Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher
Generally, when you mix genres like Horror and Comedy, you usually end up with something along the lines of The Wicker Man with Nicholas Cage…I’m kidding! But in all seriousness, it usually ends up either too funny or just plain ridiculous! After hearing about The Final Girls and seeing the trailer, I was a little worried, but the lineup seemed unstoppable. It seems like this film had a limited release, but I’m not sure why, because it was incredible!
The writing and acting what truly blew me away in this film! The story is about a girl who loses her mother in a car accident, but the twist is that her mother was the actress in the cult classic “Blood Bath”. After her friends convince her to see the movie in theaters for a convention, the theater burns down, and the main characters find themselves within the movie! One of the things that really blew me away with the writing and how they worked in the “rules” of the universe and how everything fell into place. One of the hardest parts of writing is avoiding clichés, but because of the movie being inside of a cliché horror film. They got to use those as building blocks, to make sure things made sense, but felt different.
From the moment this film started I was hooked! The story of the mother and daughter relationship is seriously heart wrenching. I have NEVER seen a movie where within the first 60 seconds I really felt the emotion and bond between the mother and daughter! It was so impactful, that later on in the film, when the issues come up that her mother dies in the film, that story becomes so serious, and truly sad at times! Of course this goes back to the amazing acting done by Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman. I honestly think that Taissa is one of the most underrated actresses out there right now! She really brought so much emotion and realism to this role, which is not easy when the film is a Comedy.
This film was HILARIOUS! I mean super funny. Clever writing and great performances really make this film so funny! That’s one of the things I loved about this move is it knew what it was. A Comedy. But never let go of dramatic character development and realism during its funny scenes! These characters we so genuine and funny, it really made watching the movie super fun!
From top to bottom this is an amazing Comedy, with great elements of suspense, but what really made this film for me was the story of the mother and daughter! Honestly some of the best acting and writing I’ve seen in a while! Oh yeah, and the ending is awesome too! Make sure to check it out and tell me what you think!
Score: 4/5
The Final Girls Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson Writer: M.A Fortin and Joshua John Miller Studio: Groundswell Productions Runtime: 92 Minutes Release Date: 10/9/15