User reviews

The Last Thing Mary saw is a horror film about two star crossed women in love living in an 1800s traditional Christian household. We begin on Mary , bleeding for the eyes reciting the Lord's Prayer in front of men with guns drawn , and head back in time to see how we got there.

This movie is intentionally made to be a very slow burn and in-fact you could sum up this movies entire plot in about 2-3 sentences.

While there is a "twist" so to speak the movie is not a twisty-turny ride of intrigue and it's more about putting you in the shoes of our protagonists fighting an uphill battle in a "backwards" time. Some of it honestly works. Most of it is just too painfully slow with tons of frustrating scenes with that had so much potential. One scene with Rory Culkin's character was setting up to be fantastic, shocking and then it just kind of ends.

The movie isn't awful but it also really lacks a lot of high points that make movies stand up to me. It won't be the worst movie you watch but it also won't be memorable after it wears off.

COULD have been a great film if they'd used some lighting, but they didn't. COULD have been a great film if they'd thrown in a bit of action instead of plodding along, but they didn't.

COULD have been a great film if they had kept the story clear instead of muddying it up, but they didn't.

What they DID do was manage to toss in the obligatory LGBTQ sub-theme in the hopes that would get them a few pats on the back and some great reviews. It didn't.

It's a period piece with minimal sets and lighting that tells the story of illicit love in the 1800s. It's not so much a horror as it is a piece on the crazy ways people dealt with sin and treated the institution of family.

I don't know where the suspense and intelligent story line are hidden, but what I know is that I was rather bored the whole time. The production is good, the acting okay, but the story itself is a rather boring affair. I guess, someone got the splendid idea to try to ride on the wave of success The VVitch (2015) earned, but The Last Thing Mary Saw never reaches the quality of that one. Only recommended if you can cope with a lot of people looking serious and talking all day - in all seriousness.

Reading some of the reviews for this movie, I anticipated a slog of a film that tested my patience throughout its running time. What I got a beautifully acted film with an interesting story, great production value, cinematography that was on point, and a great atmospheric soundtrack that was cohesive and well implemented.

The story was interesting and kept me intrigued from beginning to end, the acting was superb from the entire cast (a rare feat for any genre of film) and although it wasn't particularly scary in any way, the matriarch was so creepy every time she entered a scene the hairs on my neck would stand up.

I could have done without another film beating the dead horse of "religious/Christian intolerance" or another movie where it seems like the creators added gay characters to get those precious woke points that they desperately seek, but aside from that, I really enjoyed this movie. There seems to be a lot of movies that want to achieve what The Witch achieved in terms of atmospheric horror, and this is probably the closest anyone has come so far.

Although I don't agree with many of the other reviewers, their points are still valid and should still be considered before going into this film. It's definitely a love it or hate it movie with very little wiggle room.

The 1800s were dark, dreary, way over-religious and not favorable to any sort of gayness. If you didn't know that, well then this film might have something to offer you. For the rest of us, it's just a slow retread of this time in history.

After a tragic accident at her family house, a woman recounts the events of what happened to her rescuers about how her relationship with the family maid started a string of events leading to a terrifying ordeal with a terrifying encounter with deadly forces aroused by their actions and how it went down.

This was a rather impressive and enjoyable effort with a lot to like about it. One of the strongest factors present here is the highly impressive setup that manages to bring about old-school Puritanical values and superstition with fantastic supernatural genre leanings. The central premise for the way of life shown here, with the strict religious bringing and outright disgust at the thought of lesbianism or other such signs of affection taking place for fear of reprisal from the elders creates quite an impressive counterpoint to the religious paranoia experienced by the rest of the villagers. Shamed into following the will of their law and brutally tortured for failing to comply, the mindset featured here to live in the village is one of oppression and religious persecution that flies in direct contradiction to their freedom living in sin against their wishes. Likewise, once they set the plan in motion to flee their setup and live a more open, freer lifestyle, the persecution and oppression has given way for outright intolerance as the hints of what they're doing start to take shape. The stranger's arrival and almost immediate sketchy behavior and presence that start to interrupt what's happening during the silent funeral being carried out at the same time, signaling a sign of what's to come later on. When they bring upon the plan to cut everyone off and attempt to sneak away for their own lives, this one generates some dark and chilling aspects that become quite fun with the poisoning attempt coming off with some fine twists as to who gets the drugs and who doesn't, a surprise appearance from an unwelcome party and the final reveal which manages to be highly unexpected and satisfying finale which all makes for a lot to like here. There are a few issues to be had with this one. The main issue here is the strangely unneeded reasoning for why the guy comes back at the end of the film for no purpose which is quite weird and unexplained. The idea of it happening is quite confusing considering the treatment afforded to him that initially caused him to leave, and with the return later on to the house, his arrival means absolutely nothing. He does nothing important that couldn't have been accomplished by something else so his arrival means something. On top of that, he just disappears from the film as a whole without any acknowledgment or punishment, making this part of the film quite questionable and confusing. While not a true outright flaw, the films' really sluggish pace and drama tempo over shocks, scares, or thrills might leave some questioning its genre placement overall with the potential of it being seen as dull, can hold this one back for some.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

I had this movie on my list for a while, but was in no rush to view it for fears it was going to be boring. And while it most certainly had a slow pace, it leaned much more towards tension building over boring.

The story is quite straightforward and one could pretty much give a full synopsis in one sentence. While it had a slow pace and not all that much happened, it was so atmospheric and captivating that it made up for its shortcomings. The acting was fine, not all that much dialogue happening here but everyone did their job. The boy with the port wine birthmark did particularly well.

With a little more story and the pace picked up a tad I think this could have been something great, but as is it lands slightly above average. Would recommend.

I love slow burn horror films so these types of films are not alien to me. But as I watched this, I began adjusting myself in my seat with the thoughts about how much further it would take to reach the end credits. That's how terribly bored I felt watching this unstimulating, mundane film. I just felt apathy toward the whole story. I wasn't impressed with the cinematography or setting.

The home look like an ordinary atypical Connecticut home from the outside were the cinematographer used some care to not photograph the driveway and street in front of it. YAWN.

I watched this movie because of the tags "drama, horror, thriller" expecting a nice horror movie about the supernatural. This movie turned out to be a drama and barely a thriller. There is no horror involved.

If 10 is the scariest movie out there and 1 is spongebob this movie gets 2.5 for horror.

For what it was the movie was decent but if I could turn back time I would watch something else.

I was so excited to finally watch it but sadly I was super disappointed by it. It was super boring to me the entire time, I almost fell asleep during it. Only the last 30 minutes were kinda interesting but that couldn't save the film from the disaster.

A moody, atmospheric period piece in the folk-horror vein, but the gore is minimal and contrived jump-scares are non-existent (thank goodness!). The real horror here is the ignorance of the 1840s.

BONUS: The creepy old matriarch is played by Judith Roberts, the "Beautiful Girl Across the Hall" from Eraserhead!

A mysterious stranger with great & evil forces are at work. A female suppression theme with similarities to the older in that area witch trials. Location is in N. Y., 1843.

Great film with obvious elements of folk horror. Yes, this sub genre is a slow burning one. That's intentional. I believe we are beginning to see a revival of folk horror with this, Saint Maud, and The Witch being the most significant standouts so far.

A great commentary of how destructive conversation therapy can be to both the "participants" and their families.

If you want jump scares, look elsewhere. If you want thought-provoking, intelligent horror, here it is.

As a final note: not once did I find the film to be too dark. Never did I struggle to see a thing. The reliance on candlelight worked very well here. Maybe other viewers do not have properly calibrated screens or they have too much light in the room?

The debutant director Edoardo Vitaletti managed to ruin a very simple story, Frankly, I can't give a higher vote than 1 because many events narrated in this film seem to be inserted at random cannot be understood why some people do certain things or because they don't do them, there are too many events that are not explained but in any case If you stop to think, you cannot in any way give an explanation because this thing happened in that situation! So for most of the film the only thing you understand is the load -bearing story of the film but the individual events that should make it plausible or sensible, even at the end there is a scene where at least 4 or 5 things all happen in a few more happen minutes and none of these things has a logical sense , I was very disappointed because they could tell the same story without all these holes of screenplay and various shortcomings!

The Last Thing Mary Saw can be best described as mediocre. It didn't captivate me with mystery, intrigue, or a deeply compelling story, but it also didn't leave me entirely disappointed, just relatively bored, and disinterested.

This film is difficult to judge for several reasons. While it wasn't a complete waste of time like some dreary, cheap, poorly acted films I've seen such as the "Haunting of Pendle Hill", (shudders) it also failed to engage me or draw me into its story.

It falls into a category I've encountered frequently lately, focusing on older generations and customs that typically highlight the limited rights and subjugation of women. However, to its credit, the film doesn't overly emphasize this aspect at its core, and instead centers on the taboo and religiously illicit relationship between two women who are in love.

What I took out of this movie were how insanely religious folk were back in the 1800's and the way they used to treat people to differed from their own views or beliefs.

Unfortunately, that's nearly all the positivity I could draw out of this film. The acting doesn't stand out, and there's no particular scene in the film that grabs attention or leaves a lasting impression. The film plods along at a steady pace without taking any risks, and the scenery, while intended to evoke a certain time period feels rather bland and uninspired.

The ending lacks impact because there's little connection built with any of the characters, except perhaps Mary, played by Stephanie Scott, who delivers a reasonable, but not a markedly good enough performance for her to be recognized.

At the end of the day, The Last Thing Mary Saw is plain and easily forgettable. It's not something I'll remember, or even want to revisit. I'd recommend giving it a solid pass.

My experience with Shudder, a popular horror streaming service, has been quite disappointing. Most of the films I've watched on it have fallen below a five-star rating for me, and I consider myself generous with my ratings. Often, the makeup and special effects showcased in the shudder introduction, end up becoming the most interesting or best parts of the film, and this is definitely the case with films like" The Power" and now "The Last Thing Mary Saw".

3/10.

I wonder for whom and what audience they make these movies, these types of debacle and brainwashing productions. Honestly rated it gets what it gets, but story-wise and entertainment-seeking it gets at best a "2.5 -3".

Good acted, super slow-burn, as mysterious as mosquito larvae emergence and as logical as aliens in each one's bedroom.

Enjoyable? Not at all. Brainwashing pestilence, more like it!

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 4
• Development: 7
• Realism: 6
• Entertainment: 3
• Acting: 7
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 7
• VFX: 7.5
• Music/score/sound: 7
• Depth: 6
• Logic: 1
• Flow: 2.5
• Drama/horror/mystery: 4.5
• Ending: 1.5.

If you liked The Witch from 2015, and you don't mind a slow, creeping art-film with actual symbolism, meaning, and some proper writing, You may enjoy this.

Those unfamiliar with the concept of thinking about what a director might be trying to say, or engaging in active interpretation of symbolism and story telling devices will probably fall asleep because this film isn't for people that aren't film geeks.