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Grubbily authentic and shockingly brutal, The Last Horror Movie is one sick little puppy. A micro-budget Brit horror pic about ordinary madness caught on camcorder, it takes reality TV to the limit and beyond. Silver-tongued serial killer Max (Kevin Howarth) invites us to watch as he shoots a fly-on-the-wall documentary about his working practices. Billed as "an intelligent film about murder", it's a snuff movie showcase of Max's greatest hits overlaid with his suave, amoral commentary about the nature of killing.

Looking more like an investment banker than a serial killer, Max is an ordinary middle-class suburbanite who shoots wedding videos by day and snuff movies by night. A remorseless psychopath with a flair for self-promotion, he wants to prove that we're all capable of murder. But judging by his camp theatrics and grandstanding straight-to-camera monologues, he's just one small wave away from being shipwrecked in Ga-Ga Land.

"MORE DISTURBING THAN ITS PREMISE MIGHT PROMISE"

Following in the mockumentary footsteps of sardonic Belgian serial killer flick Man Bites Dog, director Julian Richards' film is far more disturbing than its premise might promise. Richards doesn't flinch from showing murder most foul in all its grisly detail. The endless stabbings, strangulations, and beatings come with a grim authenticity, suggesting that someone in the special effects department has been working overtime.

Scraping painfully close to the knuckle, it's the kind of film that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. But when it's not trying to stir up moral outrage from Daily Mail readers, there's something faintly ludicrous about the whole thing. The film's chief gimmick will only work if you watch it on videotape and even then, Howarth's camp performance might still be too much. Switching from easy-going charm to face-contorting insanity with wild abandon, the star threatens to turn this uneven little movie into The Silence Of The Hams.