Reviews: The Final Girls (2015) Movie Review
Subgenres: Comedy, Slasher, Featured Teens, Meta, Teens
Where does The Final Girls (2015) stand among horror films? Our review examines the scares, pacing, and what makes it unique in the genre.
The Final Girls (2015) is an American comedy horror movie that was filmed at Frostop Root Beer - 402 Government St Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA and Varsity Theatre - 3353 Highland Rd Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Director Todd Strauss-Schulson (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011), Valibation (2013), All’s Fair (2014)) did a marvelous job making this great horror Halloween treat. The movie contains s**ual references/language but no nudity, a lot of comedic violence, suspense, comedy, a few minor jump scares and scenes that may be frightening to some viewers.
The Final Girls revolves around Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga - The Bling Ring (2013), American Horror Story (2011), 6 Years (2015)) grieving her mother’s death. Her mother, Amanda (Malin Akerman - Watchmen (2009), The Proposal (2009), The Heartbreak Kid (2007), Couples Retreat (2009)) was a famous scream queen in the 1980s. Max and her friends somehow end up in the world of Camp Bloodbath, which was her mother’s most famous movie. Max and her friends try to do whatever they can to save their lives from the film’s maniacal killer.
The Final Girls starts by showing us Max waiting in the car while her mother, Amanda, who is an actress, auditions for a film. Max and her mother were involved in a car accident on the way home, and Max was the only survivor. The movie skips to three years later on the day Amanda died. We see Max and her best friend Gertie (Alia Shawkat - Arrested Development (2003), Three Kings (1999), Whip It (2009), Ruby Sparks (2012)) and Chris whom she secretly likes studying. Gertie’s horror fanatic step brother Duncan (Thomas Middleditch) persuades Max to go with them to see a special double-feature of Camp Bloodbath and its sequel, Camp Bloodbath 2: Cruel Summer. The theater was accidently set on fire and Max ripped a hole through the screen to escape because that was the only way out. Max, Chris, Gertie, Duncan, and Chris’s ex-girlfriend Vicki (Nina Dobrev) wakes up in the woods and encounters Max’s mother and a few of Camp Bloodbath characters. The group realizes that they are in the movie and pretend that they are the new camp counselors for the season so that they will not be recognized. What happens next is for you, horror fans to watch the movie and find out.
I am amazed at how well this movie was put together, and I was completely satisfied and entertained throughout the entire film. The tone of the movie screams comedy and it was playful throughout displaying not much gore that most horror movies love to show. The actors did a phenomenal job with their roles and were almost flawless. There were, however, a few goofs that can be missed but I, of course, notice them. Billy Murphy was holding the machete in his right hand, and then it changed to his left hand and then to his right hand again after he jumped out of the window and chased the kids. Scene: Max heading to the killer’s barn - Max was holding a lantern in one hand and a machete in the other hand but the lantern accidentally hits a jar and Max catches the jar before it falls to the ground. Max did not have any hands free so how can she catch the jar. Billy appears out of nowhere when a female takes off her top, but Billy appears at the end of the movie when Amanda dances and did not take her top off at the moment when he appeared, confused? Overall the movie was a real treat, and I would recommend it to all horror fans who would like a good comedy relief for Halloween.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Final Girls Rating Scores
- Our Score: 7/10
- Overall Score: 6.78/10
- IMDB: 6.5/10
- MetaCritic: 5.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 7.6/10
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