A group of friends cult dream comes true, as life imitates art, in “The Final Girls”. A young woman (Taissa Farmiga) grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen (Malin Ackerman) from the 1980s, finds herself strangely pulled into the world of her mom’s most famous movie. Reunited, the women must fight off the film’s maniacal killer and survive to the end to be the final girl. This film by Todd Straus-Schulson (A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas) easily directs his best creative effort to date.

“The Final Girls” serves as two great films in one, all the while casting a surprising under layer of genuine emotion that had me praising this as not only one of the best horror films of the year, but of the decade. The creativity is all over the place in this film, and there’s plenty for horror fans alike to praise for it’s artistic chances that all pay off. The film has gorgeous production designs that really make this film convincing as an 80s throwback, but it’s in it’s color scheme where the movie sensually seduced my eyes. The color volume for the film and how it dominates the backgrounds of every scene, is definitely a tribute to famed horror director Dario Argento. There were plenty of scenes throughout the movie that really instilled such a gorgeous art direction in the film, and I greatly appreciated that, as this film would be easy to play basic like other horror spoofs similar to “Scary Movie”. The movie also produces a toe tapping arrangement of 80’s classic tunes. “Cruel Summer”, “Bettie Davis Eyes”, and “Mickey”, are just a couple of the film’s groovy tunes to set the ambiance for decade jumping goodness.

The film goes one step further by this wonderful Mother-Daughter subplot that honestly had me fighting back tears. The performances are so believable, and a lot of that has to do with recognizable big feature players. Because of this, the movie feels like anything but a horror spoof. Farmiga continues to shine incredible range for a 21 year old. She has had two great turns in TV’s “American Horror Story”, but “The Final Girls” allows her to be more than just a stereotype in a movie that is supposed to be full of them. Beyond Farmiga, everyone in this movie plays above expectations to the cutout that they were cast as. Ackerman gives arguably her most three dimensional portrayal to date. She is responsible for bringing this movie back down to Earth with this sentimental subplot, and i really do buy her as this California girl who moved to the big city to make something of herself. The cast is rounded out wonderfully by Nina Dobrev, Alexander Ludwig, “Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat, and the stealer of the film, “Pitch Perfect’s” Adam Devine. Adam expresses with ease the male macho stereotype in 80’s Slasher flicks, and he takes advantage serving them up as a commentary of ridiculousness.

My lone problem with the film is very minor and sounds foolish considering this is a film that is very hard to critique. The film’s ending is a doesn’t really make sense with the rules the movie set for itself. I did see the twist coming, but it’s what follows the twist that gave me a roll of the eyes. The film follows a distinct set of rules, despite the fact that it is riddled in silliness, but this ending just doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t have much effect on the fact that this film is a modern achievement enriched in solid performances and a fun time for the audience watching.

It picks up right where the worthy “Friday the 13th” films left off, and offers a wide range of enjoyment for horror fans still griping about the golden age of horror films being gone. “The Final Girls” proves that creativity for such a century old genre is still being offered. For most of the time, you just have to go searching for it. Greatly recommended

8/10