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The Final Girls

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The Final Girls
Teaser poster
Directed byTodd Strauss-Schulson
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyElie Smolkin
Edited byDebbie Berman
Music byGregory James Jenkins
Production
companies
  • Groundswell Productions
  • Studio Solutions
Distributed by
Release dates
  • March 13, 2015 (2015-03-13) (SXSW)
  • October 9, 2015 (2015-10-09) (United States)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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. The film stars Taissa Farmiga and Malin Åkerman in the two leading roles, with supporting performances from Adam DeVine, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev, Chloe Bridges, and Angela Trimbur.

The film had its world premiere on March 13, 2015 as one of the opening night films at South by Southwest.[1] It then screened at the Stanley Film Festival as the closing night film on May 2, 2015, where it won the Audience Award for Feature Film.[2] The film had a gala screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2015,[3] and will screen at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival for Midnight Madness on September 19, 2015.[4] It will then be released in the United States on October 9, 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand by Stage 6 Films and Vertical Entertainment.[5]

Plot

Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga), a high school senior, is mysteriously transported with her friends into a 1980s horror film that starred Max's mother, Amanda (Malin 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.[6]

Cast

Production

Pre-production

"It's Pleasantville in a trashy horror movie from the 80s with a little Back to the Future thrown in, and a spoon full of Terms of Endearment with a dash of Scream and two dollops of Purple Rose of Cairo for good measure."

– Director Todd Strauss-Schulson jokingly describing the genre of the film[7]

In February 2014, it was reported that Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions had bought the rights to the film under the Stage 6 Films banner, with Michael London and his company Groundswell Productions producing the feature. The film was originally picked up by New Line Cinema in November 2011, but the script was shopped elsewhere when production did not get off the ground.[8] The screenplay was written by Joshua John Miller and M.A. Fortin, and was directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson.[9] Miller and Fortin also served as executive producers, alongside Darren M. Demetre.[6]

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-daughter Amanda and Max Cartwright, respectively.[10][11][12] On April 10, 2014, it was revealed that Thomas Middleditch, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev, and Adam DeVine had joined the cast in supporting roles.[13] Middleditch stars as Duncan, the "film geek"; Ludwig portrays Chris, the love interest to Farmiga's character Max; Dobrev plays Vicki, the ex-girlfriend of Chris and the rival of Max; and DeVine stars as Kurt, the movie-within-a-movie's "teen seducer".[14] Alia Shawkat, Chloe Bridges, and Angela Trimbur also joined the cast of the film, portraying the characters of Gertie, Paula and Tina, respectively.[15]

Filming

Principal photography was reported to last for 26 days in Baton Rouge and St. Francisville, Louisiana.[16] Production for the film began on April 22, 2014.[17][18] On April 23, 2014, a photo from the set was revealed by one of the cast.[19][20] Over 200 extras were sought out for large scenes.[16] Principal photography for the film concluded on May 25, 2014.[21] 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.[22]

Post-production

Post-production primarily took place in New York City,[23] with additional editing taking place at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.[24] 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.[25] Following this, some of the cast and crew returned for re-shoots and pick-ups.[22] 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.[26] On December 22, 2014, Strauss-Schulson stated that post-production had been completed for the film.[27] The film was given an official PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.[28]

Distribution

Marketing

The first clip of footage from the film was released on March 13, 2015 exclusively by Deadline.com.[29] A film still featuring Malin Åkerman was also released the same day. More promotional stills from the film were released on August 3, 2015 exclusively by Entertainment Weekly, along with the announcement of its release date.[5] The first official trailer was released on August 21, 2015 by iTunes.[30] In early September 2015, the film's video on demand release poster emerged online.

Release

The Final Girls had its world premiere on March 13, 2015 at South by Southwest.[31][32] The film was one of the festival's opening night films, screening at The Paramount Theatre.[33] It then closed the Stanley Film Festival on May 2, 2015,[2] and had a gala premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2015.[3]

The film is set to screen at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 19, 2015 for Midnight Madness.[4] It will also play at the 3rd annual SpectreFest on September 24, 2015,[34] and will screen at both the Mile High Horror Film Festival and the Sitges Film Festival in October 2015.[35][36] The film will receive a video on demand and limited release on October 9, 2015 by Stage 6 Films and Vertical Entertainment.[37] It will be released straight-to-DVD in the UK on October 12, 2015,[38] and in Germany on November 12, 2015.[39]

Reception

Critical response

The Final Girls received acclaim from film critics. The film holds a 70% "Fresh" rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[40] 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."[41] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Genre enthusiasts will get a kick out of Todd Strauss-Schulson's creative homage to classic slasher movies, which respects familiar horror conventions while introducing a sly contemporary perspective."[42] 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."[43]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref
2015 South by Southwest Film Festival Audience Award for Narrative Spotlight The Final Girls Nominated
Stanley Film Festival Audience Award for Feature Film Won [44]

References

  1. ^ McNary, Dave (February 3, 2015). "SXSW Announces Film Lineup". Variety.
  2. ^ a b "Films: SFF Closing Night: The Final Girls". Denver Film. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Kilday, Gregg (April 28, 2015). "Los Angeles Film Fest Adds 'Inside Out' and 'Dope'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  4. ^ a b Pond, Steve (August 11, 2015). "Toronto Film Festival Adds Music and Mayhem With Documentaries, Midnight Movies". TheWrap.
  5. ^ a b Collins, Clark (August 3, 2015). "Taissa Farmiga and Nina Dobrev go back to camp in slasher comedy The Final Girls". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ^ a b "The Final Girls – Official Schedule". South by Southwest. February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  7. ^ "Malin Akerman & Taissa Farmiga to Lead Meta Horror 'The Final Girls'". FirstShowing.net. February 27, 2014.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (November 21, 2011). "'Final Girls' set up at New Line". Variety. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  9. ^ "SPWA Acquires 'Final Girls' Starring Malin Akerman, Taissa Farmiga". Variety. February 27, 2014.
  10. ^ Barton, Steve (February 27, 2014). "American Horror Story's Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman Are The Final Girls". Dread Central.
  11. ^ Armitage, Hugh (February 28, 2014). "The Final Girls casts Malin Akerman, Taissa Farmiga". Digital Spy.
  12. ^ "Malin Akerman and Taissa Farmiga Are 'The Final Girls'". MovieWeb. February 28, 2014.
  13. ^ Kit, Borys (April 10, 2014). "'Silicon Valley,' 'Vampire Diaries' Stars Join Horror Comedy 'Final Girls' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  14. ^ Squires, John (April 11, 2014). "Four More Sign on to Tangle with The Final Girls Including The Vampire Diaries' Nina Dobrev". Dread Central. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  15. ^ Topel, Fred (March 16, 2015). "SXSW 2015: 'The Final Girls:' Taissa Farmiga, Nina Dobrev, Malin Akerman, Alia Shawkat, and Angela Trimbur". CraveOnline.
  16. ^ a b Scott, Mike (April 10, 2014). "Filming in Louisiana: Hundreds of extras sought for Baton Rouge horror-comedy". NOLA.com.
  17. ^ Kitchener, Shaun (April 22, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries' Nina Dobrev Starts Filming On New Movie Final Girls". Entertainment Wise. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  18. ^ "Feature Film 'The Final Girls' Looking for Extras". Louisiana Entertainment. April 4, 2014.
  19. ^ Burt, Kayti (April 23, 2014). "Nina Dobrev Starts Filming The Final Girls". Wetpaint. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  20. ^ Ludwig, Alexander (May 15, 2014). "Filmed a water scene from 6-6am..." Twitter. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  21. ^ Akerman, Malin (May 25, 2014). "That's a wrap!". Twitter. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  22. ^ a b Strauss-Schulson, Todd (October 27, 2014). "#finalgirls". Instagram. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  23. ^ Strauss-Schulson, Todd (June 5, 2014). "Wandering around NYC... on night one of editing. #finalgirls". Instagram.
  24. ^ Strauss-Schulson, Todd. "Impromtu ADR session... #finalgirls". Instagram. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  25. ^ Strauss-Schulson, Todd (October 2, 2014). "About to be judged by a room full of teenagers. #finalgirls". Instagram.
  26. ^ "Gregory James Jenkins". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  27. ^ Strauss-Schulson, Todd (December 22, 2014). "Finishing my movie... #finalgirls". Instagram.
  28. ^ "Final Girls, The (2015)". Classification & Rating Administration (CARA) and FilmRatings.com.
  29. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (March 13, 2015). "'The Final Girls' Clip: SXSW Black Horror Comedy Takes Camp To Camp". Deadline.com.
  30. ^ Zumberge, Marianne (August 22, 2015). "Watch: 'The Final Girls' Trailer Takes Taissa Farmiga, Nina Dobrev to Camp Bloodbath". Variety.
  31. ^ Zimmerman, Shawn (February 3, 2015). "SXSW 2015: Final Girls, The Boy, Unfriended and More Horror in Features Lineup". Shock Till You Drop.
  32. ^ Moore, Debi (February 3, 2015). "SXSW 2015: First Wave of Films Includes The Final Girls, Unfriended, iZombie, and More!". Dread Central.
  33. ^ Strauss-Schulson, Todd (February 3, 2015). "It's official. FINAL GIRLS is premiering opening night, Friday the 13th @ SXSW!". Twitter.
  34. ^ Busch, Anita (August 21, 2015). "SpectreVision Unveils Lineup For 3rd Annual Genre Film Festival". Deadline.com.
  35. ^ "Mile High Horror Film Festival '15: "THE FINAL GIRLS", "HE NEVER DIED" lead First Wave of Programming; "DEVIL'S REJECTS" Anniversary Screening Announced w/ Sid Haig Q&A!". Fangoria. September 1, 2015.
  36. ^ Moore, Debi (September 10, 2015). "Sitges 2015 Lineup Expands with The Witch, Bone Tomahawk, Baskin, We Are Still Here, Hellions, Into the Woods, and Much More!". Dread Central.
  37. ^ Dickson, Evan (May 3, 2015). "Stanley Film Festival 2015: THE FINAL GIRLS Kills as Closing Night Film". Collider.com.
  38. ^ "The Final Girls [DVD] [2015]". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  39. ^ "The Final Girls [Blu-ray]". Amazon.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  40. ^ "The Final Girls (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  41. ^ Harvey, Dennis (March 14, 2015). "SXSW Film Review: 'The Final Girls'". Variety. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  42. ^ Lowe, Justin (June 26, 2015). "'The Final Girls': LAFF Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  43. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (March 14, 2015). "The Final Girls Is An Exciting And Hilarious Must-See Horror Comedy". Cinema Blend. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  44. ^ Canfield, David (May 5, 2015). "Stanley Film Festival Announces Winners of 2015 Horror Showcase". Indiewire.
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