Search - Final Stab on DVD

Unoriginal to a fault

Ian M. Enriquez | San Francisco, California United States | 01/21/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I wanted to give this DVD 2 stars fo reffort, but I could not do it in good conscience. First of all, this DVD has no special features. No commentary, no trailer, no options of any sort at all. This was no a gory film, people got stabbed for the most part. Nothing creative went into this film at all. There were creative blood splatters in places that defy the law of physics, so I will give them credit for that.Director David DeCoteau has been criticized for two things: a lack of originality and a lack of homage to the fans that have put him on the map. This film basically used the plot of April Fool's Day with the characters and scenes from Prison of the Dead (in fact it is almost hard to differenciate the two films). He brings back Bradley Stryker from Brotherhood. No surprise there after all the fan mail he got, thanks to the most incredible body on film. However, he did not put it to as much use in this film (another let down).DeCoteau has not put out a good film yet, but the homoerotic content of Voodoo Academy made it a hit. He tried to repeat this in the Brotherhood series, but stayed away from anything that could be interpreted as gay- simply sticking to more basic male exploitation. The gay market put him on the map, but he began to distance himself from that market by never addressing that issue in his films and adopting a hands off policy between the guys. This film showcases the male body less than any of his others. However, two men do acknowledge their past sexual/romantic involvement. This is an improvement for him, despite the fact that the scene was taken EXACTLY from Prison of the Dead. His production company can greatly benefit from hiring a writer or someone who studied the horror genre. Until then, we await some quality work from Rapid Heart Productions."

Typical and Fun

Kewlguy51 | NJ | 12/22/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Final Stab is nothing new. Even on the back cover, it basically admits to being a [take off] of "scream" and "I know what you did last summer" but nonetheless, it is a lot of fun. Crazy Psycho killer...It's April Fools day! What could possibly happen? The Special effect are rather cheesy, and were undoubtedly purchased at Party City. (The "FILMIX" stuff that you glue to you body to make you look wounded, for halloween.) Anyway, there are several references to "Halloween" and other genre films, trying to mimic scream in the "Knowing the rules to stay alive by watching horror movies." It does have it's moments. The killer's mask is pretty sweet, the acting isn't terrible... it isn't bad at all. Worth Watching.
Grade: B
Score: 82/100
~CONTENT~
Violence: 8/10
Language: 6/10
Sex: 3/10
Nudity: 1/ 10
Adult Situations: 5/10
Alchohol/Drug Usage: 4/10~SCORE~
Plot 14/20 C
Acting 18/20 AEntertainment 18/20 A
Direction 17/20 B
Special Effects 15/20 C"

KNIFE TO SEE YOU

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 10/16/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the "better" David DeCoteau movies. We have his usual studly and bosomy young cast, but he spares us the intolerable slowmos, and manages to build suspense, even with its derivative and threadbare plots. One of the characters is a big fan of the "Friday the 13th" movies, and she sums it up in only reinforcing this movie's roots.
A wealthy "bitch" stages a murder mystery weekend in order to split her sister and her boyfriend---a mental patient who witnessed the slaughter of his family. Of course, the play acting turns real when a real killer shows up. Jamie Gannon is Charlie, the aforementioned tragic hero; Melissa Renee Martin is his sweetie, Angela; Erinn Carter is the vixenish sister Kristen; Chris Boyd is best friend and former lover of Charlie; Bradley Stryker shows off his buff bod and poor acting chops; Laila Renee Landon shows off her beauty; Michael Lutz is the jock Steve who blows the whole surprise; and Forrest Cochran is Kristen's cuccolded hubby. Three other young men are thrown in for some ridiculous revenge reason, and serve nothing but to up the body count.
There are a couple of twists at the end, which is unusual for DeCoteau who is usually so straightforwardly cliche.
Not a great film by any means but one of the best in the homoerotic series concocted by DeCoteau."

Looking forward to the Final Credits.

Robert Meeks | Winchester, KY United States | 12/09/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The production and performances in 'Final Stab' are good. What brings the movie down is the characters. Within the first 10 minutes of meeting this self-obsessed, apathetic group of characters, I found myself rooting for the killer. The premise of the film is basic and unoriginal. An obnoxious woman (I am being kind) puts together a mystery weekend for her just as obnoxious friends (primarily getting all of them there by extortion). She has hired an actor to play a masked killer for the evening, but alas, a real killer has invaded the evening and they all still think the deaths are just good acting. One of the funniest scenes has the Brittney Spears wannabe approached by the killer, whom she thinks is the actor, and remarks (paraphrased) "Is this going to be messy?". As the killer is stabbing her, her boyfriend is watching from a window and is seriously impressed by her 'good performance'. 'Final Stab' is not poorly made, just poorly conceived. It is difficult to like a film when there are no characters to like. This is too bad, since with some character development and a less disjointed story they could have had a good movie; the basic ingredients were there.--Bob"