from other species...". Joel Copling of [https://spectrumculture.com/2022/05/17/the-last-victim-review/ Spectrum Culture] rated the film at "70%", saying "If the plot sounds familiar, its more of an homage to the Coen Brothers than a rip-off".

Jeffery M. Anderson of [https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-last-victim Common Sense Media] and noted Canadian film critic [https://richardcrouse.ca/the-last-victim-3-stars-very-strong-directorial-debut/ Richard Crouse] both gave the film moderately positive "3 out of 5" ratings, with Anderson saying it's "A neo-Western with a bit of a bite" that "gives its fascinating characters -- and, amazingly, the audience -- credit for being smart enough to follow its twisty checkerboard jumps" while Richard Crouse called it "a very strong directorial debut that packs excitement into the storytelling, including a rather surreal climax, with enough twists to keep the story of survival compelling throughout" but also said it was "marred by o-so-serious voiceover, a somewhat too leisurely pace in the films mid-section and a tacked-on ending sequence that adds little, except for a few minutes to the overall running time."

References




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