A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

Final Girls (2015)

February 02, 2022 Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet Season 1 Episode 104
A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games
Final Girls (2015)
Show Notes Transcript

The Steves kick off Final Girl February with the 2015 cult-classic, Final Girls!

What's making us happy in pop culture today?

  • Manifest (Netflix)
  • Succession (HBO)

Topics discussed include:

  • The origin and background of the Final Girl trope
  • Movie names and numbers
  • The inspiration behind Final Girls
  • Slasher films vs. 'elevated horror'
  • Loving what you love even when it's not perfect
  • Which movie would you insert yourself into?
  • Ad-libbing to improve the script

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Support the show
Steve:

Hello, returning happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin,

Stephen:

and this is Stephen Martin-Bennet. And welcome to a lifetime of happiness.

Steve:

The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, TV shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.

Stephen:

And today we're kicking off final girl, February with the 2015 film all about. The final girls, but first my left, what's making you happy. So I found a show recently where it kind of breaks my rule on shows and you know, we talk about certain movies. I'm like, if you can't root for something, It's hard to like the thing. Yes. Well, I found a show where I don't really like any of the characters, but I couldn't stop watching the show. The cursing show, the cursing show, otherwise known as succession on HBO. Yes. And it's a fantastic show. It's well acted. The storylines are captivating. The people are not likable.

Steve:

No, I did not watch the show with you. It's one of your shows to watch while I'm in my meeting. And I come out though, and all I hear is like F this S that whole after ever mother effer and half off. Yeah. And which is the

Stephen:

most popular one is F

Steve:

off. Everyone can just fuck off into that show. So, yes, the I'm glad that you're enjoying that you're all

Stephen:

caught up. Yeah. I am all caught up with it and there's another season coming and it left on a big cliff hangers. It'll be interesting to see how they pick up and where

Steve:

they pick up and how can someone get to check it out if they were interested? What's networkers, H B O HBO and HBO. Max. Yes. Excellent. I actually found a show of my own to watch without you during the few and five times between when we're not together or I'm doing something AA related and that is manifest on Netflix, do tell it is another one of these. People go missing for a bit and everyone presumes they're dead and they come back to life and they have special powers.

Stephen:

Yeah, those usually last one or two seasons, but this one seems to have made it a little longer.

Steve:

It lasted for three seasons and NBC canceled it out of the blue, but it did so well on Netflix that it was like in the top 10 for shows for like months upon its release, that Netflix actually picked it up for a fourth and final season that will be released in two parts 10 episodes. So when the average season was been about like 12 episodes for season two and season three, having a fourth season, that's 20 episodes split into two parts. It's basically like two more seasons. I was going to say this

Stephen:

when Netflix is known for 10 or 13 episode seasons. That's a season four and season five, no matter what they want to call it.

Steve:

Exactly. But I'll take it. They say that it's a chance. Cause it is a show wrapped around in a mystery, shrouded in an enigma, all that kind of stuff. And it's like lost where they have all the crazy fan theories on the internet. And they said that the 20 episodes should be enough to wrap up all of the story lines and everything like that. So I'm, I'm on season three now, and it's just, I just started season three, left with a big cliffhanger season two that I'm seeing, I'm enjoying how they're playing it out so far. And it's just a good show. It has charming from once upon a time. As well as a bunch of other great actors and actresses that I'm glad that I'm catching up on it.

Stephen:

Wonderful. That sounds fantastic. Is there anything else that you've been spending your time on this weekend?

Steve:

Yes, but we're going to talk about it next week, cause I want to have more of a time to play through it.

Stephen:

Okay. Okay. So just kidding. There's nothing else.

Steve:

It's a video game. Okay. But yes, let's get into the final girls.

Stephen:

What is the final girl

Steve:

that is the leading character. Almost always female. As you can tell the girl that's survives a horror movie classically. We know her as the Virgin, she remains fully close. She probably doesn't drink or smoke or do drugs. And most of the time she's going to be a brunette because blondes are slutty and can't survive hard movies because they can't keep their pants on in horror movies.

Stephen:

Which we see a thing of the BR the brunette as the final girl and the blonde who breaks all the rules in the first movie where They kind of given a classic example. Now people are like, Ooh, Texas chainsaw massacre, blah, blah, blah. But I'm talking about Laurie Strode from Halloween. Yes.

Steve:

Laurie Strode is an excellent example of a final girl. A nightmare on Elm street is one which we'll get into next week. But it's a trope that has existed since horror pretty much began, although it's a relatively new term in film studies classes it was coined by Carol J Clover and her 1992 book men, women, and chainsaws gender in the modern horror film. That's

Stephen:

really? Yeah. I think I'm going to have to pick up that book and give it a read because that sounds fantastic now. The using existing trope prior to modern horror, the final girl is an AML GAM of more classic tropes, like the hero, the acuity and the damsel in distress.

Steve:

Yeah. So the hero's like typically like the one who saves the day, the QD is like the girl who cause back then the girl couldn't save the day. They needed a man because patriarchy and you know, the damsel in distress because typically she's seen as helpless, especially in the beginning of horror movies, although. It's also known that they will transform from that meek character to almost an action star by the end of the movie proving that they're stronger, more resourceful, smarter than everyone and realized including the villain and more importantly, including herself,

Stephen:

that is, you know, it's always great to see too. And it just makes me happy. I love the final girl trope very much so. Yes. So.

Steve:

Tell me more well, like many trips, the final girl has seen numerous subversions in recent years. Once it became established of the final girl is always a Virgin who doesn't drink or do drugs, who is a brunette, you know, people will try and switch it up here and there by either making the final girl blonde or making her not a Virgin. As we saw, you know, scream, hinged a lot on the idea that Sydney would be safe until she lost her virginity, making us feel like when she lost her virginity, she was more likely to die and she survived. So, you know, she's a subversion. But I would say the biggest subversion of the trip that I could think of as, when we covered cabin in the woods with their main street to start Dana.

Stephen:

And because she's a red head too.

Steve:

She's a red head. She wasn't a Virgin. When they put her in the Virgin trophy, they were like, we work with what we have

Stephen:

now. Just as a topic of conversation, we call Sydney the final girl. And usually when we say the final girl, they're the only person to survive the movie usually. That is not the case with the screen movies.

Steve:

I know they are

Stephen:

final girls. Yeah. And I mean, do we make it out alive in the first screen movie, even though that wasn't the original plan Gail helps take them down. So it's interesting that Sydney gets billed as the final girl and the star and every. But Gail's right there most of the time.

Steve:

Yes. She certainly isn't. I would never want to take away from the beauty and majesty. That is scale weather's for you. My love. But I believe that it's mostly just because it's also like the girl it's, it's that kind of a nation of like the hero, the one that story follows, the one that we get to know more on a personal level that it re, you know, especially in the first three, it revolves around Sydney and her history and her backstory. Yeah. So I feel like that's typically why she gets it.

Stephen:

Is the final girl trope feminist anti-feminist

Steve:

it depends on who you ask, like most things, especially in film theory, it's a matter of discussion. And you know, on one side of the argument, men are forced to identify with a woman in the climax of the movie. Typically when all the men are killed off. Yeah. And that women are often portrayed in a positive light as strong and capable. So on the pro side, you can see, you know,

Stephen:

She could save themselves like Ripley in aliens and a smart woman that survives because everybody else was doing.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly. But I mean, on the other hand, some people see that it's the stereotype of what women should be when they start off being like meek and innocent and pure and virginal and doesn't drink or curse, or do anything like that. You're like, it's shown like, that's what people should strive to be when it's not. Right. And you know, the reason why it said that, especially back in like the seventies and eighties, the director put you in that woman's point of view near the end, so that you're more likely to feel terrified because they felt like you couldn't be terrified if a guy was in that same mortal danger, because he'd be able to handle himself. Better question mark question

Stephen:

mark. Well, and so that's going to be something that at the end of final girl, February, whenever we talk about. I know what you did last summer because Julie and her boyfriend are there and they're both very active in the climax of the movie. I, it will be interesting to dive into the psychological aspects of that whenever

Steve:

we're doing. Yes, certainly. But in general, do you side on the fact that final girls can be seen as feminists like portrayals that women should strive to be your enjoy or do you think it's something that it's an outdated Schroep that yours and more towards patriarchy and it needs to be upended?

Stephen:

I still think it's feminist because you. And I also give credit that horror is probably one of the first genres where they let women be powerful because in, even in star wars princess Leia in the backseat. Yeah. And she needed rescued a lot. Even though she had some great moments of her own, but you've got these horror movies. Wait, wait back where the woman was like, I don't need a prince. I don't need a white Knight. I'll do it. My damn self. I say yay for final

Steve:

girls. Yes. And what better way to celebrate final girls than talk about the movie final girls? Yeah.

Stephen:

Tell me a little

Steve:

bit about it. It is a 2015 American comedy Mehta slasher film. We know we love those because at the same time, scream is a, it was directed by Todd Strauss, Shel sin, and written by and Joshua John Miller.

Stephen:

Where do we know any of those

Steve:

people? Well, Todd Strauss shall sin started his career with a very Harold and Kumar 3d Christmas. Yes. And since then he's went on to direct isn't it romantic, the one with rebel Wilson that we enjoy. And that was kind of similar in the vein to final girls where it was turning the romcom up on its head. And he's going to be directing the upcoming rabbits

Stephen:

movie like rabbits from Mario Pega and Mario and rabbit. Oh, no, not second Ubisoft. Yeah. That's yay.

Steve:

Yes, Fortin and Miller. Meanwhile, our life partners, who also co-wrote the pilot for Queens of the south for USA network. And they serve as that shows executive producers. Wonderful.

Stephen:

Now Miller's father Jason Miller appeared as father Cara's in the exercise. Which we'll have to cover at some point because the Exorcist is getting the Halloween 2018 treatment from the same

Steve:

group. Yes. And I have always really enjoyed it. Miller reported that the experience of watching his father dying the. And then in real life later on, and then what going back and watching the movie where you can see him die again. And again, kind of inspired his concept of what would it be like if you had a second chance, but your second chance was inside that movie. This is

Stephen:

a very unique take. And you know, it's very niche because not a lot of people have that, but it's it's something that we can all kind of. Identify and get our minds

Steve:

wrapped around. Yeah. I mean, I think it's the same way and we'll get him more into it with the plot of the movie. But I mean, when people have their loved ones pass away and you have recordings of them or movies or VHS tapes of like weddings and things like that, I mean, Normal for us to want to go back and relive those moments through it. So it's just a matter of like, imagine if you could put yourself in that reliving of the moment. Yeah. I think that that's something that can transcend the horror genre in general to just something people can relate to. Yes.

Stephen:

Now the film stars tastes for MIGA as max and Malin Ackerman as Nancy and Amanda.

Steve:

Yes, we love Farmiga from American horror story and she plays Gladys in the upcoming TV series. Ronnie is absolutely living for the gilded age

Stephen:

and we can all report. Gladly that Ronnie in India is able to watch the gilded age that he's been waiting over a year for. Thank

Steve:

goodness. We don't have to stream it for him via cell phone. Yes. Now Ackerman. Meanwhile, was Lori Jupiter in Watchman as well as Gertrude in the proposal and tests in 27 dresses. Yup.

I

Stephen:

really like her. She is just one of those actresses that when she's on the screen, She just seems like somebody. That would be

Steve:

really nice. Yes, she certainly is. Now this, these women are supported by Adam. Devine is Kurt

Stephen:

Thomas Middleditch as Duncan, Alia

Steve:

Shawkat as Gurdy

Stephen:

and Alexander Ludwig as Chris

Steve:

with Nina Dobrev as Vicky. Yes. Now we probably know divine from pitch. Perfect.

Stephen:

Middleditch is currently starring on, be positive on CVS

Steve:

shock cat. We loved interested development. Yeah,

Stephen:

maybe. Yes. Ludwig is from the show Vikings, which

Steve:

I didn't see, but when I saw it, I'm like not surprised. Looks like it could be a Viking and Dover. If we all know from vampire diaries who I

Stephen:

actually enjoyed her evil vampire clone better than the human version she

Steve:

played. Disagree on that. Now the film was originally picked up by new line cinema, but was shopped elsewhere when production didn't get off the ground. And it was later picked up by Sony pictures, worldwide acquisitions under their stage six films banner. The final

Stephen:

girls was released in the U S on October 9th, 2015, in a limited theatrical run and through video on demand, it had a budget of 4.5 million. And between on demand sales plus Blu-ray and DVD sales has a domestic revenue of approximately 2.8 million, but it also has a growing cult following. And it's continued because we didn't find out about it until it wasn't 2015.

Steve:

I'd say it's probably 2018 or so it's about

Stephen:

around there. So my guess is that over the years and stuff like that, it's going to make back its budget. And it's sad that it didn't do more because this is a quality film. It

Steve:

certainly is. Unlike. Camp blood bath?

Stephen:

No, I totally would've watched camp blood bath in a

Steve:

heartbeat. I know you would have, it starts with the movie itself, starts with a trailer for camp blood bath, a fictional movie that appears to be an amalgam of all the hard tropes of the eighties. We've come to love. Like many of that we talked about in the final girl strip of what are some other things from the portrayal or that you thought were funny?

Stephen:

Oh, I mean, it just, some of the over the top things that we did the in the trailer, it doesn't have. Cinematography, just because, you know, it's older and it's playing on a lot of the night, I'm sorry, Friday the 13th type of things, but you could tell that camp blood bath really didn't have a Friday, the 13th budget.

Steve:

Yes. And the, the dialogue was just cheesy as

Stephen:

all get up. Oh, it's kind of one of those things. You know, in the recent screen five or scream that they talk about elevated horror and how there's a certain generation. That's all like, oh, I only want elevated horror if it's not Midsummer or the witch or hereditary, don't talk to me. And then you have the other group that's like, fuck it. Let's watch sleep away. Camp three again. Yeah. I like to fall somewhere in the middle there's room

Steve:

for both. Yes. There certainly is. In the real world, we find out that it's a max who's watching the trailer as her mom. Amanda comes back from an audition. We clearly see their dynamic is switch from what you would typically consider a mother daughter relationship with Amanda, wanting to run off for the weekend with a guy while max the child is the one worrying about their bills. Yeah.

Stephen:

Now their personal song comes on the radio, Betty Davis eyes, which is. Ah, fantastic song from the eighties and everyone should love it. While singing along, max spill some coffee on Amanda's headshots, Amanda freaks out, tries to grab them, clean them and they get into a car wreck. Before the film flashes to the opening

Steve:

title. Yes. Now one thing I found in researching the movie is the screenwriters originally intended to use Madonna song like a prayer instead of Bette Davis eyes and wrote an impassioned letter to Madonna requesting permission to which she replied that they could use any song in her catalog. But that one, since she allegedly doesn't have the license to like a prayer, ah, now

Stephen:

I have to find out who does have the license to it. But I also love the fact that Madonna wrote back and she was like, Any of them. I love it. It's fine. Just not that one. Exactly.

Steve:

It'd be funny if we do more research and then we find out that she did have a license for it, she just lied, but I have a feeling it probably was caught up

Stephen:

somewhere else. Yeah. Because I could see.

Steve:

I dunno, it doesn't seem to be one who doesn't want to share her music with

Stephen:

the world. So she always like, if there's a reason for it to be an a movie, she always shares

Steve:

it. Yes. Now they look so close in age and max and Amanda that I had to double-check Malin is 43 and Thaisa is 27. So it's a 16 year age difference. It is. Barely passable, but it is biologically possible for them to be mother-daughter.

Stephen:

Yep. 100%. Because also for MIGA doesn't look 27. She definitely, even in this is passable as a 16 or 17 year old.

Steve:

Yes. Now, even though max is more, the more mature of them, Amanda definitely does care for her daughter saying everything in my life. I got wrong, but I got you. Right. Yep.

Stephen:

And I love.

Steve:

Yes. Now after the opening title, three years later, max is watching a video of her and her, obviously dead mom. When her friend Girdy picks her up, Girdy provides backstory that Chris is into math. So he broke up with Vicky. Who's a mess. And

Stephen:

when Gerdy says, have you seen the veiled suicide note slash poem? She posted on her Facebook page. It's hilarious. I read it out loud to myself

Steve:

a lot. Yes. Now add a diner. Chris is quizzing max on great trivia. When Duncan arrives wanting to bring max to a camp blood bath marathon, you learn Guardi is a stepsister and he's obsessed with them. Max declines, but then is offered by Dunkin for him to do all of her homework for a year. So she, of course is going to make the appearance. Yes. Now we normally love when they're talking about like history and mythology and things like that to get into why it might have been chosen or included, because it's rare that those are random. In this one they're talking about per Stephanie's trip with Hermes in the underworld, after Hades kidnapped her with Hermes saying, keep going. I mean, I guess I can see it being an allegory for later because they're in the film and they have to just ride it

Stephen:

out. And I do think that that definitely is it because as we see later on any time that they try to go out of the

Steve:

shot or,

Stephen:

Not do with the plot either repeats or they keep looping. Yeah. So I definitely see

Steve:

that. Yeah. Now Duncan loves camp blood bath series with a passion, with a deep respect for it even. It's, you know, I always love to see when people love things dearly, you know, we love things dearly and I find it something really nice.

Stephen:

Yeah, I like it when there's an adoration for it. Instead of like a toxic fandom where you see some of the people. Take things a little too far.

Steve:

You mean you didn't include all thousand Pokemon in the new Pokemon spinoff game. Are I hate you

Stephen:

as we've seen in the past couple years with people online with their hate of, you know, star wars or like the justice league fans and stuff. And I dunno, I just. This is a

Steve:

lifetime of happiness because we love the pop culture we ingest and enjoy. And even if there's something not perfect about it, we try and see the happiness

Stephen:

in it. Right. And I think, and so that's why I think I really appreciate Duncan because he acknowledges that it's cheesy. He acknowledges that their parts are bad, but he loves it. And I'm like, I get it that I totally get.

Steve:

Yes. And then at the movies we learn, it's the anniversary of Nancy's death. Chris came to support max since he knew it would be tough. We then meet Vicky, who is the stereotypical debts, who also has an Adderall problem, but also be used to be friends with max before her mom's

Stephen:

death, which that you would, you kind of see the max now and the Vicky now. And you're like, I don't know if I buy them as friends it later on.

Steve:

Yes. Now, allegedly the reason why Adderall worked its way into the script is because one of the writers, I forget whether it was Fortner Miller actually was dealing with some Adderall problems of his own while creating the movie. And so they wrote it in, cause it's funny, but in hindsight, it'd be like, if I wrote a whole script about drinking and then like five years later, I flashed back and I'm like, oh, that didn't age. Well, for me.

Stephen:

Now there, their use of it, like with Vicky isn't the best. But later on as the plot device, the Tina, Tina is

Steve:

hysterical. Yes. It's certainly. Yeah.

Stephen:

Now, during the movie, like they're all sitting there, theater's packed. And we get to exposition about Billy Murphy, a kid who was bullied by counselors and campers alike until one prank went too far with a firecracker in an Althaus. I mean, it's the age old tale who hasn't had a firecracker in the outhouse.

Steve:

I don't, I don't, I don't use outhouses. I'm too soft for. Never ever, no,

Stephen:

you've

Steve:

never, ever had that point. I might as well just do it in the woods. Okay. And now we then see Nancy gets to do spike Curt while in the real world, a stray cigarette, Ash lights up a trail of vodka leading up to the movie screen. Oh. To escape backstage. They slashed through the movie screen with a nearby machete. Because well, okay. Yeah. But rather than ending up backstage, they end up in the movie. Okay.

Stephen:

Can we at least talk about how max bumps into someone and the person she bumped into drops the machete a who brings that to a movie? Because it's a real one. It's not like, you know, some rubber

Steve:

machete. I would not be alive nowadays.

Stephen:

No. Max acts very nonchalant about seeing it, picking it up like, oh, there's a machete on the ground. Okay. Keep going

Steve:

forward, babe.

Stephen:

So if this trick worked, what movie would you want to cut your way into?

Steve:

I would want to cut my way into detective Pikachu, S 11 Ryan city with Pokemon harmoniously. Oh, that's a good one.

Stephen:

See, my first instinct was like the princess bride. Yeah. Because like it's a whole magical world filled with wonderful people. And I think that that would be a great area.

Steve:

Yes. Just don't get lost in the swamp. Yes.

Stephen:

The fire swamp is not where I would want to go, especially with, you know, the rodents. Unusual size. Yeah. The R O U S

Steve:

is yes. Now in the original script, the kids underwent physical changes when they entered the film, like the girls waistline, shrinking their breasts ballooning. And in that version Girdy was so enamored by this new found beauty that she tried to sabotage her friends so that they couldn't leave the movie. Boom.

Stephen:

No, yes. I don't like that at all. Like Girdy may have issues, but she's also seems to be one of the. Stronger knows herself characters. Yes. And I wouldn't like that version of

Steve:

it. No, I wouldn't. Especially since, from what I read, it was mostly the women who got changes. Like, unless the guys, all of a sudden went from being, you know, slightly flabby to having like six packs, like it would have had to. Equal right.

Stephen:

And the guys would have had to been wearing, you know, the crop tops that all the guys in the eighties

Steve:

war now we see the, of the bus going to camp stop by with Nancy. I sleep in

Stephen:

the back, Tina and

Steve:

Kurt and yeah. And they get invited to join the bus, but turn it down because they're just confused about what's going on. Right. 92 minutes later, they come back and replay the same time.

Stephen:

And, you know, this time our characters tell them, you know, the camp we're pretty sure is that way. And they're like, thanks. And they drive off and our people are waiting and it flashes on the screen. 92 minutes later here

Steve:

comes the. Yes this time, they've smarted up after three and a half, four and a half, five, like four and a half, five hours later. And they asked for a ride to camp Dunkin figured out that they would have to follow along with the movie if they wanted to get home, keep going forward. Yes. As they arrive at camp blue Finch, max gets to see her mom as Nancy wakes up,

Stephen:

you know? And the funny thing about this, you know, w we've clearly said 92 minutes, cause that's, what's on the screen and they're very specific. What is so big about 92 minutes,

Steve:

babe. That's exactly how long this movie is as well.

Stephen:

Which that is fantastic. So, you know, camp bloodbath is 92 minutes. Final girls is 92 minutes. I

Steve:

like that. Now this movie and next week, some movie, both feature Nancy and Tina, is that a coincidence?

Stephen:

Not at all because Nancy, we know Heather land gin camp from nightmare on Elm street, Tina, our first big death in a nightmare on Elm street. They're both in this movie too, as so much. Yes. The character names.

Steve:

Not the actresses. Yes. Yes. Now at camp, we get to see Kirk being a horndog and learned that everyone who has sex in this movie dies staying through to the final girls trope.

Stephen:

Yup. And also movies from back then. Like if you go back and watch the first Friday the 13th. Yeah. Kevin bacon bites it while having sex. Yes.

Steve:

Now they then try and get the keys from Kurt. And he and Duncan have a battle of words with Kurt's dialogue being exceptionally cheesy before he throws the keys off into

Stephen:

the woods. And. You could see that Adam divine was having a blast with this.

Steve:

Yes. I give them the credit for like, having him be the horndog who seduces everyone, because at that time, at least he didn't have the traditional body, you would expect for the, the, you know, the seducer to have. But it's just that amount of confidence that he has in himself. And, but like you could, I also found out that he and Middleditch were both constantly going off script and they were encouraged to do. And most of their improv's made it into the final

Stephen:

cut, because if you're watching the credits at the end, you get to see their different improv scenes and which ones were too. Now Adam Devine's character is kind of like his role in pitch. Perfect. Amped up to 11.

Steve:

Yes, certainly. I love just this. The dialogue is very funny. Yeah. Now max tries to encourage Nancy to keep it in her pants. Before the group joins up to find the keys through in the woods, watching the first hookup get murdered by Billy Dunkin says they can't intervene and just have to watch.

Stephen:

Now, given what, you know, like if we were in the movie and given what we know so far, would you have tried to intervene?

Steve:

I don't think I would have intervened necessarily because I didn't have the strength at this time, but I also wouldn't watch, like, I know that it would be happening, but I'd probably be like looking away or just trying to be somewhere else, like, cause I can't imagine just watching, like. As much as we love watching it and movies like the heart of the death, the dismembering, and all of that. I can't imagine just sitting there and watching it in real life happen and enjoy it, or like not be affected by it.

Stephen:

And part of me is like, obviously they have a little bit of power to change some things, because, you know, in the original movie they don't get in the van because they're not there and the whole keys thing and everything. So there are a little. I don't know if I would have pulled the people away, but I think I would have at least hollered at them and been like, you need to get outta here. There's a killer on the loose. Don't

Steve:

just watch them start to have sex, right? Yes. I got to say, I agree with that. That sounds nicer than what my running away idea. Well,

Stephen:

Billy watches the group. Well, Duncan posits that Billy doesn't know what to do with. Since they aren't supposed to be in the Mo movie. And so Dunkin gets up there right by the killer. And he recaps the film of the movie and how the final girl Polish shows up in the next scene. And then Billy walks up to him like he's about to kill him, gives this little, little. What type of look at him like if they were probably allowed to do the Michael Myers head tilt, that would be the Michael Myers head tilt section. And then he walks away and Duncan's all like C, C. And then all of a sudden a machete is thrown from off screen, goes into the Dunkin side. Dunkin

Steve:

dies. Yes. The group tries to run away, but find themselves literally running around in a loop, realizing they're trapped in the movie. Yay. You came

Stephen:

back. Yay. You came back. Yay. And it keeps going on until there's. We're not getting anywhere.

Steve:

Yes. And at this point they realize that they're in a horror movie and they're just horrified by it. Like the reality of it that they get are also at risk. Yeah. The counselors from the movie, you're all singing Michael row, your boat or shore as the group watches on and just terror and discussed

Stephen:

because they have to now go to the. Camp counselor sleepover.

Steve:

Yes. And this song was also ripped right out of the pre-credit sequence in the movie Friday, the 13th,

Stephen:

which you know, of any of the. Horror films. This is drawing on it the most. Yep. 100%.

Steve:

Now Paula arrives and surprise. Despite being the final girl in this movie, she has found out smoke cigarettes and drinks, and I bet she has sex too.

Stephen:

Oh, I bet she does too. Now they decided to split up and each go with the counselors, trying to figure out a way for them to get home as well as not die. So Chris is with Kurt and Chris is trying to convince Kurt to not have socks. And Adam Divine's like. Going to bone everybody, everybody here. That's what I'm going to do. That's the only reason I came. Kurt's with Blake and she finally convinces him. Quit gathering wood by yourself, away from everybody else and go back to where other people are. And Vicki's with Tina and Paula and Vickie could care less about Tina and Paula. She just wants to know where the big weapons are, especially the chainsaw. She doesn't plan to die.

Steve:

Yes. And max is with Nancy and she actually succeeds at stopping Nancy from having

Stephen:

sex job, max, what a good daughter you are?

Steve:

Yes. It's never been so good to be a cock blocker for mommy now. Great. Here's the killer sound screams and everyone gathers

Stephen:

and I it's real, real close. Like almost exact to the killer sound from. Friday the 13th with all. And so I'm wondering, is it changed just enough or did they get approval to use the sound with this

Steve:

budget? I bet it was changed just enough. Now. Max gets Nancy going about the legend of Billy Murphy. And as she tells the flashback, the group is transported back in black. With like, kind of like gooey stuff, dripping everywhere, changing it all from color to black.

Stephen:

And they were freaking out because they had no idea what was about

Steve:

to happen. Not what we see on screen when flashbacks happen. It's this unique, special effect that I think it was really cool.

Stephen:

Yeah. I also love the fact that, you know, in the movie originally, Nancy does this flashback. But because our characters aren't supposed to be there, they're transported into the flashback where the counselors stay in the cabin. And I love that aspect that our people are out of place in time. So they get moved around and it's really. How they're doing that. This film was really creative in that aspect.

Steve:

And we learned more about the prank that happened to Billy, how it left him with third degree, burns everywhere. And while he was recovering, he needed a mask and sought revenge on the counselors. And I think that we couldn't fill in the blanks from so far now, but we get to see more of it. And the

Stephen:

whole mass creation. It is interesting that it seems kind of like. Mask from Majora's mask, the legend of Zelda game then kind of like, you know, Jason, where's the hockey mask thing.

Steve:

Yes. It's very DIY. Yeah. Now I think that the main reason why this is there not, isn't so much to tell us about Billy's backstory, but to set the stage for what happens later when they do the flashback again. Yes, but they returned to the present in the movie and Girdy has blood from the flashback all over her freaking the movie counselor.

Stephen:

And Paula and Kurt decide like we're getting the hell out of here and try to drive away. And unfortunately Paula runs over a, not dead Duncan and then crashes her car into the opening of the camp, the two wooden poles and Kurt wasn't wearing a seatbelt. So he flies out the windshield bins in half, like a pretzel and he's dead. And then Paula's car blows up with her and. No

Steve:

more final girl. Yes. Now, if you were in a Halloween movie and Laurie Strode was killed, would you step up to be the final girl or would you just assume you were all? So

Stephen:

like, if we were watching the Halloween movies and we had knowledge that Laurie and all of that I would just be freaking out thinking final girl's dead. We're all going to die. That was like, that would be where my mind would go. It wouldn't. Like. We have to find a new

Steve:

final girl. Yeah.

Stephen:

Like I would just be like, let's save ourselves. Drive out of Haddonfield. Let's get the hell out of here. Yes.

Steve:

Well, at this point, max and her friends tell the movie characters that they are in a movie, they handle it well considering. Yeah. They talk about how the final girl needs to be a Virgin, which just leaves max. Max feels incapable because I mean, following the final girl trope, she's like, oh no, I, I couldn't. I just too meek and shy and insecure. Which makes it pretty much go down to Nancy. But Vicki doesn't like that idea. Yeah.

Stephen:

And max ends up giving Nancy a pep talk and they buy him bombed over the kind of mom Nancy always wanted to be. Yes. Now

Steve:

during this exchange that we learned that Girdy is not a Virgin because she slept with an autistic guy last summer. And originally that was written into the script in a very mean-spirited way. But Aliyah, the actress had a real problem with it and came up with her own diet. We're instead of making a comment about his being neurodivergent she just said yeah. And he was really romantic. Yeah. And I love that. Yeah. I love that too, because I mean, obviously making fun of people that are neurodivergent is not okay. No. Now operation booby trap begins. And I love that because it involves lots of literal booby traps, but then it's also Tina striptease with her boobies, that trap, Billy, get it. I do get it now. Vicki then apologizes to Girdy and max for being the worst as she comes to the fat face, the fact that she might not

Stephen:

survive. And I do love that whenever, like it's very realistic. I'm the mean girl in an eighties horror movie. And we're past the halfway point. I'd say I've overstayed my welcome. And I mean, what kind of inner turmoil would you have to get to accept that a, I know I'm not a good person and be in the type of movie we're in. I know that means I'm about to die. Like it gives me a little bit of sympathy for Vicky. She had to come to terms with her own death pretty

Steve:

fast. She certainly did it in less than 92 minutes shirt. Now Nancy gives an acts of friendship bracelet as they bond more with max, starting to hope that Nancy can come home with her. Cause girls delusional. Nancy, you never

Stephen:

know. I mean, that was my first thought is pull your mom back through the movie screening. Oh, bless your hearts. And they shouldn't have been able to get in the movie there's or there's always a chance they could pull someone out fro, except that it wouldn't be Amanda. It would be

Steve:

Nancy. Yes. Now Tina breaks into Vicky's Adderall and it gets cracked out. She becomes hyper-focused on a fly in a room, which was ad-libbed when a real fly flew by.

Stephen:

And then we get to Tina's dancing. Which the actress, Angela trimmer improvised after getting hopped up on caffeine and it was really

Steve:

int it's certainly love it. When someone goes all we all into something.

Stephen:

Yes. Because it's not sexy at all. Like it's one of those. Like, if you were serious, you would be like, Ooh, cringe. Yeah. Yes.

Steve:

So you then freaks out as Billy comes after her trips over a rope and impales herself on a bear trap. Tina rest in peace. Tina. Now we're in the sharpest crane in the cram box

Stephen:

and the second floor of the cabin, guardian Blake kiss, and Blake decides he's going to go save the day. But he fails to get the machete from Billy and instead gets it stabbed through him. I'm leaving Nancy as the only movie character

Steve:

left. Yes, she and the group in pale belly with a bunch of flaming arrows. And when Gardy and Vicki got trapped under a bookcase, we see him in pale Gurdy.

Stephen:

That one hurt like Gurdy. It was one of the characters. You just, you're like, I'd be friends with

Steve:

her. Yes. And in her death cry, Vicky courages them to go out the window. And then she triggers an explosion to stop belly, which doesn't stop him, but it does set him on fire and he jumps out of it from the second story and a long, slow motion chase scene, which I

Stephen:

love that. They're out there and Nancy's like, what and max says, it's whoa, shun. And it's another one of those, like self-realized things, because obviously that's exactly what would be happening in a horrible. But people don't talk about

Steve:

it

Stephen:

and you talk during slow motion scene. So it was

Steve:

fantastic. Yeah. And it went on just the right amount of long, I would say, because in the original it happened for three minutes long, but it was cut for editing. Okay. Yeah. That

Stephen:

would have been way too long. And this, the scary part as we're watching them run is you can see Billy gaining on them too. And like with it happening in slow motion. It was a little bit scarier, but we also have to give Billy A. Little bit of credit because. Horror movie villains besides Freddy Krueger don't run. No true. So Billy getting to run, that's a whole other twist on the usual

Steve:

story. Yes. Now Billy runs quite well and corners. And just as he's about to kill them, they escape by telling Nancy to tell the origin story. Again, trigger in the flashback in the flashback. They're able to get the machete from

Stephen:

him because he gets run over by the car that comes into the flashback

Steve:

scene. Yes. Now kid Billy runs into a cabin and none of them have ever seen before as killer, Billy tracks them down and catches up and they got back to the present time in the movie.

Stephen:

That's it's really

Steve:

smart. Yeah. It was a great way to use that flashback tool. Like I mentioned, it wasn't necessarily required, you know, the first time around, but I'm glad they set the stage so that they could do this. Yeah. As a plot payoff. I mean, I, you know, the way that you use movie effects and if you put yourself into moving and just kind of saying, like, what would it be like if you were in the movie and that was happening? I mean, what other kinds of effects would you think would be really cool to like live in, in a horror movie or disorienting? Like, well, what, what else would you like to see portrayed in a movie?

Stephen:

So if I were in one and I was trying to come up with something that would get away like in the old nineties saved by the bell show, like sometimes Zach would be thinking and then you'd see the bubble go up and there would be. What in his mind, his fantasy of what would be happening. So that would be one of those things where all of a sudden you're like, but what if, and then you see the bubble and all of a sudden, like you have. To machetes in each hand in your fantasy and you can attack the killer that way.

Steve:

Yeah, that would be cool. What about you? A montage? I can see being overwhelming happening in real time when you're, you know, you're going through it chronologically and you're not like, if you're just like all of a sudden, like I'm doing swords at this point and then all of a sudden, wow, I'm somewhere else. And then while I'm somewhere else, and then while I'm somewhere else, especially happening. So in

Stephen:

like a pre. Clothing montage in the middle of that would throw everything off,

Steve:

certainly would. Now they do make their way back to present time where Chris gets stabbed and belly kidnaps. Nancy max takes Chris to an empty church where he foolishly tries to remind max that Nancy isn't her mom. Then he pleads not to be left to die alone. And at this point, I mean, being. That, you know, we talked about one of the things is that normally the we're putting the women's point of view so that the men, because the men can't feel vulnerable or so to speak, like at the house, when she checked in with Chris and said like, how are you feeling? He said, I'm scared. Yeah. And here he's like, I don't want to die alone. Like, he's more like he's one of the more vulnerable characters, ultimately in the end for being able to voice what he was feeling

Stephen:

in this. And I do. Like originally when he was like, that's not your mom. And I was like, asshole. And then I realized, oh, he's doing that. Because as he says, the second later, don't leave me alone. He like what? He wouldn't have been nasty to her like that. If he wasn't scared of being left there to die on his own.

Steve:

Yes, certainly.

Stephen:

Now. They realize that there is someplace that Billy probably took Nancy and it's the cabin from the flashback. And so max finds her way. There also finds the dead bodies of every police. And, but finds Nancy tied up and she untied her and they square off against Billy.

Steve:

Yes. And they ended up slicing him with his machete before making it back to the church and Nancy and max have another heart to heart where max comes clean about being real life. Nancy, his daughter, Nancy goes off to sacrifice herself. So max can be the final girl because there can't be too. Yeah, same max will always know where to find her. The movie. Yeah.

Stephen:

I just love it. She's going out. And she goes, you know, you were right. I am a movie star.

Steve:

Yes. Nancy prepares to confront Billy while dancing to Betty Davis eyes for max with the music ending. As Nancy gets impaled, max gets a surge, a final girl powers and faces off against Billy. There. A fight scene is almost matrix C at the time to show off how final girls usually have almost superhuman strengthened as agility. And it ends with her decapitating. The credits begin to play on screen, leaving max and Chris to believe it's all over. And they share their first kiss in celebration,

Stephen:

but all of a sudden, the background shifts and the awakened to find themselves in a hospital, but they also find Duncan Girdy and Vicky who were all okay. And they're like, was it a dream? And they're like, no, it wasn't a dream because Duncan still has his machete wounds. And max is still wearing the friendship bracelet that Nancy gave

Steve:

her. Yeah. Yes. And just as they begin to feel safe, figuring that they survived the experience. Somehow they hear the horror music of up and out in the hallway. They see tab a gremlin and a Rubik's cube, which means

Stephen:

we're still. In the CQL camp, blood bath to cruel summer. Oh no. And then Billy bursts through the hospital glass door, kind of like Michael does at the end of Halloween too. Yeah. And I'm like, at the end of Halloween to this time, max is like F this and goes charging at Billy. Yes.

Steve:

And that is how it ends.

Stephen:

Like, you know, it's one of those things you're like, oh, I would love to see SQL. Yeah. You know what I think I'm, I think this was a great way to end it though. It certainly

Steve:

was. And yeah, I overall for the movie, I mean, I just find that it is, you know, it's the type of slasher that we love while being self-aware in a way that we love. When I think of my like top fave, like favorite horror movies, this isn't one that normally find its way on the list, but there's really nothing not to love

here.

Stephen:

It's a very tight 92 minutes. They do not waste any time. Every conversation, every scene has something important. Like there is not. And also because of the runtime, you shouldn't need to go to the bathroom, but you know, like in some movies you're like, well, this is the point where it can go to the bathroom. I don't think there's a scene like that in this movie. Like there's not a, this

Steve:

wasn't necessary. I mean, maybe a couple of the Nancy and mom bonding scenes, but that's because I have no heart. And, you know, being that the title is named final girls. What are some ways that you feel like it fits the trope? I

Stephen:

mean, it absolutely does. And. You know, even if you look at Nancy getting to be the last surviving original cast member, because of all the people this time around, she does fit the trope the most it's not her fault that originally the writers had her somehow sleep with Kurt, which she shouldn't have fallen for at all. She has to be smarter than that. And I also like that. You know, I enjoyed the superhuman abilities and the matrix slide in slow motion and stuff that they give to max after Nancy dies. Like it all works out really well. This is the. We usually see, you know, the meat girl become the one that's going to defend everybody. And that's

Steve:

very max. Yes. Yeah. It certainly fits the trope in a whole lot of ways. I would say the only way that I didn't really see it fitting the trope was the original final girl in this eighties. Classic seemed to be like the modern day anti-fungal girl in terms of like the persona that Paula gave off that I can't imagine if the movie went the way that the movie was supposed to be, how she would be the one to be the final girl.

Stephen:

It's kind of. So Jamie Lee in 70 eights. Halloween? Yeah. Perfect. Final girl. Jamie Lee come 2018 hardened. No one knows what's coming. It's almost like Paula had already lived through something. By the time she got to camp blue Finch.

Steve:

Exactly. She was kind of what she should have been in two. Yes, but not the first one around. Yeah, so, but I mean, obviously she ends up dying and not being the final girl in this movie. And this movie is the one we're talking about. So can't fly bath might not have been the best for final girls, but the final girls in the final girl trope crowd.

Stephen:

Yes. It sure. And we would love to hear what you think of this movie or the final girl trope.

Steve:

Yes, you can do that by reaching out to us via email@happylifepodatgmail.com.

Stephen:

You can also reach us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TechTalk at happy life pod.

Steve:

Yes. And stay tuned next week when we cover the original Nancy and Tina's trip to LA. As we cover nightmare on Elm street. Oh my yes. And until that time stay happy.