‘Last Radio Call’ is a cliche ridden, unoriginal, low budget horror flick
If you want a thoughtful, original tour of horror movie cliches, Last Radio Call is not a good place to start. Low-budget independent horror movies have their place, but this one is such a mish-mash it’s hard to tell if the filmmakers wanted to make a good screamer or an average satire.
So: A couple of cops are summoned to the creepy, defunct Yorktown Memorial Hospital after reports of otherworldly shrieking. One of them disappears, and his wife, Sarah, goes on a crusade to find him, hiring a cameraman to document the investigation. What follows is a decidedly un-scary and tiring portrait of Sarah getting drunk, throwing up, freaking out, all the while determinedly (moronically?) fearless.
She speaks directly to the camera, often with the backdrop of an office wall covered in suggestive images, such as a devilish looking nun (the hospital was founded by a Catholic order, naturally) and vaguely cartographic graphics (no apparent reason), placed in an effort to create menace. But the most ludicrous, outdated and verging–on–offensive thread is the evocation of sinister supposed Native American rites and legends. Twin Native American brothers, one practicing on the dark side, the other light, on the hexed land of Yorktown, Texas. One might be a werewolf, too.
Schlocky horror movies can be fun, and sometimes even a little bit scary. Last Radio Call was probably fun to make, but to watch? Not so much. Unless, of course, hints of PTSD, vampirism, wereism, communiques from beyond, spooky Native Americans, and the lot are your thing.
★★ ½
