The Last Goddam Hollywood Movie

by John Skipp, Cody Goodfellow

SIX MONTHS AGO, AMERICA DIED. IS IT TOO SOON TO MAKE THE MOVIE?

A massive nuclear attack has destroyed the major cities. Untold millions are dead. The survivors are starving savages.

But where others see only tragedy, one man sees opportunity.

Enter Julian Harvey: an A-list producer with a hot project, a private army and a vision for America that will give her back her soul. It's the last Hollywood film crew, making the last Hollywood movie, in the radioactive crater formerly known as Los Angeles.

Spreading hope the only way they know how...through total bullshit.

And like it or not, you're along for the ride.

""Fasten your blast goggles for the mutant offspring of Dr. Strangelove and The Player."" - Richard Stanley, writer/director of Hardware

""Humor, heart, and wit so sharp you don't even know you're bleeding until after you've finished. I could not and did not put it down."" - Sarah Langan, author of "Aubrey's Door"

""Packs a hell of a punch. Hilarious, savage and moving.""- Peter Tennant, Black Static

Genres: Horror

132 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2013

About the author

John Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time connecting with THE LAST GODDAM HOLLYWOOD MOVIE by John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow. And that's a shame. The book was written by two fantastic writers, legendary even. Yet, through the remarkable prose and vivid imagery I just couldn't latch myself into the story.
I think where this book shines is in imagery. The writing is vivid. Hell on Earth landscapes we've yet to see played out on the nightly news come to life in words. That set against the backdrop of a motion picture being produced as Armageddon plays out. Obviously written by two gentlemen that know their way around a movie set and is crystal clear that they do know what they're talking about.
But that is where the story loses me. I'm not a film buff or movie junkie. Getting that behind-the-scenes look just didn't pull me in. I'm simply not into the subject matter enough to gain enjoyment out of this book the way it has and will, no doubt, for many others.
So if movie making is your thing or you like to glimpse inside the biz, this end of the world behind the scenes movie story will really speak to you. There is no doubt the writing is great by two great writers. I'll try these guys out again sometime.

[Eric Guignard · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEWED: The Last Goddam Hollywood Movie
WRITTEN BY: John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow
PUBLISHED: August, 2013

‘The Last Goddam Hollywood Movie’ follows a group of Hollywood filmmakers who survive a nuclear apocalypse and then band together to create the first ever post-apocalyptic movie which (just as in real life) promises to accurately portray the events leading to the nation’s disaster, but instead creates a highly fictionalized concept which is at whim of finagling, backbiting, competing resources, and lots and lots of drugs. Peter Kornberg is a writer who gets hustled by his nemesis, Julian Harvey, to direct the film, and the novella-sized book follows the conflict between the two of them during the entire radiation and mutant-filled journey of production. Fast-paced and quick-witted, this would seem more fictionalized if it weren’t for the fact that the authors, John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow, have been involved in Hollywood flicks themselves, and the satirical commentary becomes even more scathing on who peoples the industry and how movies are really made.

Four out of Five stars

[David Keaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There is no acting going on here. Just total, pristine insanity." I'm a big fan of "lasts," and this last movie by the last movie crew as the world burns is fun as hell. It starts out a bit more satirical with all the Catch-22 sorta names and the lower-hanging Tinseltown fruit, as well as a dash of wish-fulfillment (who doesn't dream of this literal leveling of the creative playing field in the zero-sum game of filmmaking?), but it gets way juicier as it goes, where the integrity of this movie is treated as more important than the death and destruction around them (which doesn't save it from the occasional compromise), which is how it should be, of course. Even as they take brutal shot after shot at movies and Hollywood corruption and bureaucratic/military fuck-ups, all the while taking advantage of the postmodern double meanings that abound (for example, "How can I possibly plot a story that mutates every time we turn around?" seems to refer to the book itself), the authors' love of their subject is never in doubt. Only someone who loves movies this much would linger so long on their demise. And that last scene!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny, as wild and imaginative as this book is, and it is certainly wild and imaginative, I could still kind of imagine it actually happening. It makes sense in a way, though not one that necessarily makes me feel good about the real world. There's even a note of humanity in this that sometimes seems missing from the real world, though doubtless I simply don't see it. Bottom line: it's probably better to spend time with this book than go out into the real world. This is better.

[Steve Sabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that is hard to categorize. Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, splatter-punk, humor, dark humor, horror. It's all here. As always with John Skipp, the visuals are stunning. This book is very short, a novella, really, broken up into easily digestible chapters. It's bizarre, and truly lampoons the Hollywood lifestyle. There is clearly some bitterness there. The book never takes itself seriously and I think that is a good thing; I am not sure if fleshing the book out would make it better or worse. It was fun but there was never enough time to get invested in any of the characters, which might have been the point. Hard to say. Worth the read if you have two hours to spare.

[John Bruni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a load of post-apocalyptic fun! LA is nuked, and some of the survivors--Hollywood types, naturally--decide that they're going to make the last movie, and they're going to risk their lives to do it. It is absolutely bizarre and crazy and over the top and violent and . . . I hesitate to use the word sexy. I think I'll just leave the sex part to be counted in the "bizarre and crazy" category. It's haunting and funny and you know what? If LA got nuked, I'm certain there would be lunatics that would do exactly what's in this book. There were a few structure things I would have done differently, but it's nothing that would ruin your enjoyment of this book.

[Ian Welke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Civilization has been brought to an end by atomic fire. Peter Kornberg and Julian Harvey have only one option in the apocalypse: keep filming. The Last Goddam Hollywood movie is all at once spectacular gonzo storytelling about their odyssey to make their movie and brilliant commentary on the power and desperation of movies from two writers that clearly have undying love for their subject. This book has a wicked dark sense of humor and yet doesn’t lose it’s sense of sentimentality, a great read.

[Jamie Grefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took down the ARC in a few hours and now wish those few hours could go on for a few more and a few more. This is a dense book, but slick and raw like someone went through it with a chainsaw, spliced up that last Hollywood movie and has written us some kind of apocalyptic memoir on how movies should mean.