DVD Review: Last Hour

Wow. If you want to see a bad movie, this will fit the bill. No, I am not talking about a "so bad it's good" movie, I mean straight-up, claw out your eyes bad — that is, if you can retain consciousness long enough to make it to the end. I swear it took me three attempts to get through this thing.

This is a movie that is beyond bad. If this was an independent movie with an amateur cast, I think I'd be willing to be a little easier on it, but this cast contains enough recognizable names to negate that possibility. Last Hour almost seems to have been made stream-of-consciousness style, with the "director" calling action and then letting the actors take the scene wherever they want; there's no need for a script. Perhaps this was meant to be the movie version of Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

While I had modest expectations to begin with, I was, at the very least, hoping for something mildly fun. Here is the blurb that initially attracted me to it:

How would you react if three years after the death of your father, you receive a letter signed by him inviting you to visit an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere in China? Curious in nature, you decide to set off on this adventure. Here's the snag, when you arrive in front of the house (which looks more like a bunker), you realize that there are other visitors summoned as well. Four guys show up with the same letter you have! All five characters, Monk, Casino, Black Jack, Shang and Poker have something in common. All carry guns, have dangerous reputations and are wanted by the police. Unexpectedly the door to the house is opened by a mysterious woman and shortly after entering they notice that they are all locked inside. The house is surrounded by police and they can not escape the psychotic killer that wants to wipe them out. After shocking plot twists and with a growing suspicion of each other, they come to realize that they have only one hour to live!

Now, doesn't that sound like a fun set-up for a goofy movie? Sure it does! A bunch of card carrying, gun-toting psychopaths locked in a house with another killer while the police buzz around outside, how can that not be fun? It reminds me a bit of Albert Pyun's Mean Guns, which featured Christopher Lambert and Ice-T in an abandoned prison filled with weapons and other bad guys to go around and shoot, blended with John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, with the forces outside that could come in at any moment. There is even a touch of Cube with the participants wondering who the others are and at least temporarily working together to find out what is going on. Unfortunately, the execution of Last Hour doesn't come anywhere near those other films (and Mean Guns wasn't very good).

Article Author: Chris Beaumont

Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about music and movies when he isn't indulging in them. He is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Follow: Twitter and Tumblr. Visit: Critical Outcast. …

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