The Final Girls

The Final Girls is a 2015 American horror comedy film, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson and written by M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller. It stars Taissa Farmiga and Malin Åkerman in leading roles, with supporting performances by Alexander Ludwig, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, Nina Dobrev, Chloe Bridges, and Adam DeVine.

The film had its world premiere on March 13, 2015 as one of the opening night films at South by Southwest Film Festival.^[1][2] It will also screen at the Stanley Film Festival as the closing night film on May 2,^[3] and will be presented with a gala screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2015.^[4]

Plot

Max (Farmiga), a high school senior, is mysteriously transported with her friends into a 1980s horror film that starred Max's mother (Åkerman), a celebrated scream queen. Trapped inside the movie, Max finds herself reunited with her mom, who she lost in real life. Together with Max's friends, they must fend off the camp counselors' raging hormones, battle a deranged machete-wielding killer, and find a way to escape the movie and make it back home.^[5]

Cast

• Taissa Farmiga as Max Cartwright
• Malin Åkerman as Amanda Cartwright
• Alexander Ludwig as Chris
• Nina Dobrev as Vicki
• Adam DeVine as Kurt
• Thomas Middleditch as Duncan
• Chloe Bridges as Paula
• Alia Shawkat as Gertie
• Angela Trimbur as Tina
• Tory N. Thompson as Blake
• Dan B. Norris as Billy Murphy

Production

Pre-production

In February 2014, it was reported that Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions had bought the rights to the film, with Michael London and his company Groundswell Productions producing the feature. The film was originally picked up by New Line Cinema but was shopped elsewhere when production did not get off the ground.^[7] The screenplay was written by Joshua John Miller and M.A. Fortin, and was directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson.^[8] Miller and Fortin also served as executive producers, alongside Darren M. Demetre.^[5]

It was announced on February 27, 2014, that Malin Åkerman and Taissa Farmiga had been cast in the two main roles for the film, playing mother and daughter, respectively.^[9][10][11] On April 10, 2014, it was revealed that Thomas Middleditch, Nina Dobrev, Adam DeVine and Alexander Ludwig had joined the cast in supporting roles.^[12] Middleditch stars as Duncan, the "film geek"; Dobrev plays Vicki, the "alpha ex-best friend"; DeVine stars as Kurt, the movie-within-a-movie's "teen seducer"; and Ludwig portrays Chris, the love interest to Farmiga's character.^[13] Alia Shawkat and Chloe Bridges also joined the cast of the film, in the supporting roles of Gertie and Paula, respectively.

Filming

Principal photography was reported to last for 26 days in Baton Rouge and St. Francisville, Louisiana.^[14] Production for the film began on April 22, 2014.^[15][16] On April 23, 2014, a photo from the set was revealed by one of the cast.^[17][18] Over 200 extras were sought out for large scenes.^[14] Principal photography for the film concluded on May 25, 2014.^[19] In late October 2014, some of the cast and crew returned for pick-ups and scene re-shoots following a test screening earlier that month.^[20]

Post-production

Post-production primarily took place in New York City,^[21] with additional editing taking place at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.^[22] Sound mixing was provided by Parabolic in New York City. On October 2, 2014, an edit of the film was screened in Los Angeles to a test audience of teenagers.^[23] Following this, some of the cast and crew returned for re-shoots and pick-ups.^[20] Film composer Gregory James Jenkins was hired to score the music for the film, having previously composed the music for two of Strauss-Schulson's short films, as well as his 2011 feature A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.^[24] On December 22, 2014, Strauss-Schulson stated that post-production had been completed for the film.^[25]

Release

The Final Girls had its world premiere on March 13, 2015 as part of the Narrative Spotlight section at South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.^[26][27] The film debuted as one of the festival's opening night films at The Paramount Theatre.^[1] It will screen at the Stanley Film Festival as the closing night film on May 2, 2015,^[3] and will have a gala premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2015.^[4] Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will distribute the film worldwide, with William Morris Endeavor handing the domestic distribution sales.

Reception

Critical response

The Final Girls received mostly positive reviews from film critics. Eric Eisenberg of Cinema Blend wrote: "The Final Girls boils down to being a strange cross between The Cabin in the Woods, Friday the 13th and Last Action Hero, and it's an equation that adds up to a ridiculous and fun flick that's a blast to watch with an enthusiastic audience."^[28] Matt Donato of We Got This Covered gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "Even though The Final Girls never pushes for scares, it's still a dream movie for horror fans because of the ripe exploitation, brilliant riffage off of everyone's favorite slasher flicks, and the brilliant remastering of so many old-school production values."^[29] Dennis Harvey of Variety gave a positive review, writing: "Though not quite as inspired or consistent as the similarly self-mocking likes of The Cabin in the Woods, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil or the first two Scream pics, this is good fun that should delight genre fans. Directing M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller's clever screenplay, Todd Strauss-Schulson delivers an accessible in-joke that should sell nicely to various territories in all formats."^[30]

References

External links

• The Final Girls at the Internet Movie Database
• The Final Girls at Rotten Tomatoes