Saturday is Family Fun day during our 31 Days of Halloween celebration, and this entry is an absolute delight. A PG-13 horror comedy that serves as a perfect introductory course to the slasher, deconstructed tropes and all, The Final Girls also offers up a slew of endlessly likable characters. Characters that bring the emotion as often as they bring the laughs. There’s a poignancy to this story beyond just poking fun (lovingly) at the slasher subgenre. An emotional heft that means you should probably have tissues on standby along with your Saturday morning cereal. Or evening popcorn and pizza. Whatever time of day you choose to watch The Final Girls, make sure it’s with your favorite friends or family.
Synopsis: When Max reluctantly attends a tribute screening of a popular ‘80s slasher, Camp Bloodbath, that starred her late mother, she and her friends are accidentally sucked into the film itself. They soon realize they’re trapped inside the slasher’s world, and that they must team up with the film’s fictional characters to battle the machete-wielding masked maniac. For Max, it’s as much a fight for survival as it is a chance for closure over her mother’s death.
Key Players: Taissa Farmiga stars as Max Cartwright. Malin Akerman plays the dual role of Max’s mom Amanda and Camp Bloodbath scream queen Nancy. Max’s friends are played by Alexander Ludwig, Alia Shawkat, Thomas Middleditch, and Nina Dobrev. Adam DeVine, Angela Trimbur, Tory N. Thompson, and Chloe Bridges round out the fictional characters of Camp Bloodbath.
Why It’s on the List: It’s not the first time a horror comedy has broken down the slasher formula and its character tropes, but director Todd Strauss-Schulson and writers M.A Fortin and Joshua John Miller make it feel completely fresh with the film within a film narrative structure. It allows the modern characters to interact with ‘80s stock characters, providing a whole new angle for the humor. From a visual standpoint, it’s a beauty. If it’s not already clear, Max’s grieving of her late mother is a major focal point of the story, and her attempts to fill that void with the fictional character her mother portrayed makes for some seriously heartfelt moments. You’ll also never look at the Kim Carnes song “Bette Davis Eyes” the same way again.
She’s My Cherry Pie: Angela Trimbur’s character Tina is Camp Bloodbath’s requisite “slutty” party girl. When the whole gang devises a plan to lure the killer to their cabin in an attempt to destroy him, Tina is used as bait. The only problem? She helped herself to a stash of Adderall. It makes for one of the wackiest seduction scenes in all of slasher history.
Where You Can Watch: The Final Girls is available to stream on the Freeform and Sling apps. It’s also available digitally to rent.