Final Girl (2015)

Still photographer Tyler Shields presents his first film with a slick and method style. Infiltrating a pack of young killers, Abigail Breslin offers a sympathetic yet hard fought performance as a young undercover operative. The story is extremely straightforward at first but becomes increasingly far-fetched towards the halfway point. Shields knows how to frame a shot, but inexplicable lighting and continuity issues mar the film as a whole. It's an impressive directorial debut showcasing some young talent, but the compelling premise becomes less and less as it reaches its obvious conclusion.

2½ Anna Belles out of 5

THE FINAL GIRLS [2015]

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson rolls the trashy '80s' slasher flick through a Pleasantville-esque puddle of blood in the horror-spoof The Final Girls.
A modern teen & her friends find themselves magically pulled kicking and screaming into her dead mother's famous 80's cult-slasher, Camp Bloodbath and must face-off with the machete wielding killer while trying not to affect the course of the original film.  With it's elements of Back to the Future, the film tries but doesn't quite reach the wit of The Cabin in the Woods or Scream but gives the bad horror film genre a delightfully fun run for it's money.  However what it lacks in cleverness (and scariness), it makes up for with non-stop humor and a surprising amount of heart.

3 self-aware slo-mo shots out of 5