THE FINAL GIRLS

THE FINAL GIRLS (2015). Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson. 

Max (Taissa Farmiga) is the daughter of the late actress, Nancy (Malin Akerman), whose claim to fame was appearing in Camp Bloodbath twenty years earlier. Max is importuned to go with Chris (Alexander Ludwig), a boy she has a crush on, to a special showing of the film and its sequel. When a fire breaks out in the theater, Max, Chris and other friends escape through a hole in the screen and inexplicably wind up in the movie, where Max encounters her own mother, who is now about her age. Max and the others are hoping that the killer of the film, the tormented Billy turned maniac, will not go after them, but on that they are wrong. Meanwhile, as in You Might Be the Killer, there's an argument over which of the ladies will be the "final girl" who will kill Billy. 

While one could argue that the premise of Final Girls is somewhat clever, the execution is another story. The movie doesn't wallow in gore, but aside from one creepy and suspenseful sequence, it doesn't do much else. The acting is competent, but the screenplay becomes incredibly silly. A slow-motion chase sequence just when the film should be most exciting makes no sense at all. 

The cast of Final Girls

The movie, vastly overpraised, supposedly engenders some moments of "emotional depth" (having to do with mother and daughter, I suppose) but this is probably because the average slasher film fanatic wouldn't know emotional depth if it bit them on ass. We never learn if there were any survivors of what appears to be a terrible fire, and none of these young people even bother to ask -- so much for depth. One sequence is backed up by Kim Carnes choking out "Bette Davis Eyes." Ultimately, you can hardly wait for the film to just be over. It's like the cinematic equivalent of a Young Adult horror novel, and not one of the better ones. Outtakes make it clear that the cast had more fun making the movie than we did watching it. 

Verdict: A promising idea that quickly turns to schlock. *3/4.