The ‘Lost’ Essay
This wild assertion is quickly validated by newly discovered footage he retrieves from the fateful shoot and plays out practically in real time as a nail-biting, sensational final act. Who did it? How can Leigh have solved the mystery? The moment finally arrives, but at a terrible cost. And… with a shocking surprise. Word-of-mouth for Last Broadcast only increased after the bigger movie was well-received. It is almost as if the public could properly digest Avalos and Weiler’s movie without too much head-scratching once a recognizable sub-genre was established. ‘Oh, you saw that one? Well, check out this one.’ There is, in fact, one key to scaring your friends senseless with this film. Don’t tell them it’s fake. A certain realism is needed to achieve this effect and Avalos and Weiler convey it expertly, blending ‘real life’ horror and mystery inextricably with the looming shadow of the Jersey Devil legend. The eerie interplay of narration and images is at the heart of it all, creating a sense of hopelessness, first with the grisly, unsolved murders and then with the failed justice system. The tragedy of Suerd’s fate and the rushed and botched investigation and trial hint at some cover-up or conspiracy. Suerd’s interrogation certainly has allusions to Lee Harvey Oswald’s post-arrest interview with the press before he was silenced.
If it weren’t for that danged Blair Witch! Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler’s daring 1998 shock-umentary begins where one would imagine the blockbuster Blair Witch Project to have ended. The major difference was that one got all the press and the other retains a modest cult following based on its status as the other’s forerunner. That isn’t to say that The Last Broadcast isn’t incomparably unique. Its approach and conception are both complicated and quite possibly in a class all their own.
A chilling chronology of events is detailed from start to finish by a narrator, David Leigh(David Beard) with a firsthand angle on an alleged incident that Leigh will ‘set straight’. It is explained how four men producing a live televised broadcast centering on a paranormal topic, the Jersey Devil, trekked deep into the woodlands of Southern New Jersey with their cameras and microphones. Only one man, Jim Suerd, returned, the others massacred by someone or something during the production.
The narrator proceeds to detail the history of events that provide necessary insight into the investigation and the media’s role in Suerd’s trial. More questions than answers seem to mount and Suerd’s case is retold with disturbing evidence in his favor coming to light long after his demise in a jail cell. Not only will Leigh exonerate Suerd but he vows to divulge what really happened before his documentary is completed (not exactly an under-achiever)!
Helping to cut corners, Avalos and Weiler not only wrote, produced, directed and edited it, but also played the two lead filmmakers, ‘Steven Avkast’ and ‘Locus Wheeler’(all the characters have names slightly derivative of the actors playing them). The cast seems to have been wisely chosen, bringing a non-theatrical flair to the no-nonsense reality style. Whatever emotion is lacking in the procession of talking heads with hard facts is counteracted with candid moments in the daily lives of the victims.
Arranging the many pieces of this morbid puzzle before it plays out is the challenge that The Last Broadcast gives its audience all in original, eclectic style… And just when you thought it was safe to go back in the woods.