‘The Last Cabin’ is an Admirable Found Footage Effort: A Review
A straightforward film with likable characters yet an uneven execution.
updated on
Table of Contents
What is The Last Cabin About?
The Last Cabin is a home invasion slasher, set in and around a cabin in the woods, and presented in a found footage style.
Three location scouts working for a low-budget filmmaker are desperate to find a cabin for their boss. Late at night, they happen upon the perfect cabin for their film shoot. A deal is made with the property manager, and the trio waits for their director and his crew to arrive. As they begin to relax, they find themselves stalked by a group of people in creepy clown masks who eventually start to work their way inside. Soon, the clowns make it clear that their ultimate goal is murder.
The Last Cabin was directed by Brendan Rudnicki, and it was written by Brendan and Kellan Rudnicki. The movie stars Isabella Bobadilla, Brendan Goshay, and Tanner Kongdara as the location scouts Hope, Ben, and Shawn. Also featured in prominent supporting roles are Benjamin L. Newmark, John Fantasia, Cashmere Moniqué, Kyree Cook, and Austin J. Rhodes.
The Last Cabin Review
This is horror at its most straightforward, and I appreciate The Last Cabin for its simplicity. It has an opening kill scene to set the mood, and it gets back to the action relatively quickly once the main story kicks off. I mean, if you’re watching this movie, you probably already know where it’s headed. It’s found footage about killers stalking people at a cabin in the woods. What do you think is going to happen?
So yes, the story is fine if somewhat derivative. Also in the positive column are Hope and Ben, the two main characters played by Isabella Bobadilla and Brendan Goshay. Ben is my favorite. He has an “I don’t want to be here” attitude even before any of the scary stuff starts, and Brendan Goshay plays it in a very fun way. Ben is always exasperated, but he’s endearing because Brendan plays the role in a way that makes it clear that his friendship with Hope is important to him.
Isabella Bobadilla has to do a lot of the heavy lifting far as portraying the fear of the situation, and she does a great job of playing Hope as someone who freaks out and gets talkative when she’s nervous. She’s also great when she gets herself together and starts to fight back. Together, Hope and Ben keep things interesting even if there’s not a lot going on in the story.
I also enjoyed the practical gore that was featured throughout the movie. There isn’t a ton of it, but what is shown was done well. I know how difficult it can be doing practical effects like theirs on a tiny budget, and the filmmakers did an admirable job. A hammer in a head is my favorite effect in the film.
That said, it is abundantly clear whenever gore effects are about to be shown, because we either see a jump cut, a cutaway, or the camera pans away from the action for no real in-universe reason. It’s a bit of a bummer that most of the actual violence is obscured in some way, but that’s often a necessity with a micro-budget film. Frankly, cutaways are better than CGI, so I don’t actually have a problem with this. I just think some of the edits could have been smoother and less obvious.
I’ve said this before, but I’m kind of a stickler when it comes to found footage. If the footage doesn’t look real, or at least plausible given the situation, then it bugs me. I already mentioned some of the jump cuts used to cut to shots with practical effects. There are also jump cuts used to link different parts of scenes, but the edits don’t match. It’s hard to explain without showing an example, but there are multiple “hidden” edits that look like they’re supposed to be one continuous shot, but which I found to be very obviously mismatched. Maybe I’m nitpicking, but it bothered me a little, often in moments when the action was picking up.
The last thing I’ll mention is the story. Yes, I said I appreciate its simplicity, and I do. However, the story and plot occasionally go on odd tangents that don’t lead to anything significant. What I mean is, characters sometimes get ideas in their head that make little sense, or they say things that feel out of context. Or there are moments that seem like they’re supposed to be significant, but they just pass by with little effect on the overall progression of the story.
For example (minor spoiler), there’s a scene where the clown masked killers indicate that they “want the girl.” Hope freaks out for a minute, but it doesn’t seem to affect her decisions later, and the killers don’t ever single her out specifically. It’s just a thing that happens, and all it does is pass a few minutes of screen time.
The Last Cabin Rating and Recommendation
Star Rating: 2 out of 5
I didn’t dislike The Last Cabin, but I would only recommend it for die-hard found footage fans. It doesn’t add much of anything new to the genre, but for a micro-budget film, there are positives within its execution. For casual viewers, it might be a tough sell.
Further Reading
- The Jolly Monkey Review: Cheap Fun in a Mockbuster Style
- Don’t Make a Sound Review: Micro-Budget Slashing With Blood but Almost No Story
- Mouse of Horrors Review: Better Than You Might Expect for a Steamboat Willie Slasher
- Horror Movies About Making Movies
- Found Footage Horror Movies
- Lesser-Known ‘Cabin in the Woods’ Horror Movies
- New/Upcoming Horror Movies
