Delightful Low Budget Romp Takes You to The Last Video Store (FANTASTIC)

Title: The Last Video Store

First Non-Festival Release: TBD

Director: Cody Kennedy, Tim Rutherford

Writer: Cody Kennedy, Tim Rutherford

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Starring: Yaayaa Adams, Kevin Martin, Josh Lenner

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the Fantastic Film Festival in 2023.

A relic of times that seem nearly lost, mom and pop video stores used to be a haven for cinephiles to gather and indulge in their preferred hobbies and interests. Dedicated to the mainstream and weird alike, they differed from traditional chain stores in how they focused on customer retention and culture, not solely on money.

This is very true for Kevin (Kevin Martin) who runs his labor of love video store by himself. One day, Nyla (Yaayaa Adams), the daughter of one of his best [and only] customers comes to return her late father’s rentals. When Kevin notices an additional tape in the mix, his curiosity gets the best of him and he puts it in, unknowingly releasing a curse that causes the antagonists of his video tapes to come to life and wreak havoc in the store.

Bursting with unbridled enthusiasm for the genre, The Last Video Store is a love letter to a near forgotten age of cinema.

Goofy B-movie fun awaits Nyla the moment she steps into Kevin’s video store. From the get-go we are introduced to Kevin and his larger-than-life persona. A stand in for the many zany yet kind operators of such establishments who work out of pure passion, Kevin leads with his love of genre film onto the unsuspecting, and largely uninterested, Nyla as she tries to carry out her final errands related to her father’s death. Once the action sets in, The Last Video Store is quick to deliver on its reality warping premise.

The Last Video Store manages to pull off its quirky concept by leaning into what makes the type of film its celebrating special. Parodying low budget sci-fi horror, slashers, and gritty action mockbusters, The Last Video Store lovingly weaves the elements of these low budget films into the action that Kevin and Nyla must face. From the hammy special effects to the cheesy dialogue, instead of lampooning, The Last Video Store celebrates the special moments that these types of films mean to the people who treasure them.

Video rental spaces and genre films are often a safer space for “weird” people to engage with another world, or with other likeminded people in a way that they cannot do with reality. The Last Video Store allows for Kevin to be the stand in hero for the people that are often negatively associated with genre filmmaking. It’s a feel-good approach to horror filmmaking that knows exactly who and how to honor without making it feel like fan-service.

While the nostalgia seeps through the script effortlessly, the same cannot be said for the connection between the main characters. Despite the solid introductions of the overly enthusiastic video store clerk and the dead-pan Gen Z cool girl as opposites, there isn’t much that deconstructs either in their time together. Their subsequent bonding feels forced as the script doesn’t earn that camaraderie.

Bright and colorful, The Last Video Store is a delight for anyone who has a proclivity for 80s and 90s direct to video horror. Cutting through the intentionally rough special effects, the filmmakers allow The Last Video Store to dazzle with its intentional use of color and real set. Leaning into the old school aesthetic of neon horror from the golden age, The Last Video Store is bursting with color and viscera. It also helps that the film is made in the actual video store based in Edmonton, Alberta by the actor Kevin Martin and based on ideas directors Cody Kennedy and Tim Rutherford had when frequenting the store.

It isn’t for everyone, but The Last Video Store is a delightful romp of a horror comedy that lands more often than it doesn’t. It’s patchy character work and sometimes stilted dialogue is outpaced by its fun premise and intentionally goofy approach to horror. For those who have found themselves when finding genre cinema, The Last Video Store will feel like a welcome hug so to speak. I know it’ll be an appropriate source of comfort horror for myself once it is released! Make sure to seek this one out when it gets a bigger release and don’t forget to be kind and rewind!

Overall Score? 6/10