The Final Storm

While this movie will not win any academy awards, it was certainly much better produced and acted then 99% of the Syfy produced movies scifi fans such as myself typically end up enduring, etc. I would give it a 5-6 as a vote. The plot summary appearing on IMDb is not at all accurate (the son never disappears amongst other things, but Luke Perry does play a mysterious stranger with a hidden and menacing past which threatens the family amidst the turmoil of the general disaster).

The actors all give reasonable performances, they are not wooden or overacting in the manner typical of smaller budget productions. All three principals - Lauren Holly (very attractive), Steve Bacic and Luke Perry were decent.

However, one should be aware that this is not a slam bang action flick with all sorts of special effects, battles, etc. There is none of that in this movie. The movie is about a small family living in a rural area against the backdrop of something cataclysmic having occurred, but the hows and whats of that are never really delved into - rather the focal point of the story is how they are coping, the mysteries surrounding a stranger who has wandered onto their property, etc.

I would deem the movie to be more of a suspense/thriller against a quasi sci-fi backdrop.

On a plus note, it did keep our attention start to finish, and we were not hooting and hollering at grade F special effects and cheesy acting.

On a negative note, the ending was somewhat of a mystery to us. We have some theories, but you are better off to watch the movie and come up with your own.

I think overall this is the sort of movie actors do to keep paying the bills, but at least they gave it a decent go, and made the 90 minutes of the movie respectable rather then terrible.

THE FINAL STORM is a cheap, end of the world thriller from German director Uwe Boll. This one was made in Canada and features a fiery DVD cover promising all sorts of apocalyptic action. Unsurprisingly, it never delivers on that promise.

Instead, this turns out to be a straightforward (read: predictable) three hander about a married couple and their kid holed up in their dingy farmhouse. One day a mysterious stranger comes along and proceeds to turn their lives upside down. What follows is completely without merit; this kind of cheap situation has been done to death in the past and Boll offers absolutely nothing new to the scenario. A film set in a single location with few actors needs really good writing and direction to make it work, and you just don't get it here.

Instead what we do get are a bunch of has-been actors going through the motions. Former pretty boy Luke Perry plays the mysterious stranger and does a frankly poor job of it. Lauren Holly's appearances in mainstream Hollywood films are long in the past. And main actor Steve Bacic is one of those 'never was' guys, devoid of charisma to boot. In all, THE FINAL STORM is a waste of time.

You can see the overhead microphone in 2 scenes. Really?! Why the following decided not to edit those images? It kind of destroys the fantasy of believing.

That for the technical portion.

The rest of the movie is very low energy, borderline boring. Not a horror nor a sci-fi movie as promoted.

The premise of the world going crazy started the movie, shifting to a family of 3 living in a ranch away from the city.

During a storm, a lost guy appears at the property and he was assisted by the family.

The relationship between the family and the stranger is basically the main theme of these movie.

There's the main plot about "the stranger" and then there's the apocalypse plot. Which basically gets completely forgotten about. Pick one, because they clearly couldn't manage two.

Nothing particularly terribly awful about this film. After going through all of Luke Perry's movies until this one, The Final Storm seems par for the course for a cheap film. Small hometown cast and location and a kooky story to keep things going.

Luke Perry departs a bit from his Dylan persona to bring out his southern baptist evil bible thumping character that he's toyed with on occasion. He does it believably, that's a testament (no pun intended) to his superb and experienced acting skills. The other main characters were all played well, too. The story didn't blow me away like a big budgeter would. Though you can't expect that it should, I don't look at the movie's production price before watching, so I treat all movies equally and they usually cost the consumer equal amounts so it would be fair to stack this movie against Batman, The Godfather, Men in Black, whatever. So, up against those guys, this movie is cheap and is not as much of a thrilling 90 minutes. But for what it is, it's fun, it keeps you guessing, and it has you rooting at the right moments.

I almost stopped watching after the first minute because Luke Perry's been in so many movies about storms, I thought this must have been one I'd already seen. Turns out, nope, here came yet another storm film from the former heartthrob.

Lots of question remain unanswered after the film's ending, which is annoying, most movies wrap 99% of their story up at Fin time, but the conclusion is satisfactory enough to say, "Cool, that was fun," and, of course, it leaves you wanting more, especially more answers!

If you could watch any movie in the world I wouldn't tell you to bother with this one. But if for some reason you had it in your hand and were wondering if it should be played, I wouldn't be compelled to stop you. Grab some popcorn and enjoy, especially on a stormy night!