In Carol
Clover’s crucial critical analysis of feminism in the horror genre in her book,
“Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film,” the critic
popularized the term ‘final girl’ in reference to the sole survivor within the
slasher sub-genre. This ‘final girl’ is typically seen to survive due to the
purity of her character (no drinking, drugs, or sex), enforcing the
conservative ideology of Reagan’s America during the 1980s even further by
showing the bloody demise of the characters displaying weaker moral compasses. This
is where the significance of the title for The
Final Girls originated, though the opportunity to reference classic slasher
horror films is wasted beyond a basic premise for the rules of horror. None of
the postmodern discussion of horror structure extends beyond one simple
observation, and this merely feels like a rehashing of better movies, such as Scream and The Cabin in the Woods.
Wes Craven’s Scream laid out several of the rules for
horror films, including the moral code needed for survival and the importance
of never saying “I’ll be right back.” The
Cabin in the Woods addressed the characters (or caricatures) typically
found in the horror genre. Each of these films take the analysis of these
movies much further than The Final Girls,
which would seem entirely derivative without a Last Action Hero twist that inserts ordinary teens into a classic
‘80s slasher. And just like Last Action
Hero sanitized the violent content of the genre it was poking fun of, The Final Girls provides a bloodless
PG-13 presentation of horror action, which may not sit well with the very fans
that the film is attempting to entice.
Using the horror
genre to tackle issues of grief with a much lighter tone (and impact) than last
year’s The Babadook, The Final Girls follows the daughter of
a deceased horror film actress as she is inexplicably inserted into her
mother’s famous film. Max (Taissa Farmiga) has avoided Camp Bloodbath Camp Bloodbath
While this opens
the film up for endless opportunities to point out the ‘rules’ of the genre in
order to survive, The Final Girls is
content to focus on the same gags throughout the entire film. The only rule
that only seems to matter has to do with sex and nudity, which this film has
none of despite it being the only factor in the arrival of the killer. In the
end, it feels like a parody of horror movies written by someone who has only
seen Scream and other postmodern
mock-ups of the genre rather than the films that are actually meant to inspire
its content. The Final Girls is more
of a film about a fantasy situation that allows Max to overcome the grief over
her deceased mother. Even when this works moderately well, somehow I doubt that
viewers are likely to be excited at the success of the film’s melodrama at the
detriment to its action, comedy, and horror.
Visually
speaking, The Final Girls has a
stylized approach that is impressive for its budget, despite an uneven quality.
Occasionally the movie has a soft focus look that lets us know we are in a fake
universe, while other times it seems to be attempting the scratched look of a
film print with decades of wear on it. Despite these inconsistencies, the film
looks impressively polished on high definition Blu-ray disc. Also included are
plenty of extras, with an assortment of additional footage, commentaries, and
featurettes about the production elements. There is an alternate ending, as
well as deleted and extended scenes, each with an optional director’s
commentary. Also included are two feature-length commentary tracks, with the
cast and crew in one and the two screenwriters making up the second. The
featurettes seem to focus on the visual style and effects, though there is also
a copy of the director’s production notes included.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
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