SXSW Film Review: The Final Girls

Posted in Film, Reviews, SXSW
By Sam Bathe on 14 Mar 2015

A time-bending mock slasher film, in The Final Girls, the audience of a cult film screening find their way into the film they were watching at the theatre.

The Final Girls works at times but the humour is hit and miss. Director Todd Strauss-Schulson tries to riff on classic horror tropes, but the film isn’t as clever as it thinks it is and struggles to really impose its own ideas.

While the intentionally over the top performances don’t always work, Taissa Farmiga again proves herself a star in the making, while Adam DeVine and Alia Shawkat are as charismatic as ever.

Where as Cabin In The Woods played it straight, The Final Girls feels more like a camp parody in the vein of Scream or Austin Powers, but I don’ t know if there’s a market for that any more. It hopes to riff off the classic era of slasher films, but unfortunately The Final Girls only ends up adding to the clichés.

2/5

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