This really isn't a bad film at all. In fact, it's a fairly good one, and is a refreshing change of pace for the horror genre nowadays in that it entirely hinges on character and performance. That is, until its misfired finale that is much too conventional and disappointing considering just how much build up is in this thing. The excellent veteran character actor Bill Cobbs shines in a rare lead role; it's a good thing that he should get such a major showcase for once. He plays a septuagenarian doctor / farmer with an ill wife who needs looking after. One day, on his property, a local kid is playing around and gets pinned under an old tractor. Dr. Dan (Cobbs) then proceeds to exhibit some superhuman strength and lift the tractor off of the boy so that he can be moved. Word of this miracle spreads to two college kids, Willy (Jason Scott Campbell) and Cameron (Alex Feldman), and Cameron is determined to find out all of Dans' big secrets - some of which he does reveal to him, in a standout sequence where Dan spills out his big back story, having heard of a powerful drug used by monks in ancient times which Dan has been able to replicate. As a result, he's in much better shape than he should by all rights be; he can outrun his dog, for one thing. But on the dark and stormy night that Willy and Cameron pay a supposedly social visit to the solicitous, friendly senior, bad things soon start happening. One element that helps bring "The Final Patient" down a peg or two is the way that co-writer / director Jerry Mainardi doesn't seem too keen on explaining just a bit more, at least in regards to the motivation of Dans' wife Elizabeth (Lizan Mitchell); what exactly is her deal? Affecting music and good acting can only do so much to keep this thing interesting; Campbell and Feldman aren't on a level with Cobbs, but deliver basically creditable performances; also on hand is another solid and under-rated actor, Guy Boyd (the sardonic detective in 1984's "Body Double") as the local sheriff. The film really is very light on horror until its final act, but the horror that takes place is nothing special. There's some good gore, but the makeup effects on Elizabeth really aren't that great. (One thing's for sure, and that's that the big reveal of her appearance wouldn't be as ineffective if it weren't advertised on the back of the Blu-ray cover.) Overall, this would have to rate as a nice try that just doesn't properly deliver in the end...especially given how clichéd that end is. Cobbs pushes up the rating by a point. Six out of 10.
