After the unexpected death of her mother, a grieving girl and her friends are sucked into a 1980s horror movie where her mother stars as the resident scream queen. Max, played by Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), is not dealing with the loss of her mother very well so when her best friend’s overzealous step brother Duncan asks her to attend an anniversary screening of Camp Bloodbath, her mom’s only noteworthy film, it’s only fair that she declines.
Somehow, though, he finesses a deal with her and she agrees, reluctantly going to the screening but prepared to be emotionally overwhelmed. In fact she spends, a majority of the movie’s run time in a perpetual glass case of emotion. I suppose you would, too, if someone you loved died and you were suddenly transported into a B horror movie and they were standing in front of you in the flesh.
Nina Dobrev’s character later warns that Max’s obsession with her mother is going to get everyone killed. Always listen to the mean girl, they know what’s up. Backed by as synth pop soundtrack, it is essentially a movie about a movie within a movie, but for a teen horror flick it is refreshingly unpredictable.
It sets up the plot to a place that most audiences are familiar with but abruptly crashes through those cliches at a fast and fun pace. Duncan says that their jobs are basically like being on a nature preserve, they can observe but not mettle. It’s like being stuck in a terrible movie where you can’t leave until the end.
They are forced to figure out how to survive and go along with Camp Bloodbath until the “final girl” kills the baddie and the credits roll. The counselors at Camp Bloodbath have no idea that they are in a movie and can’t help but stay in character, conforming to their airtight cliches.
Even Billy Murphy, the mask wearing, machete wielding killer, continues to do the one thing he’s good at even when he’s silently perplexed at the appearance of these weird teens that exist outside of his cyclical movie universe.
All of them are very aware of their roles in relation to the plot. Max’s love interest Chris (Alexander Ludwig) is the Brave One although he is not a jock. Duncan is the Brain that knows all the rules, Max’s ex-bestie Vicky Summers (Dobrev) is the Mean Girl, Max’s new bestie Gertie, played by Alia Shawat (Arrested Development) is the lovable Dork. Max is the Virgin.
While she isn’t a very strong character, she is surrounded by energetic personalities that support her reserved nature. The sub plot of the movie revolves around the mother-daughter relationship between Max and her mother Nancy who plays the “shy girl with a clipboard and a guitar.”
Unlike most teen slasher flicks where the characters are insufferable and essentially there to fill the body count, there are moments in The Final Girls where you actually do care about these characters. Well, at least the intruders that belong in the real world, not as much can be said about the idiotic sex-crazed counselors despite them being hilarious.
It’s a wonderfully shot and mesmerizing amalgamation of The Wizard of Oz, Scary Movie and slasher classic Friday the 13th and, in all, is an entertaining spoof of 80s teen horror movies with an emotional punch.
Zhana Johnson
Senior Features Editor
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