The slasher subgenre is one of the most popular and iconic in horror, so there are hundreds of titles to sort through. This means that some great films get buried in the mix and never get the attention they deserve. Among those underrated movies is a criminally overlooked slasher that is a hidden gem of meta-horror comedy, and horror fans have the chance to stream it for free after it joined Tubi in May.
Todd Strauss-Schulson’s 2015 comedy horror The Final Girls joined Tubi’s free streaming lineup on May 1st. The movie stars Taissa Farmiga as Max Cartwright, a teenager grieving the loss of her mother who, along with her friends, finds herself trapped inside the 1980s slasher Camp Bloodbath, which starred her late mother. As they navigate the movie’s tropes to survive a machete-wielding killer, she must team up with her mother’s fictional character to survive and find a way out. The movie only ever had a limited theatrical release and has had inconsistent streaming availability over the years, earning it the status as an overlooked horror gem.
The Final Girls Is a Love Letter to 1980s Slasher Films
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After movies like Black Christmas and Halloween popularized the genre in the ‘70s, the 1980s welcomed a golden age for the slasher subgenre, a decade whose influence is still felt today. The Final Girls is a hilarious and heartfelt love letter to those 1980s slashers, the movie understanding and playing with the specific cliches that define the subgenre. The film’s summer camp setting with a masked, machete-wielding killer is a direct nod to Friday the 13th, and its characters fit into the typical roles you’d expect from a slasher, including the final girl, the promiscuous character, the jock, and the nerd. They’re also self-aware, knowing the rules to survive an ‘80s slasher like “If you have sex, you die” and “Don’t drink alcohol.” The movie also doesn’t shy away from poking fun at some of those tropes, at one point creating a meta-joke about the flashback trope, where the world turns black-and-white to show the villain’s origin story.
The Final Girls is a hilariously clever, self-aware take on the genre and one that is definitely worth checking out if you’re a slasher fan. The movie nestles its meta-commentary in a heartfelt exploration of grief and nostalgia that delivers some pretty iconic moments that will make you jump and laugh at the same time. The movie is an all-around solid watch and even boasts a “Certified Fresh” distinction on Rotten Tomatoes with a 76% critic score. General viewers have also been favorable towards the film, handing it a 71% Tomatometer score.
Other Horror Movies Now on Tubi
Tubi’s horror catalog runs pretty deep this May, with nearly two dozen horror titles arriving to the platform already this month. Those new additions include the horror comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies, the 21st century horror masterpiece Hereditary, and the Stephen King adaptation The Mist. The list also includes Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Hannibal, and Lake Placid, with Let The Right One In, one of the best vampire films ever, set to join the lineup on May 28th.
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