“The Last Movie, Dennis Hopper’s little-seen 1971 follow-up to the epochal hit Easy Rider, is one of cinema’s legendary films maudits (cursed films). Given carte blanche and a large budget by Universal Pictures, the actor-director took a film crew and a cast of pals — including Kris Kristofferson, Peter Fonda, Michelle Phillips, and Samuel Fuller — off to Chinchero, Peru, where they made this radically self-reflexive New Wave wonder, the acid-trip tale of a Hollywood company shooting a Western in the Andes.”
Unhappy with the finished product Universal gave Hopper little money to promote The Last Movie, even after it won an award at the Venice Film Festival. Hopper went on The Merv Griffin Show to talk about the film which disappeared after a two-week run in New York City and L.A. theatres. Viewers were sometimes able to catch the film, with the alternative title “Chinchero,” on late-night movie broadcasts on stations such as Seattle’s CBS affiliate KIRO years after its initial release but The Cinematheque screenings are the first time The Last Movie has had an extended run on big screens since 1971.
Alix Jeffry, mainly known for her work as a photographer, did a story on The Last Movie while it was in production in Chinchero, Peru, for The New York Times: "A Gigantic Ego Trip for Dennis Hopper?" (May 10, 1970).
