Director: Tyler Shields
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Wes Bentley, Alexander Ludwig, Cameron Bright, Logan Huffman, Reece Thompson, Francesca Eastwood
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 90 mins
Tyler Shields has made a splash over the years as a Hollywood photographer, so it makes perfect sense his directorial debut would be a horror movie. Having said that, the crowd at FrightFest may well be divided over Final Girl, which sits as a curate’s egg amongst today’s crop of cinematic nightmares.
The convoluted story opens with a sinister scene where a young girl is interrogated by a shadowy, suited type (Wes Bentley) in sparse, concrete surroundings. Flash forward to over a decade later and Bentley has trained the girl – Veronica (Abigail Breslin) – as a party-dress-wearing death machine, programmed as bait for a group of psychotic teenage boys who get their kicks hunting and killing women. Once she agrees to accompany them to a remote woodland location, the stage is set for a bloody and often surreal showdown.
The scenario sounds pretty nasty, yet while it sometimes approaches disturbing levels, the film overall is on the tame side. Shields adopts a distinctive Fifties look for this tale of misogyny and vengeance, giving it a sheen that calls to mind a classic studio picture gone wrong. Imagine if Douglas Sirk had invented torture porn sixty years early and you’re on the right track. Unfortunately the result has the same retro sensibility and pace, with a lack of carnage that will no doubt disappoint those expecting a more stomach-churning ride.
The stylized, theatrical lighting is a choice you’re either going to love or hate. Personally I appreciated the move because it reminded me of David Lynch, but it will be jarring to modern audiences. In a sense this more sophisticated approach is admirable, but the end result could have done with less expressionism and a bit more bite. Also, while Lynch is good at breathing life into cliches, Shields fares less well. At one point the boys are literally driving along in their automobile bashing mail boxes with baseball bats! A hallucinogenic plot device gives the director free rein on some far-out visual imagery, but there’s nothing here that’ll give other such helmers sleepless nights.
This often feels like a student film, bursting with ideas but missing some empathy, peopled by characters who engage in odd conversations, as if they’re constantly speaking for the first time. It would probably have been more powerful if there were a direct connection between Veronica and the killers. Instead she’s doing the bidding of Bentley, who mainly spouts Art Of War-style hints and tips. Despite this, he’s possibly the most credible member of the cast, who are generally good but stilted by the script. Breslin is likeable enough, though has an almost impossible task fleshing out a character who isn’t that convincing in the first place.
Final Girl review
It’s the basic implausibility of the premise that weighs the movie down. While you’d suspend your disbelief for a more action-packed spectacle, the attempt here to fuse a full-blooded concept with high-minded design means you start to notice the weaknesses. Why does Bentley require a twelve year period? And why is Breslin so confused about certain things after so long?
Final Girl is either an example of Shields finding his feet, or a sign he should stick to his day job. It’s certainly an intriguing debut and I’d be interested to see what he comes up with next. As far as this effort goes however, perhaps he should chalk it up to experience.
Final Girl review by Steve Palace, August 2015.
Final Girl has its UK premiere at FrightFest 2015 and is released on DVD on September 7th.
