THE
FINAL GIRLS
Wow!
Seriously where did this film come from? It just seemed to come out
of nowhere, and turned out to be the perfect love letter to the 80's
slasher genre, whilst also being filled with heart and actual genuine
emotion. I was expecting little from this film but ended up adoring
it (and frankly am a little ashamed that I couldn't find a spot for
it on my top twenty list).
The
story of “The Final Girls” is about Max, a teenage girl whose
mother passed away recently in a car accident. Back in the eighties,
Max's mother was one of the stars of a cheesy slasher film that has
since become a cult classic entitled “Camp Bloodbath”, and now on
that film's twentieth anniversary, Max has been invited to a
screening of the film and to be its special guest. Max is nervous
about it, but ends up going to the screening as a way to see her
mother again. However during the screening, a fire breaks out in the
cinema and through the panic, people start to get trampled heading
for the exits. Max decides to use the hidden back entrance behind
the screen and her and her friends slash the screen and head to
safety. Where they end up is not outside, but strangely in the film
that they were just watching. As insane as it sounds, Max and her
friends are stuck in “Camp Bloodbath” that plays like a
continuous loop, and whilst at first all they want to do is leave
(except for the horror nerd), Max has a change of heart when the
character her mum plays enters the film and she gets to be with her
once again. However this family reunion is short lived because
remember, this is a slasher film and there is a killer picking the
characters off one by one. So while everyone tries to survive
(knowing they are trapped within the films rules), Max is also trying
to figure out a way to bring her mother home to safety, instead of
being brutally butchered by our killer.
Normally
when you hear that someone is making an eighties throwback, you feel
like letting out a bit of a groan, because so many of them fail.
People seem to be able to duplicate the look of these films, but that
is about it, and a lot of them end up sending up or making fun of
these films. “The Final Girls” is different in that it gets
every detail just spot on. From the acknowledgement of the poor
dialogue and acting, to the look of it all, to the gore effects, to
the sexist attitude towards women, to the silent killer himself, to
the naivety that these films all had; its all there and whilst there
is the acknowledgement of the campy elements of these films past,
they are never made fun of. This truly feels like a love letter to a
type of film that can no longer be made any more, quite simply
because they were a product of their time. As great as all this is,
the best and most surprising element of “The Final Girls” that
makes this film stand out is the heart and emotion behind it all
which is done via the mother/daughter relationship between Max and
Amanda. It is so beautifully done, and so heartbreaking that even in
this bizarre almost “Twilight Zone” world, you can feel a real
love between them, and when the ending comes it hits you with an
emotional wallop not usually felt in this genre.
I
should point out that this is actually a horror/comedy and like the
rest of the film, the comedy aspect of it just works (well the
majority of it does). I got great amusement out of characters
tripping over on-screen text whilst they are walking, or hearing the
scary music whenever the killer was around. Being bound by the films
rules just added to some great and funny moments like when the
characters are stuck in a slow motion scene and they all talked very
slowly, or when they get stuck in a flashback and everything becomes
black and white, totally confusing the characters “new” to the
film, whilst a voice-over plays above them. My favourite joke though
was towards the end when they all come up with a plan to beat the
killer and within seconds the dumb sexy girl ruins it due to her
clumsiness. The only issue I have with the film, and it is not a big
one, is that it should have been made with an R-rating in mind. As
it is, it has been rated PG-13, and as such all of the sexual
situations and nudity have been shot in a way where nothing is seen.
It really doesn't hurt the film at all, except the films that “The
Final Girls” is honouring were all rated R and were known for their
tits and arse, as well as their blood and guts.
Over
the years, I can imagine that the reputation of “The Final Girls”
will only grow because it is a fantastic movie, that is held together
by great performances (I forgot to mention just how great Taissa
Farmiga and Malin Akerman are as the mother/daughter pair) and a love
and respect to a type of film long gone. A total surprise that I
recommend to all.
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