Film Review: Last Kiss in Paris by Damian Chapa

Damian Chapa is the Chicano Ed Wood

Damian Chapa makes bad films. And I don’t mean that in the way that you would think of certain B-films or films that are campy, low budget etc. I mean he makes godawful pieces of shit and for whatever reason, someone keeps funding these things.

Anyone can make a film these days. With the advent of cellphones and the Internet, it’s possible for any jackass to make a movie now and actor turned filmmaker, Damian Chapa, has taken making bad films into an artform.

In fact, he is so talented at making shitty films that I believe he is the modern day Ed Wood.

Damian Chapa: the Chicano Ed Wood

I highly doubt anyone reading this doesn’t know who Damian Chapa is but for shits and giggles let’s assume there’s a few. Damian Chapa played “Miklo” in Blood In, Blood Out. You know, the ridiculous prison gang flick everyone likes to pretend is akin to the The Godfather. Spoiler: it’s not.

Yeah, that guy. Ever since his cult status as “Miklo,” Chapa has tried (and failed miserably) to make films. He has produced and directed over fifty films, all of them absolutely terrible. Many of them he also wrote.

Damian Chapa is prolific. So was Ed Wood.

If you’re familiar at all with Ed Wood then you know that he is considered the worst filmmaker in Hollywood history. That is until now…

Enter Damian Chapa, and if you visit his IMDB page you will see that he gives Wood a run for his money in both terms of sheer production and overall shit quality of work.

I would argue that most people known Chapa from his role as Miklo, but I think few people know that Chapa has made a career out of making terrible films. He is, without a doubt, the Ed Wood of Chicano movies.

I could go on and on and on about awful Chapa’s films are, which usually revolve around the subject of cholos and Mexican gangsters, but I was surprised to learn that he recently released a film that seemed to break the mold and so, my curiosity got the better of me.

The cat is now dead and I feel ridiculous for having suffered through Damian Chapa’s latest attempt at filmmaking titled, Last Kiss in Paris, which was released in October 2024.

This is the plot summary from IMDB:

David Michaels, a troubled New York poet finds inspiration and heartbreak in the enigmatic, institutionalized Poet Regina Romanescu (Olga Kent) As their bond deepens, David must confront the darkness of Regina's past and oppressive forces that seem to keep them apart. Will their light shine bright enough to overcome the shadows or will it become a tragic victim of it's own beauty set against the timeless backdrop of Paris.

If that sounds like a train wreck then trust me when I say that you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of how bad it is.

According to IMDB, Last Kiss in Paris has won 30 awards. That blows my goddamn mind. Like…how?? Was it in competition with films made my third graders?? Seriously…