An unusual 80's Horror

Jon George, Neill Hicks, and Ronald Shusett wrote this screenplay, a movie I had never heard of until I saw it on Vudu for free yesterday. It's release in '83 makes it a piggy backer off of the Friday the 13th series, and though it does pull some similar elements (a campground, an unknown killer), the writers break new ground and manipulate the horror genre. Instead of the typical counselors as our main characters, we instead have a set of 14 rangers who go camping in the forest. Now, the beginning hook is incredible and unique and very unforgettable, but that shock doesn't carry over into most of the movie. Instead of focusing on one kill after the other, director Andrew Davis pulls us into a heavy cast whose conversations mostly spin around ordinary topics. There's also a military vet, who comes in particularly handy later. Additionally, there is some star power (Daryl Hannah, Rachel Ward), yet all characters are treated equally. What is so interesting about this story is that you really don't know who the killer is. And it's very surprising when you find out. A good movie brings closure and this one did. A good movie also tweaks conventions and this one most certainly did. In most horror films, the characters split up, which inevitably leads to many more deaths. But the Final Terror strives for something more logical; instead, the band of rangers stay together as a team. On top of that, the kills are creative, the backstory of the killer makes sense (instead of some random person with no logical explanation), and the mysterious setting, that is used by the killer in creative ways, all come together into an interesting story.

#TheFinalTerror