The Final Terror

The problem with The Final Terror is that the characters are too smart and the writers aren't smart enough. When danger descends upon their large group, they decide not to split up, but to stick it out together in case the killer tries something again. It leaves the finale without much tension since you never really feel like anyone's in danger. The music score is great and the forest atmosphere is haunting at times, but it can't help much when the film lacks suspense and danger.

(**1/2 out of *****)

Produced by Samuel Arkoff, this is one of those low-budget (albeit tolerably directed) jobs with several different titles ("The Campsite Murders" and "Forest Primeval" to name a couple) and two or three different release dates between 1980 and 1985 (I split the difference and went with ‘83, although the original release date is most likely ‘81, for those who care.) It's of interest mainly for featuring Darryl Hannah and Rachel Ward (not to mention Joe Pantoliano, from "Memento" and "The Sopranos") in early roles. The gals play the girlfriends of forest rangers out on a work detail in the woods who run across an unseen, homicidal maniac. There's a refreshingly low body count, but, given the number of potential victims who have little else to do but run around and whine, maybe the cast should have been reduced by two or three actors. Other than a couple of minor shocks here and there, there's also a lack of action and suspense. Come to think of it -- no gratuitous nudity, no excessive violence -- who exactly was this movie made for? The last third, with the survivors paddling down river in a big raft, starts to resemble a tame "Deliverance" (as well as other forest/slasher movies too numerous to name). There are pretty good killer-in-the-woods flicks ("Just Before Dawn") and there are really bad killer-in-the-woods flicks ("Berserker"), and this one sits somewhere just south of the border. Davis went on to direct big-budget action movies (including "Under Siege" and Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive").

HIGHLIGHT: I'm being generous to go with a highlight for this one, but I kinda liked the part where the killer was hit with a giant, swinging log studded with sharp spikes. It reminded me of a Road Runner cartoon.

At one point after the group of forest rangers escapes the night bus attack, Rachel Ward exclaims "I can't see a thing". Ditto for the viewing audience, because even the daytime scenes are so poorly lit that you will have little sense of what is taking place on screen. It's pretty difficult to scare people, when you can't see what is supposed to be scary. Technically "The Final Terror" is a disaster, and it's really a shame, because hunted in the woods films are one of my favorite genres. After seeing (or rather not seeing) "The Final Terror", I will stick with "Hunter's Blood", which is a great film of this type. Other than a strong opening and a surprisingly good conclusion, there is very little entertainment value here. Don't let the name actors get you excited either, because Rachel Ward and Darryl Hannah are just faces in the crowd, with zero character development. My advice, skip it. - MERK

More well known for its soon-to-be star cast than for the film itself, The Final Terror kinda came and went in theaters and was dumped onto video via a terrible, washed out and impossibly dark transfer where you couldn't tell what was what.

Thankfully, Scream Factory have found a print that looks half way decent and released it on Blu-Ray. For the first time, one can actually see that there was some talent involved here, even if it was in service of a less than exciting narrative.

While the story seems like your average "young hot people getting killed in the woods" flick, The Final Terror does offer some fairly inventive twists. For starters, the killer is a genuinely unnerving presence, blending into trees and shrubbery using camo gear. Also, the cast of characters, while slightly undefined, are smarter than your usual lot. When they get the first inkling of danger, they don't split up or start humping each other - they actually stick together and work as a team.

The only downside to these smart characters is that there are only two murders before the gang catches on (unless you count the completely unrelated prologue), so it doesn't leave room for a lot of isolated attack scenes or extra murders to brighten up the pacing and keep the danger alive. If only one or two of them had to go pee or something...

Susan Justin's score is pretty cool, too, and keeps things exciting.

2020, found this movie on Tubi, along with Grizzly, The Crazies (Code name Trixie), Without Warning (retitled The Warning) and Madman. I remember watching this. Scared me when I was a teen. 80's was the era of great slashers. One scene freaked me out. Surprised me to learn Joe Pantolino (Goonies, The Matrix, Sopranos and Bad Boys trilogy) stared in it. As well as Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill 1 & 2, Splash, Roxanne and Blade Runner) Very rare to find a movie that uses natural lighting instead of artificial lighting to capture details. Makes the scenes scarier. Watching the film as I'm watching this. Check it out.