The Final Girls

The Final Girls (2015)

Have you ever been browsing through your streaming services selection and come upon a gem? A movie that you didn’t even know you needed? A movie you were never looking for in the first place? Then may I introduce you to The Final Girls.

As we come to the end of summer and move into the fall, I love looking for new horror movies to watch. The Final Girls is a horror comedy that I highly recommend watching. What drew me to this movie was seeing the casting of Malin Ackerman (I’ve loved her in all her various roles, from Watchmen to Couples Retreat to Rock of Ages). The fact that it was all about those 80’s slasher movie I enjoyed as a young tween (before “tween” was even a word) didn’t hurt either. The cast is amazing: Taissa Farmiga, Alia Shawkat, Nina Dobrev, Alexander Ludwig, and Adam Devine. It’s a refreshing comedy while touching on the supernatural villains of horror movies like Jason Voorhees. It’s part meta and part paradoy, without being the tired cliches both those genres have wrought over the years.

Take a trip back in time to the 1980’s (one of the best years for horror movies, in my humble opinion), as this young cast literally jumps into the movie screen of a farcical slasher fick where they find themselves “cast” as new camp councelors. Max Cartwright (Farmiga) shares a special connection with one of the returning staff members, Nancy (Ackerman), and is determined they will all make it home from camp alive. One of the greatest things throughout the movie is that the “new” camp counselors can hear the movie score as it punctuates the story (think classic flashback music, or the ominous strings of villain’s music to indicate he is near by). The final battle may be a bit predictable, but the cinematography more than makes up for it. Think the feeling of Stranger Things meets the ethereal look of Mandy.

If you’re a fan of the camp horror film genre, you’re going to love this movie. Add it to your watch list for the fall season.