The Final Girls
Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Written by M.A. Fortin & Joshua John Miller
Starring Malin Akerman, Taissa Farmiga, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev, Thomas Middleditch, Angela Trimbur, Chloe Bridges, Adam Devine
Vertical Entertainment
Release Date: October 9th, 2015

A friend of mine sent me the trailer to The Final Girls on Facebook with the message, “It’s like Last Action Hero as a horror movie!” So obviously I was intrigued immediately. I was excited when I went to NYCC and sat in the panel for this film, with director Todd Strauss-Schulson (Harold & Kumar 3), and star Malin Akerman (Watchmen, The Heartbreak Kid, etc.) They discussed how this isn’t a traditional horror movie, but rather a movie about coping with the loss of a parent, and how you’d react if you had one more chance to be with them… that, inside an 80s slasher setting with a Jason Voorhees style killer chasing them. What we end up with, is a movie that at times was as goofball funny as Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, while managing to evoke real heartfelt emotion. It makes The Final Girls a truly unique film.

The Final Girls trailer was sent to me by a friend as “Last Action Hero, the horror movie!” Today, I got in for The Finals Girls panel at New York Comic-Con with director Todd Strauss-Schulson (A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas) and star Malin Akerman (Watchmen, The Trophy Wife).

The film, which is opening this weekend, is about a girl whose mother (Akerman) was a B-movie scream queen in the 80s. “Was” as in she is now passed on, and Max (Taissa Farmiga, American Horror Story) and friends are attending a tribute screening of her famous slasher film, when they are all sucked into the screen and into the film. Soon they are the counselors at “Camp Bloodbath” trying to escape a cliche horror villain (think Jason Voorhees). Now armed with a wealth of knowledge on how to survive these movies, Max and her friends must try to last till the end credits, all the while trying to save her mother.

The Final Girls
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Screenwriters: M. A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev
Release Date: March 13, 2014

Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson (A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas) The Final Girls is the latest in a growing cannon of meta-horror films. Part horror, part comedy, and all meta, The Final Girls satirizes 70’s and 80’s summer camp slasher films. The story follows Max (Taissa Farmiga, American Horror Story), a young virgin who (through mysterious circumstances which shall not be spoiled here) lands inside the very film that defined her mother’s scream queen career. Once inside, Max and her reluctant friends must survive horny camp counselors, trippy flashbacks, sing-alongs, and the deranged psycho-killer Billy (a stoic, slow-walking homage to Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th).

The South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) is just weeks away, and this will be my first year in attendance. I’ve heard the stories. It takes careful, strategic planning, patience, and above all fastidious punctuality to make it into the screenings you want to see. So, after pouring over the SXSW 2015 film lineup, I’ve zeroed in on 5 films I will see, coming hell or hipster stampede.

Here are my 5 Anticipated Movies of SXSW Film Festival 2015.