A group of innocent moviegoers is about to receive the up-close thrill of a lifetime as a murderer takes up real estate inside an old cinema in The Last Matinee. Maximiliano Contenti’s latest film is a love letter to horror from screams to screen. After a failed attempt to connect online, Contenti graciously and thoroughly answered my questions via email about his experience as writer-director of The Last Matinee. 

Movies as a medium inspired the Uruguayan director to be a filmmaker, and his love for cinema became the catalyst for this film in particular.

"I truly believe cinema is still the greatest invention of our civilization," he wrote. "It's the art form that combines them all. It's true that we are progressing into more interactive forms of audiovisual content. More like “virtual film” experiences, similar to video games. Cinema is not the main source of entertainment anymore, and that's good. It will prevail as our best merging of the arts, be it for telling ideas, stories, emotions or who knows. And just like theater, painting, dancing and music always continue and evolve, I wanna be part of the evolution of cinema."

Contenti's own first movie-going experience was the 1988 animated film, The Land Before Time. 

"I put a kind of “homage” to that film in The Last Matinée," he admits. "The matinee screening that the kids are just coming out from, it's a kid's dinosaur movie called Mi pequeño Dinosaurio (My Little Dinosaur)."

Having watched the Spanish-language The Last Matinee myself, I felt like the audience getting killed off was a metaphor for human morality — and asked Contenti to confirm if he'd layered themes into the film that were seeded in the script. 

"The idea was to create a 'visually symbolic' narrative that was open for interpretation. There were some particular themes that I placed in the script, like 'the end of innocence,' but the most important thing for me was to let the audience come [up] with their own metaphors. Imagination is always more interesting than what I have to explain about it."

Which seems to be how Contenti works as a writer, as well. "I’m really more of a visual storyteller than a literal one. I suffer as a solo writer, and it's usually not my thing. I get inspired by my experiences and surroundings. I’m more into building from something. I do like writing more as a collaborative process. In this case, I came with the basic premise and idea for the story, and asked my partner (Manuel Facal) to do a first draft. From that draft, I evolved and rewrote the script all the way into pre-production."

Going from writer into production as the film's director as well, Contents juggled his original vision with making final decisions on set (and beyond).

"I had to make a lot of sacrifices to the original ideas of the script, mostly from budget limitations. But luckily in most cases, that resulted in more creative scenes and character development. I think it is good to not be too fixed with your original ideas, but at the same time remain true to your vision."

And his vision incorporated more than just reminisces over childish dinosaurs. Contenti was inspired by the great Italian horror sub-genre of Giallo. "Italian Giallos — I think they brought visual poetry to horror. That's what I wanted to add to the film, to make a classic slasher that wears a 'Giallo perfume.'"

Personally, I love the poster for The Last Matinee. It's very John Carpenter's The Thing. And turns out, Contenti agrees. "Thanks, actually, John Carpenter’s The Thing is my favorite horror film. Carpenter himself was one of my main inspirations when it came to framing the film." 

Considering all of the influences a filmmaker can have, especially in the horror genre, it could be considered difficult to make a slasher film that's not going to be compared to everything that came before it. It's maybe even why we rarely see any slasher horror films anymore. But Contenti had the perfect response: "It’s the first slasher film in Uruguay’s history, so that was something."

"At the moment of production, I thought that maybe the throwback wouldn’t be well received. But right now when it came out, we are in a kind of slasher renaissance. New movies from the Halloween franchise, the new Scream movie, Amazon's I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Fear Street on Netflix. So I think the timing was right."

As to what Contenti would advise his younger writer self? 

"Usually, the best ideas come from working out solutions to the challenges of getting what you wanted, and not actually from what you really wanted."

The Last Matinee is currently available on VOD, Digital and DVD.