Product Details

• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (150 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1929688008
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #438,374 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Comparisons to The Blair Witch Project are inevitable for the inventive, satirical The Last Broadcast, a chilling and funny mockumentary by filmmakers Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler. Besides being made and coming to prominence around the same time (though without a Blair Witch-style marketing juggernaut), The Last Broadcast also details the doomed travails of some amateur filmmakers as they track a mysterious, murderous legend in a dark forest. Hmmm, sound familiar? Actually, The Last Broadcast takes a different tack on this premise, one more media-savvy than Blair Witch. Turns out that this is the latest installment of the X-Files-ish public access show Fact or Fiction, and its doofusy hosts (Avalos and Weiler themselves) plan on doing a live broadcast from deep in the New Jersey woods on their ongoing quest for the Bigfoot-like Jersey Devil. Teaming up with two Internet-based fans, they plunge themselves and their equipment into the wintry woods; only one man, the creepy psychic Jim (Jim Seward), returns, and is promptly convicted of the murders of the other three. While it does boast footage made by the "dead" filmmakers, The Last Broadcast is more formally structured as a documentary, complete with officious, muckraking host (David Leigh) and much behind-the-scenes footage. We're let in on the backgrounds of the victims, the 911 phone calls, the murder trial, the inconsistencies the prosecution overlooked, and the painstaking work of reconstructing the film stock, which may unlock the mystery of the true killer. Filmed entirely with digital cameras and assembled on digital systems for a mind-boggling $900, The Last Broadcast boasts a great look and a sharp, satiric eye for sending up the media--Avalos and Weiler are in calm command of their medium and message. The film does take a sharp turn that could either enrage or amaze viewers enraptured by what's preceded, but it's a minor quibble at best. And unlike The Blair Witch Project, The Last Broadcast does answer all the mysterious questions it raises. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This movie puts "blair witch" to shame-, February 26, 2000

By 

jason (mass, us) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Broadcast [VHS] (VHS Tape)

i absolutely loved this movie! it was a true masterpiece. the acting wasnt, (at all times), greatly convincing, but the story was awesome! i thought the ending was a unique way to end this movie. from the previous reviews, it seems like many people were upset with the ending, but i thought that was an origional direction to go in, although it did kill a little bit of the intrigue of the mystery. i would call this more a mystery, rather than a horror. but overall this was nicely done, especially for the money spent, and limited access to many abilities that higher budget movies have access to. that forced the movie to be very origional, and nicely thought out. bottom line is that the blair witch had literally NO PLOT, and was a disaster, as far as movies go. the blair witch didnt have the ability that this movie had, to capture your interest. this movie remindes me of a typical episode of "unsolved mysteries", up until the very end, where the movie- effect takes over. this movie im sure, will have a cult following. of course this is only my opinion, though. and no, i am not one of the movie makers' mothers, or something...once again, excellent movie!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Companion Video To The Blair Witch Project!, September 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Broadcast [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Last Broadcast is a welcome addition to the new "intellegent" trend in fright movies. Like the Blair Witch movie, it relies more on plot and suggestion than on blood and gore. But an accurate comparison between these two films must include the obsevation that it is more of a combination of the sci-fi special "Curse of the Blair Witch" and the actual Blair Witch movie itself. Indeed, after viewing The Last Brodcast, it is hard to believe that the Blair Witch team did not see this earlier version of (basically) the same type of subject matter. That is not to say that it is nessesarily bad to get your inspiration from another film, since both of these films take from other movies as well. Some that come to mind are "Night of the Living Dead", "The Exorcist" And "Evil Dead", movies that also incorporated relatively small budgets, unknown stars, and compared to other films in the genre, little gore. And so, I will give "The Last Broadcast" a thumbs up, and remind the viewer to remember the small amount of cash it was made for and the tremendous amount of effort and imagination that went into making it. It will take it's spot with my other favorite scary movies(right next to Blair Witch, hee hee). I look forward to more films made with such enthusiasm. One final warning: "The Last Broadcast" has slightly more blood and violence than the Blair Witch movie, which should please those of you who thought there was not enough in Blair Witch.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't compare it to the Blair Witch, December 24, 2000

By 

Jeff (Calgary, Ab, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Broadcast (DVD)

Honestly like many others, I was caught off guard by an ending that made a complete turn around of the movie. Unfortunatly, due to the makers of the Blair Witch Projects ability to rip off a film completed a year before their production even started the Last Broadcast will forever be compared to a poor movie and live in the shadow of it. The movies shouldn't be compared and if you watch the Last Broadcast with the idea that its similar to Blair Witch, you're likely to miss out. The point of the movie is not to scare you, although it likely will at points, it's making a statement about modern media, and the way it twists the reality of life into entertainment. Keep that in mind and the mockumentary will keep you on the edge of your seat and the ending will bring a greater sense of closure.