I've seen a lot of movies - a vast majority of them horror. Yet, its rare that I watch one that leaves me thinking about it for days. One that literally haunts my mind with all the things going on. A film that is both frighteningly real and eerily mesmerizing. The film I speak of is The Final, an entry from After Dark Horrorfest 2010 - 8 Films To Die For.

Before I go any further, I just want to warn people straight up - this film will challenge every sense of your social practicalities. It probably won't gross you out. It definitely won't make you scream in terror. It may end up plaguing your mind though. The reason is the film depicts bullied high school students planning and carrying out the systematic torture of their bullies. The parallels between this film and Columbine are undeniable. For most people, I imagine it will be a challenge to not dismiss this film outright as irresponsible and reprehensible.

The Final starts out with no false pretenses. It shows the jocks and popular kids mentally and physically tormenting the outcasts. It is Anywhere USA High School and the situation is normal. However, the victims at this school are a little different than other outcasts. When together they change from persecuted loners to whispering conspirators - confident, collected, serious. Their intentions are evident from the get go. This rag tag group of outcasts is about to actually enact a plan of revenge that every bullied kid probably has imagined at one point or another. You feel sorry for the outcasts, but have trouble liking any of them even if you identify with them. Its kinda like watching Larry Clark's Bully where you just can't really stand the central characters even though you feel the utmost pity for them.

The plan goes into action and the table definitely turns on the night of a costume party thrown for the populars. There is drinking, drugs, dancing, and probably some good old fashioned fornication about to go down. You know the typical stuff that gets you killed in a horror movie. You have to admit you're used to seeing teenagers die for their petty sins. The asshole, the slut, the stoner. You know they're all about to get a machete to the face, yet when you watch The Final its difficult. This isn't a film about senseless death and dismemberment. The message of the Final is that everything has consequences and those consequences are indeed grave.


The biggest problem is that the "killer" here is the bullied outcasts from the beginning of the film. The ones you were made to feel pity for. They also aren't killing the bullies, they are torturing them. They're reflecting years of torment and ridicule back in a concentrated and severe dose of mental and physical anguish. The outcasts goal is not to punish with death, but to make their tormentors just like them. To make them feel ridiculed, anguished, and afraid.

When this film switches modes it tough on the audience. Your victims and villains instantly flip. The insecure outcast kids that were bullied at the start of the film are now all wearing terrifying costumes and armed to the teeth. The cocky populars almost instantly transformed into cowering sheep as they beg for mercy from the people they drove into planning these events. Who do you root for? What does it mean to root for each one? Would rooting for the outcasts be the same thing as rooting for Eric and Dylan storming Columbine?

The only true outlet the director provides is a popular kid named Kurtis. Early on Kurtis is shown to be a neutral figure that is friends with many of the outcasts, yet hangs out with the popular kids. Kurtis even defends one of the outcasts from the populars when the bullying goes too far. You see Kurtis' moral compass is set on hero. He's a beacon of white in an otherwise gray situation. When the tables flip Kurtis instantly moves to try and save the bullies. While he is highly likable and gives the audience something constant to attach themselves to, I think it would have been an even more brilliant film if the filmmaker had removed him entirely.

Joey Stewart, the director, is no fool either with his handling of the school shooting parallel. Almost every rationale the media could find is presented in this film. The Columbine shootings taking place on April 20th? You can bet one of the costumes is a Nazi uniform albeit in the style of the dust assassin from Hellboy (Karl Ruprecht Kroenen). Goth subculture? Yep, the girl outcast is most definitely a goth. Music? Yeah it pretty much right on for the angry outcast Rammstein- Marilyn Manson archetype.

The biggest satire though is on violence in the media and horror in general. Each of the costumes is modeled after different violent movies and even the torture scenes are homages. The female outcast is without a doubt a mix of The Strangers and Audition, even doing her own interpretation of the classic needle torture from the movie. One character sports a giant cattle gun that looks exactly like the giant device Anton Chigurh toted in No Country for Old Men. The parallels don't stop there either and the satirizing of violence in the media is evident.

There are two challenges in watching this movie. The first is more sensible; the movie is over the top and in many aspects mediocre. The dialogue is ridiculous at times, the acting is overly melodramatic or simply not very good at all. The film is far from perfect, in fact if it didn't have an interesting satire behind it - I'd argue it was nothing special at all. On almost every level from lighting to special effects to pacing one can see obvious improvements that could be made. I'm not saying its horrible, I'm just pointing out that this film on no level stands out for its technical or acting merits. The only exception may be Lindsay Seidel whom played the female outcast Emily; she on many levels did stand out.

The second challenge is one I've already mentioned: The Final challenges you. The switching roles of villains and victims, the social and emotional links to school violence, and for many their own personal history with the subject matter all make this a hard film to watch. I'd wager a fair amount of people that visit this site were bullied at some point in their middle or high school careers. I'd wager just as many had an elaborate revenge fantasy. Unless you're a total sociopath your sensibilities should be tinged while watching this film.

However, make no mistake; this film is a satire. It is not encouraging outcasts to rise up and harm their bullies. Nor is it trying to rationalize the actions of those who have carried out school violence. I'll let you watch it to make your opinions on the director's message. It is definitely a movie any member of Generation X or Y should see, although I can't guarantee it'll be one they'll enjoy.

---

Like horror movies, vengeance plots, and horror flicks? Give us your thoughts in the forums!

---