Movie Review: The Final Girls (2015)
Synopsis: Three years after her mother, an actress, is killed in a car accident, a still mourning Max Cartwright agrees to attend a showing of her mother's most famous movie, a 1986 slasher flick called Camp Bloodbath. When a fire breaks out in the theater, Max and her friends escape but somehow end up in the movie. Unable to escape, they are forced to face the killer, Billy Murphy, while Max bonds with Nancy, the character her mom played in the movie, knowing Nancy is slated to die.
Who's in it? The movie stars Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam Devine, Thomas Middleditch and Alexander Ludwig.
Review: I came across The Final Girls on Peacock yesterday evening and ended up picking it mostly because I wasn't finding much else. I had some doubts about the film, mostly because horror/comedies are hard to pull off and most tend to flop, at least in my opinion. However, this proved to be a great pick.
I think the thing I liked best about this film was how the movie managed to spoof the 80s horror movie genre while still being an entertaining slasher flick in itself. Billy Murphy (Daniel Norris) was a fierce, invulnerable killer (albeit a clear rip-off of Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th) and since Max (Farmiga) and her friends weren't supposed to be in the movie, things became less predictable than anyone expected.
The other thing I loved about this movie was how they used the horror movie elements to their advantage, whether it was the fade aways to flashbacks or being alerted to Murphy's presence by the ominous music. Even the part about them purposely trying to draw him in to spring a trap by having one of the female characters expose their breasts was clever, in my opinion.
The characters themselves also helped make this movie. In addition to the stereotypical slasher movie characters (the bully, the slutty girl, the shy virgin, etc.), the friends that were transported into the film also fit many of those roles as well, creating a new dynamic that even raised questions about which of the women would be the "final girl" who would beat Murphy.
This also included the various interactions between Max and Nancy (Akerman). At first, it seemed like it would be a bit too strange considering Nancy wasn't actually Max's mom, she was a character her mom once played. However, the friendship/bond they formed by the end of the movie made the film a bit more emotional than one might expect from this genre.
Oh, and the ending was absolutely perfect in my opinion. This includes both the final battle with Murphy and the great surprise twist at the end. I was actually a bit disappointed they didn't come out with a sequel because the potential for a series of movies was there.
Final Opinion: It's an entertaining film with a great mix of comedy but also quite a bit of action and suspense as well. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.
My Grade: A
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