The Final Terror

(**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.

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.

The inspirational for this sub-standard, low-budget woodland slasher/survival horror is obvious ('Friday the 13th'and 'Deliverance'), but even then it took the hackneyed clichés and kind of added its own messy slab to the well-worn formula. Was it for the better? I don't know? What fell by the wayside was the overall pacing due to there being too little to the transparent story and simply having the characters going through the motions. Too much dead air with a small body count and not enough thrills. When they were inserted, it was feeble. Other then a decent opening (with that smoking theme song) and thunderously outlandish closing, in between was a lot of repetitively aimless parading. It's easy through those parts because of the beautifully authentic setting that was fluidly photographed. Although the nocturnal scenes are poorly lit. Director Andrew Davis (who would go onto to be a pivotal action deliverer with titles like 'The Package' (1989), 'Under Siege (1992) and 'The Fugitive' (1993) and many more) does a quite passive, if workman-like job without the setting the world alight. There's true grit, but the attacks are telegraphed and rushed leaving it struggling to sustain any sort of momentum in its attempts of suspense. Atmosphere on the other hand, breathes some starkness and the environment moodily blends well with Susan Justin's eerily unhinged music score and penetrating forest sounds. The cast is more interesting to look at on paper, than actually watching their performances. Really the material doesn't allow much room for growth and makes them all unappealingly disposable. Too many I guess. Daryl Hannah, Adrian Zmed and Rachel Ward are fine. Joe Pantoliano in a short role makes the most in an over-exaggeratedly on-edge turn and Lewis Smith's unpredictable character kept one amused. It has its moments, but fails to really come out of first-gear.

Terrifying and unsettling movie plenty of thrills , chills , lush outdoors and passable acting. In the opening scene, a young couple loses control of their motorbike and fall to the ground when they hit a fallen tree laying on the track through a forest where they are riding. The guy, Jim, is badly hurt, and the girl, Lori, runs to find some help. She runs back to Jimmy where she finds him hanging upside down from a tree, terrified she runs back to a cabin . Then a group of rangers go camping on unfamiliar forest grounds. All's well until the group members start getting killed by a cunning killer in the woods. But there's some sinister in the woods. They suddenly become desperate when occurs a chain of nightmarish events . He has found you. Screaming won't help anymore. It's too late...Can anyone survive?. Without knowing they have awakened an unknown force. If you go down to the woods today you're sure of... The final terror. Daryl Hannah and Rachel Ward - Trapped In A Web Of Madness And Terror!. Don't See It Alone. A ghoulish tale of murder and the macabre from the creator of Alien. Without knowing they have awakened an unknown force. Can anyone survive?. He Has Found You. Without knowing they have awakened an unknown force!.If you go down to the woods today you're sure of...

The film displays thrills , chills , cardboard horror , tension and lots of blood and gory scenes for nauseating execution. The concept of the movie is plain and simple, the typical series murderer who proceeds an astonishing massacre. Scary and eerie with abundant gore, including nice make-up and adequate special effects. As always, a series killer makes an authentic slaughter with gruesome and bloody assassinations using some forest traps and other murderous instruments . After successes as John Carpenter's Halloween and Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th expanded a lot of rip-offs or imitations and one of the best ones resulted to be this ¨The burning (1981)¨, following this ¨Final terror¨. The Final Terror is notable for the presence of some soon-to-be stars appearing some familiar and young faces as who subsequently to be continued decent cinematic careers: Daryl Hannah, Rachel Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Lewis Smith, Adrian Zmed, John Friedrich, Mark Metcalf . To minimize costs, the production wasn't insured and the actors did their own stunts , for instance, some actors actually climbed the hills risked landscapes in order to save costs . Apart from a couple of minutes of mayhem at the beginning and end, the nearest of the film gets to dealing with the deranged slasher plot is to have it told, midway, as a camp-fire spook story. Undermining genre expectations, director Davis reveals an affectionate respect for the woods and likes his roles enough not to line them up as Slaher Victims. Surprisingly, the women aren't on board to be decorative nude figures , nor simple rape victims. ¨Deliverance¨ is the inspiration, but finally this film rafted down a different stream.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Andrew Davis, but nothing special, he's a filmmaker with a reputation for directing intelligent thrillers. Director Davis provides this film with great plot strength since he himself is an expert in physics and engineering. He has made good and boxoffice films, such as ¨Above the law¨, ¨The final terror¨ , ¨Chain reaction¨ , ¨Collateral damage¨ , ¨The Package¨ and Davis went on to direct 1992's top grossing picture, ¨Under siege¨ (1992), for Warner Brothers, a classic action film teaming Steven Seagal with Tommy Lee Jones. Being his greatest hit ¨The fugitive¨, this film received seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and earned Tommy Lee Jones a Best Supporting Actor award. Andrew Davis frequently casts 'Ron Dean', Chelcie Ross, Joseph F. Kosala, Joe Pantoliano and his father 'Nathan Davis' . He often directs in his city : Chicago. Rating The Final Terror(1983): 5.5/10. Passable and acceptable but inferior than other Andrew Davis films.

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.