The Final Girls (2015)
January 23, 2016 12:23 PM - Subscribe
A young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself pulled into the world of her mom's most famous movie. Reunited, the women must fight off the film's maniacal killer.
72% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
72% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Final Girls is a fun mash-up of then and now, and any slasher fan should find themselves enamored with its nostalgic touches, new tweaks and pure enthusiasm. - Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
Not every joke lands and it's not as consistently funny as it could have been, but at its best, "The Final Girls" evokes the offbeat silliness of David Wain's parody films like "Wet Hot American Summer" and "They Came Together." - Ken Guidry, The Playlist
A playful deconstruction of the slasher film that ultimately packs a surprisingly affecting punch. - Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times
The gender commentary is still on point, and The Final Girls successfully disembowels its target trope. But it works better as film criticism than it does as a film. - Andrew Lapin, NPRAbout MeFi Horror Club
I really enjoyed this. I watched so many of these terrible movies as a kid, particularly the Sleepaway Camp series. In '80s movies, summer camp was this alternate universe where sex and monsters rule over a kingdom in the woods, whereas in real life it was about getting yelled at for being sad all the time and having to pray a whole bunch. This movie really plays with the strangeness of that entire scene, without trying to be a horror movie itself, like Scream.
Tina was hilarious. I hope to see her in more.
posted by Countess Elena at 1:47 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Tina was hilarious. I hope to see her in more.
posted by Countess Elena at 1:47 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
I will say I don't think the more emotional aspect of the story--the girl getting to see her dead mother within a movie--was actually all that well-written. The funny thing is, it worked anyway, because Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman sort of elevated the material just by being in it. They're both terrific actors.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:54 PM on January 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:54 PM on January 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm so glad to see this here. I happened to randomly come across it and watched it and was just so entertained. It's true the main emotional conflict seems pretty....well crap, but I didn't really mind because everything else is just so much fun and as pointed out by the others, the actors are so good, you can gloss over that.
posted by miss-lapin at 11:54 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by miss-lapin at 11:54 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
What a charming movie. The Trivia section on IMDB says that there were two endings; I rather like the one they ended up choosing.
The critique on gender was spot on.
posted by porpoise at 5:04 PM on January 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
The critique on gender was spot on.
posted by porpoise at 5:04 PM on January 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Joshua John Miller (Near Dark, Teen Witch) wrote this. Can we please add a tag?
posted by miss-lapin at 11:28 AM on November 30, 2022
posted by miss-lapin at 11:28 AM on November 30, 2022
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Weirdly, it's not actually all that violent. So if even you're not a horror fan, you can have fun taking the piss out of horror tropes. It's only even PG-13.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:44 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]