The Last Anniversary: Canadian Horror

You might assume that if we knew the date the world will end, we could do something to stop it, but apparently not. Apparently, to understand, you need to be an apocalyptologist like Abel Ferrara, who even identified the exact time the end would toll in 4:44 Last Day on Earth. At least his characters were only haunted by their own regrets. Aubrey and Tom’s friends will be haunted by an actual ghost. That is sort of the reason the couple invited them for a reckoning before the reckoning in Brothers Brett & Jason Butler’s The Last Anniversary, which is now playing in Toronto.

It turns out Aubrey and Tom did not select an auspicious date for their wedding. As fate would have it, their anniversary falls on Judgement Day. Their wedding night was also the last time they saw her sister Brenda, who mysteriously disappeared after the reception.

As the rest of the world hunkers down, the couple invited the surviving wedding party members to the very same mountain resort hotel (now abandoned), for a supposedly cathartic reunion. However, the couple has something more Old Testament in mind. Unbeknownst to them, Brenda has similar ideas. Her ghost still haunts the hotel, so she starts terrorizing the returning wedding guests, showing herself at dramatic moments and even physically choking them.

The Butler Brothers sustain a strange tone throughout the film, which either evokes the best of 1970s Eurohorror, or the worst. It also intentionally pays homage to The Shining, with its endless spooky corridors and the room everyone shuns like a cruise ship carrying the Hantavirus.

The results are just odd. Films that take big metaphysical swings risk falling flat on their face. To the Butlers’ estimable credit, that does not happen here. They also maintain enough horror business to preserve the film’s genre viability. Yet, there are frequent “what the heck” moments that will baffle conventional horror fans, but those parts are clearly what were most important to the Butlers.

It helps tremendously that Ry Barrett contributes a highly intriguing yet grounding and relatable performance as Tom’s ex-cop brother Binky. Jesse McQueen is also a standout as the ruthless Aubrey. However, no matter how hard they try, Jessica Vano and Kevin A Courtney can’t make sense of Lisa and Rick, the couple’s married “friends,” who left behind (so to speak) their children, to spend their final hours at the scene of their guiltiest secret. Those kids must be real Hellions.

Regardless, The Last Anniversary is truly its own thing rather than a carbon copy of other movies. It is rough around the edges, but it is the sort of film you can’t help thinking about, which is very definitely something. Recommended for the curious and adventurous, The Last Anniversary is now playing at the Imagine Cinemas Carlton in Toronto, with engagements in Sudbury and Vancouver to follow.