TheFinalTerror

The Final Terror (1983)

Here we have another backwoods slasher movie. This time around a group of park rangers are headed off to clear some streams, do some camping, and hit on the group of girls that are going with them. Along for the ride is a creepy bus driver (Joe Pantoliano from the Sopranos and much more) that keeps warning them about going to that part of the woods. The first night out around a campfire a scare story is told that of course will play into later events. See there is someone in the woods that isn’t happy about the park rangers being around and proceeds to pick them off one at a time. When the survivors get to the bus and find it disabled they must then figure a way to stop the killer before they all are dead.

I’ve been on a real kick lately tracking down obscure slasher films that I’ve never seen before. Considering how many I watched growing up in the 80s I thought that this would be far more difficult than it has been. The Final Terror is one of those movies that I recently tracked down and I have to say it was fun. The movie starts off slow and takes far too long to get the campers in the woods and face to face with the killer. But once that happens it picks up and gets really fun. Now the body count here is actually surprisingly low after the first couple of kills. But that only makes it creepier because after they find them the groups sticks together and doesn’t do the “lets wander off to get slaughtered” thing. But even as they stick together you get scene after scene of the killer stalking them. The characters never see the killer because they are camouflaged, but we get to see the killer move after they slip past. God help them when they do get separated! And while I sort of called the ending, which is predictable, it still didn’t’ make it any less fun or enjoyable.

Another thing that really surprised me about this movie is the cast. First of all I’ve already mentioned Joe Pantoliano, who has been in tons of stuff. He is a bit over the top as the bus driver and butt of jokes Eggar. But he isn’t the only familiar face. 80s icon Adrian Zmed shows up as one of the rangers. As does another less familiar name, but I guarantee you will recognize his face, Lewis Smith (The Heavenly Kid, and the Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai). Finally there is a very young Daryl Hannah as one of the terrified girls. Hell did I mention Rachel Ward (Night School, Fortress) is in this one as well? I think the reason that this movie works as well as it does, in spite of lacking the staples of the slasher genre (over the top gore and nudity) is because of this cast. They really are able to pull off the fact that they are being terrified.

Lets talk special effects. This is a surprisingly tame movie when it comes to the kills. Most of the good stuff happens off screen and with even the bodies staying off screen. For me that normally kills much of the enjoyment of a slasher movie. But what the Final Terror does so well is build tension. I love the scenes where the killer is hidden from site wearing hunting gear. I really had the feeling that they were being stalked like animals. The movie also doesn’t go for the cheap scares, so when the jump scares happen they really work well. The Final Terror is all about the atmosphere and scaring the audience. That said the look of the killer and their eventual identity also worked for me, and that made it even scarier.

So basically I really dug this movie. It isn’t perfect and those gore hounds looking for severed limbs and bloody kills are going to be disappointed. But again not all slasher movies are about the gore. So with that caveat I really recommend that everyone try and track down a copy of The Final Terror. Unfortunately it isn’t out on DVD, which makes that task a bit harder.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer