Into the California Woods Where the Hag Awaits

 

So for my third foray into the 80s slasher genre, I sort of see-sawed back and forth between watching The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) and Andrew Davis' The Final Terror (1983). Because I wanted to take a detour from young folk stalked by a killer in a mall or at a sorority, I decided on the deep woods as the next location to spend some time. Now in the past I wasn't very fond with The Final Terror at all. But that previous view was back in 2006 and the print I was terrible. So dark and hard to see was the print, I was miserable. This version, the best we'll unfortunately probably ever have due to the inability of Shout Factory to find the direct materials (lost, sadly) needed for a quality print, at least was clear enough that I could see what was going on. And that improvement beats the alternative, a DVD I rented from Netflix that was less than ideal. God, I was so frustrated with that experience. I remember at the time on the IMDb Horror Message Board and some positive reviews building The Final Terror as quite a slasher gem right under the radar. So obviously I was interested in seeing it. Now after fifteen years I wasn't as reticent and Tubi had The Final Terror available so I decided to give it another shot. I'm glad I did. While I don't think the film is anything incredible, I was far more receptive to it as a survival wilderness thriller than a serious slasher film. It has some disturbing content. Joe Pantoliano's hag mom from a nearby mental institution (yes, it is a slasher if just for that trope) disguised in "forest attire", blending in with her environment like a chameleon, very much camouflaged, has this curved blade seemingly sewn into her sleeve so she can cut and slice someone at any point or time. Poor Daryl Hannah certainly learns this when she loses her friends while running into the darkened woods, the hag (actually a guy played by Tony Maccario) surfacing out of side of the screen, startling her with a vicious slice to the neck Rachel Ward has to sew before bleeding out all over the ground.

You will see Hannah, Ward, and Adrian Zmed in the credits and perhaps get all excited about the idea of seeing them in a wilderness slasher, but overall their roles never require a lot of substantive powerhouse acting. Mostly they sit around a fire, wash up in the river, listen to ghost stories, and eventually try to keep from winding up like Mark Metcalf and Metcalf's girlfriend, played by Cindy Harrell. Those two are just having great sex away from the others, enjoying their company, when the hag interrupts the passionate encounter by slashing Metcalf while on top of a horrified Harrell. Harrell is pulled away, eventually held captive under the floor of the hag's wooden shack (with lots of bottles containing body parts of animals), unable to call for help as that damned blade is held to her throat. Tragically, Harrell is let out of floor when they leave, her throat still slashed by the evil fucking hag and dropped in the inflatable raft to screw with their mental states...the hag seems to revel in the hunt and kill.

The California woods are incredible, just breathtaking. I think the ragged photography isn't really as much a problem, as long as, the night scenes are improved so we can just see the characters and action, especially on the bus when the remaining group just want to crash and rest. The hag seems to be everywhere, so familiar with the wilderness she can cover so much ground even as the group, in a raft, using oars, can't stay ahead of her.

As a wilderness adventure, Andrew Stevens really gets so much out of the setting. This backdrop, particularly when Stevens shoots so much coverage of the space, opens up the screen so much vastness. What that does is build on how dangerous the hag is. On top of her, the volatile and temperamental Pantoliano, responsible for busing the group to Mill Creek, turns on them, though his attempt to rope-strangle Zmed leaves him vulnerable; in turn, the hag is vulnerable as a result.

The body count is really low. Metcalf, the one in charge, taken out first, leaves his team having to band together in order to live. Busia takes the mushroom-influenced (and often unstable and unpredictable) Friedrich to task for his behavior, wanting the guys to get serious about their bad situation. Harden, Jr. seems to be the only one who can keep Friedrich under any control, while Smith, with a heavy Southern accent, tries to replace Metcalf as the level-headed leader. Friedrich seems to also attempt the role as leader, but he's too immature to get the job done. There's an incredible scene where a stuntman (as Lewis) climbs a giant redwood in order to survey the area. The rope trap triggering this spiked log with the camera rigged on it to show the hag impaled...Stevens really lays out how good he could be with action sequences. I loved how he shoots the team in a covert operation to surround and eventually enter the hag's shack. 3/5