The Final Terror

9/2/2019

***“Deliverance” meets “Friday the 13th” with undeveloped characters*** Some forest workers & friends camp out in the coastal Redwoods of Northern California, but there’s a legend about an escaped female mental patient and her deranged son born of rape. “The Final Terror” (1983) was shot in the Redwoods in late summer 1981 with only four crewmembers. As my title blurb suggests, it’s a meshing of “Deliverance” (1972) and “Friday the 13th.” The sylvan locations are outstanding, the antagonist is well realized and the no-name cast is interesting and diverse. Unfortunately the script failed to develop actual personalities, plus too many of them are unconvincingly unlikable. We don’t know these people nor do we care about ’em. Thankfully, the film improves in the second half as it