Horror fans might get a kick out of The Final Girls, this spoof of ’80s horror movies—although they might decry the lack of blood and guts.
Max (Taissa Farmiga) loses her mom (Malin Akerman) in a car accident. Her mom, Nancy, was a struggling horror-film actress best known for a Friday the 13th-type summer-camp slasher movie made in the ’80s. After agreeing to show up for a screening of her late mom’s film, Max and her friends journey inside the movie, where Max winds up hanging out with her mom—who isn’t really her mom, and is actually Amanda, the character she played in the film.
The Final Girls is crazy enough to work on a few levels, although it suffers a bit because the movie is rated PG-13—which is strange, since the movie is spoofing films that have hard-R ratings. There are some good laughs, due mainly to a strong supporting cast with comedy chops, including Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Adam DeVine (Workaholics) and Alexander Ludwig (Grown Ups 2 … OK, Ludwig doesn’t provide a lot of laughs).
Dan B. Morris provides a nice bit of authenticity as Billy, a slasher villain modeled after Jason from the Friday the 13th movies. Norris has the moves down well, and deserves to be in the running for the sure-to-happen someday Friday the 13th reboot.
Director Todd Strauss-Schulson has made a fun film, but it could’ve been better had it added some more horror elements like over-the-top gore. It feels like the movie chickened out a bit.
The Final Girls is available on demand and via online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com.