Is the following fact or fiction? Two young movie makers use a desktop PC and less than nine hundred dollars to produce the first all-digital documentary-styled horror film in 1998?
It's fact. A few months before The Blair Witch Project brought documentary style horror to the forefront, The Last Broadcast presented a chilling account of three bloody murders that happened one cold night in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Beginning as a fictitious documentary about the Jersey Devil Murders using salvaged video footage, interviews, and police evidence, the film's twist ending reveals the real murderer--or does it?
Using Photoshop to enhance scenes, consumer-grade video recorders, and lots of post-production doctoring on a desktop PC, Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler digitally composed their low-key thriller using mostly non-actors, Weiler's mom, and just about anything not nailed down. The final product is an eerie, slow-building story that takes a sudden left turn toward the end to reveal the true murderer. According to the audio commentary, seven clues are in the film pointing to the murderer. I missed all seven.
Technology plays an important part within the film itself, first as visual and auditory information is manipulated to create the pseudo-documentary structure of the film, and second as the impetus for the events that transpire within it.
The film begins as a probing documentary by director David Leigh (played with aplomb by David Beard), who asks the question, "Did Jim Suerd commit the murders?" The profile of Suerd--troubled childhood, a loner, and computer nerd fascinated by the Internet and magic tricks--seems to point to an unstable individual that may be capable of cold-blooded murder. But the film leaves you wondering just who exactly the documentary was really about.
Fact or Fiction is a public-access cable show teetering on the edge. The show's two it's-always-Saturday hosts (think Wayne's World here), Avkast and Wheeler, are desperately searching for a way to keep their show on the air (although they do sell a lot of t-shirts). Initially a kitschy hit about two slackers discussing weird stuff, the topics are getting stale, and its popularity is waning.
Article comments
1 - brad schader
This was a fairly good and creepy movie until the end. It is one of the worst tacked-on endings I have ever seen and makes no sense at all. That is where Blair Witch passed this film, thier ending still sucked, but made more sense. I do not want to ruin it here because you really do not see it coming, but that is because it comes from no where.
2 - Iloz Zoc
Brad,
Without going into detail, was it the switch from doc to regular movie, or the reveal that you didn't like?
3 - brad schader
To be honest, both. The reveal seemed like they realized they had no ending and the switch added to that feeling. If the movie started out 3rd person and switched to the doc form then back to 3rd it would flow better. The switch as it is now throws the audience too much before they are able to follow the story again.
4 - wendy
how can something like that do all that to those bodies?
these questions are still being recovered but..
i beleive in this myth because this wouldnt happen for no reason
5 - ochre
This was a fairly good and creepy movie until the end
6 - bryan
I'm with the above- I so loved this movie until about the last 3 minutes or so. The first time I watched it I was WTF? There were several points at the end that just make no sense. There was (at least) one other ending that could have really just blasted this film into space. But do see it if you haven't, it is much much better than the crap Hollywood has been putting out the past decade or so. The ending, while weird, is still better than most "horror" coming out recently. Oh, and video girl Shelly is quite the hottie.