In Review: The Last Broadcast (1998)
It's spooky season! And that can mean only one thing, dear listener: time to talk spooky movies! This October, we've decided to shine our meager spotlight on what has become, sadly, a largely forgotten pioneer in the "found footage" genre, 1998's The Last Broadcast, directed by DIY cinematic trailblazers Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler. Have you heard of The Last Broadcast? You probably haven't, and that feels like some sort of crime against cinema, honestly. Presented as a documentary attempting to uncover the truth behind the brutal murders of the hosts of "Fact of Fiction", an off-beat local cable access show from the New Jersey area, The Last Broadcast is in fact so much more, a cinematic nesting doll with a divisive and fascinating climax that still has the power to shock, a quarter of a century later.
Wow. Twenty-five years. The Last Broadcast is celebrating its silver anniversary this year. I remember being excited to watch this movie when it was brand-new, and for a part of me, The Last Broadcast still feels like it was just released. The passage of time can be a funny thing. Good lord, I feel so old right now.
Anyway, we think The Last Broadcast is an amazing and worthwhile film, with a behind-the-scenes story that is just as fascinating as the movie itself, and we believe it's worth a reappraisal. So TRAPPO is proud to champion The Last Broadcast, and we sincerely hope you'll give it a shot this Halloween season if you're looking for an unnerving found footage experience to send shivers up your spine. It's currently streaming on SHUDDER, AMC+ and TUBI, so do yourself a favor and venture into the haunted Pine Barrens with the "Fact or Fiction" crew in search of the Jersey Devil this October. You'll be glad you did.
Our latest episode discussing The Last Broadcast is available below, or you can find TRAPPO on Apple, Google, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spookify, Spookify for BloodCasters, and Amazon, so choose your own adventure and we'll see you back at camp, man!
Join the conversation! What conversation? The conversation happening right now, in the comments section on this very blog post! Just scroll down a little bit and leave a comment. It's that easy. Tell us what you think about The Last Broadcast, suggest some of your favorite found footage movies, or just share your own thoughts on the current state of horror cinema. We'd love to hear from you. And if you're feeling a bit more verbose, you could always send us a long-winded email (trapposhow@gmail.com), which we always greatly appreciate. We're also on BlueSky and Instagram, if you're into the whole social media scene. So if you always wanted the complete TRAPPO experience, you know what to do.
That's it for now, but don't forget to join us next week as we share a seasonably appropriate broadcast from our favorite fiends at 66.6 KTRP. It's going to be a scary good time...
Thanks for listening!
Watch LAKE MUNGO. Best found footage movie ever made.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never seen the last broadcast before. I guess I should have listened to the spoiler warning before I finished the episode. That’s my fault. I’ll probably still watch it, though. Nothing beats free on Tubi. I’m not a big fan of found footage, so I don’t have any real recommendations for you guys. Apollo 18, maybe? It’s not very good, but I can’t even remember any other found footage movies I’ve seen off the top of my head. I did see all the paranormal activity movies, though. They’re okay. Watch those? I think they’re on Paramount Plus.
ReplyDeleteI respect The Last Broadcast. I appreciate what The Last Broadcast is trying to do. And after learning all of the behind the scenes info from your very informative podcast, I respect The Last Broadcast a lot more than I used to. And there is a disturbing undercurrent to the narrative, one that you gentlemen brought to the forefront with your reappraisal, that I've never been able to articulate before. David Lee is a genuinely horrifying subject, with the documentary The Last Broadcast acting as a self-serving monument to his own supposed genius. He's so confident, so full of himself, that he'll create a documentary that essentially acquits the man he framed for three brutal murders, if only to stroke his own inflated ego. That's a real horror movie. Thanks for talking about The Last Broadcast.
ReplyDeleteIt sucks, my god, it fucking sucks
ReplyDeleteTHE OUITWATERS is pretty new and pretty cool.
ReplyDelete