Last of the Grads(2021)-- My take on the movie with spoilers!
Plot Summary: All Emma wants is to enjoy her last day of school at the prom with her crush Steve. Then the Coast to Coast Killers shows up and ruins everything.
It is the last day of school. Emotions are high. You're probably never going to see the people you've grown up with ever again.
Sure you may have your group of friends, but you'll never see your teacher again, a classmate you never were quite friends with but bonded during some class or the other.
Or maybe the janitor or the people who work at the cafeteria who always smiled at you or helped you look for things when you left them behind during sports or swimming.
The last day of school is supposed to be filled with happy memories, but if you are a character in a horror movie, the last day of school could well be the last day of your life.
There have been plenty of slasher movies based around high school students. Last of the Grads is yet another one.
Only this time we sort of get a prolonged backstory on the killer although why he wants to attack random high school kids is unknown.
LAST OF THE GRADS Movie Plot
The movie begins with two teenage boys setting fire to a man and a woman tied to a chair. Who are they?
The man is an abusive father to the teen, and the woman is Henry's mother who wasn't a great mother considering she birthed a serial killer. Henry wants to look for his father and so agrees to burn his parent when he makes a new friend.
The two boys, slit their palms and have a blood handshake and everything to cement their friendship.
After that a series of murders take place and the killer is known as the coast to coast killer.
Cut to the present and high school student Emma is eager to go to school so she can smile and stare at her crush Steve who waits until the last day of school to reveal he likes her back. And that too at prom.
Emma is best friends with Donna who gives her a necklace which is half a heart, and Donna is the other half, a trend that was popular in necklaces years ago.
On the other side, the police are nervous about the coast to coast killer coming to town. They consider cancelling the senior prom sleepover but change their minds thinking that the killer won't come to their small town.
Of course the killer does and that too in a scary bunny mask. Why the bunny? No idea.
The teachers give their speeches in class and when the day ends, Emma walks back home.
Steve tells his friend he is going to ask out Emma at last and his friend show support.
Steve goes after Emma who is listening to music and lost in her thoughts. The two strike up a conversation after Emma forgoes her music time to talk to the guy she has a crush on.
At the end of the walk, Steve asks if she's coming to the party and she tells him she isn't into loud parties and then asks if he did actually live around here to which he gives a vague answer. Clearly he has a long walk back home and somehow he still manages to make it to the prom on time.
Emma talks to Donna about the prom and decides to attend it after all.
When she reaches school, the first thing every student has to give up is their phone even though it's supposed to be their last night at school and would want to take pictures. Maybe the school had their own photographer and wanted to force students to pay for pictures?
The teens readily give up their phones because they aren't into social media or taking pictures with friends at all. They just want a nice quiet prom.
And a quiet prom it is. There are only a couple of students swaying and Emma was worried it was going to be a loud party.
The students are all well-behaved. The only "illegal" activity they do is spike the punch.
While the students are having a full prom, the killer has come and has started killing starting with the cop patrolled outside the school.
The killer then makes sure to only kill Emma's friends first and so they are quickly killed in bizarre ways, one of them being hit on the head with the photocopy machine lid. And not one, but it is a couple who is easily overpowered.
Considering what happens later, all I could think about was this school clearly needed a good fitness program. Sure, track is good, but how about some hockey or tennis or strength building exercises? All these students, and not even one of them tries to punch this one guy.
In fact, the so-called athletes hardly manage to keep the door closed when the killer comes and all of them have to form a chain. Had the school had enough budget for sports equipment, the poor students would have been able to use something to defend themselves.
Soon enough the chaperone announces it is time for the students to get into their pajamas for a boring movie. They all wear white t-shirts and gray pajamas and only Emma wears tiny black shorts.
It's a slasher movie and fake red blood looks good on white shirts.
Meanwhile, Steve is running off looking for his friend to tell him how excited he is to dance with Emma and how much in love he is.
But Steve's best friend has a pole sticking out of him and Steve is almost attacked by the killer. He manages to dodge the attacks and runs towards the school building to find Emma who refuses to believe there is a killer on the loose.
Steve convinces her by letting the killer slash his throat and having his blood sprayed all over her.
Emma screams and runs. There is a dull chase scene after which for some reason the killer carves a symbol in her hand. Was it some kind of witchcraft thing? Did he pass on his killer abilities to her? No idea.
LAST OF THE GRADS Ending Explained with Spoilers!
A flashback reveals that Henry wants to go looking for his father but his newfound friend tells him he doesn't need anyone anymore.
Henry loses it and strangled his friend who barely puts up a struggle.
A great twist would have been that the two friends were terrorising high school kids because then it would have made sense that the kids were unable to defend themselves because there were two murderous guys chasing them.
But no, it's one. Only Henry who retained the scratches on his face from his friend who had really sharp nails to leave permanent scars. And Henry has been hitting the gym and his photo shows him all buffed up but the actual killer is normal and quite agile.
Emma runs off to warn the others who believe her and almost cause a stampede. The killer is everywhere at once and keeps stabbing kids and leaving mutilated remains everywhere.
It actually makes no sense how he manages to be everywhere at once unless he's capable of witchcraft.
Emma is obviously the only one who escapes because although she isn't wearing a tank top, a popular attire by final girls, she is wearing shorts.
All the ghosts of the students come to her because everyone liked Emma so much she's the first person they wanted to see after they died. Or Emma has lost it and is imagining everyone.
Either way, she recalls the guy who told her about spiking the punch and the lighter in his pocket.
While she's being chased by the killer, she knocks him out by smashing the punch bowl on his head. He regains consciousness soon and chases her again.
Emma reaches for the lighter and throws it at him. The killer is lit on fire and we will never know why he chose the rabbit mask.
Months later, Emma is off to college. As she drives away, she lovingly touches the necklace her friend gave her and then winces when blood from the scar the killer gave her, oozes out.
So is Emma going to be the coast-to-coast killer now?
As with slasher movies, this was just decent and unfortunately quite senseless. A lot of plot holes mar the fun of a good slasher movie.
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