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 A
group of fire rangers and their girlfriends head into the deep
forest for brush clearing and a little hanky panky. The group
trespass on the hunting grounds of a wild woman, and soon find
themselves in a fight for survival. What sets this routine slasher
apart is the incredibly strong cast. Mark (Animal House)
Metcalf, Adrian Zmed, Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, and Lewis Smith
are members of the rangers. Joe Pantoliano is the crazy bus
driver everyone bullies. The actors help the film rise above
its low budget trappings and sometimes weak script.
The
scenery is beautiful, until the final act, when the forest
begins to look dank and slimy. The killer uses the forest
and rocks as camouflage, which adds to the suspense because
you never know when that pile of leaves might get up and kill
a character. The night scenes are never so dark that one can't
see the action, a plus considering the middle of the film
occurs at night. There is some gore, mostly severed heads
and limbs.
The
film does have some problems. Instead of facing the out numbered
killer as a group, the survivors decide to build a giant death
trap. Surely, the killer could see the guy climbing the two
hundred foot redwood, and figure out the plan. One hero" gets
blasted on mushrooms before the big finish, and the rest of
the cast still takes orders from the guy. One would think
a film with Rachel Ward and Daryl Hannah in the woods would
be ripe for nudity. Unfortunately, there is more male nudity
than female.
Despite
the flaws, The Final Terror does manage to generate
suspense. The killer is unpredictable and viscous. The good
actors make the absurd situations believable. By the end of
the film, the survivors are changed into a savage tribe, more
dangerous and blood thirsty than the killer.
The
Final Terror is a cross between Deliverance and
Friday The 13th. Not all slasher fans will like this
film, some parts may seem slow, but it's really just an attempt
to build suspense. The story is nothing new, but the future
stars appearing in it makes the re-tread ground more interesting.
In fact, the actors are the only reason the film was ever
released. A producer discovered he had a film on the shelf
staring that naked mermaid from Splash.
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