The Final Girls (4½ Stars)

I'm assuming that most of my readers know what a final girl is, but I'll explain it for the rest of you. In teen slasher films the main characters are killed one by one, but one young girl survives till the end of the film. That's the final girl. Examples are Sidney Prescott in "Scream" and Laurie Strode in "Halloween".

Max Cartwright is the daughter of Amanda Cartwright, an actress who starred in a teen slasher film called "Camp Bloodbath". Amanda was killed in a car accident shortly before the film's 20th anniversary. Max is invited to speak at a fan convention when the film is shown, but there's an accident and the theatre catches fire. Max and her friends think they've died, but when they wake up they find themselves within the film "Camp Bloodbath". They know the film and what will happen next, but the film characters don't believe they're in a film and want to follow their own urges.

The film's final girl (Paula) is killed out of sequence, so Max struggles to make her mother the final girl. But how can she survive the film? None of the characters in the film are real people. Dilemmas.

The final scene promises a sequel, but none was made. The box office takings weren't high enough to justify a sequel. That's a shame.

This is an excellent film. If you sit down and analyse the plot, many things are left unexplained or simply don't make sense. But does it matter? Suspend your disbelief, and you'll enjoy it.

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