Directed by John Michael Elfers
Review by David Carter


Released by Image Entertainment
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Stereo English/English & Spanish Subtitles
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.78:1
16:9 Enhanced: Yes
Special Features: Deleted Scenes, Making Of
Trailer Online: Yes

Short Version: An entertaining low budget thriller

I’ve been a film critic for about ten years now and I’ve been watching movies for a lot longer than that, so I’ll share a little tip that I’ve learned with you: never believe anything said in those film critic blurbs on DVD boxes. The primary reason why you shouldn’t trust them is because they are always picked by the studio’s marketing department and, therefore, are consciously selected to make the movie sound AWESOME. They’ll even capitalize and bold-face words like “awesome” so you’ll be sure to see them. Secondly, these blurbs are written by film critics, a group that I feel qualified to say is filled with ne’er-do-wells, misanthropes, and people exceptionally prone to hyperbole.

Take for example the DVD box for FINALE, recently released by Image Entertainment. Let me first assure you that FINALE is a pretty good movie; even more so if you consider its low budget and the relative inexperience of those involved with the production. It is not, however, “breathtaking” or does it bear even a passing resemblance to “Argento’s best work,” save in terms of the general plot, as it states on the box. I use these two quotes to illustrate how these blurbs actually work against the film. One look at those and the average viewer is likely to expect to be frozen to their couches in fear and blown away by the beauty of the direction. When the experience is less than that, they’ll be disappointed.

It is unfortunate that will probably happen to a lot of people who pick up FINALE, because there really isn’t anything to be disappointed about because, as I said before, it’s pretty good. The basic plot line is somewhat familiar, but the film approaches it in a fresh manner. Helen is distraught over the apparent suicide of her son Sean. She’s even more upset after finding his home covered in chaotic splashes of black paint and notebooks filled with bizarre and seemingly unrelated news clippings. The rest of her family begins the healing process without her, and her daughter Kathryn finds a healthy creative outlet by getting the lead in the school play. Helen becomes increasingly obsessed with finding out what happened to Sean, spending hours in his now abandoned home and pouring over his notebooks. She’s convinced that Sean died at the hands of an otherworldly being known as the Collector, who is summoned to this world by a mysterious cult lead by Kathryn’s theatre teacher, Ms Bliss.

Her family believes none of this when she tells them. They are, however, surprisingly tolerant of her increasingly erratic behavior, which includes demolishing half of their home, covering the other half in black paint, and mortifying Kathryn in front of her friends and new boyfriend. She is right about Bliss’ cult and the Collector, though, but it may be too late: the cult has already set their sights on getting rid of the entire family.

FINALE’s biggest strength is the fact that keeps most of the details regarding the cult and the Collector somewhat nebulous. We see there’s a lot of people involved in a cover-up of their activities but we’re never sure how far it goes, which helps build suspense. This is especially well-realized through the fact that Helen isn’t completely sure she can trust her own family, although she never vocalizes this directly. Her apprehension is effectively conveyed to the audience through actress Carolyn Von Hauck’s performance, however. The Collector is a biblical demon who looks a lot like Marilyn Manson from his “The Beautiful People” video, but again, the film uses subtlety to improve the experience: the Collector is most often invisible while attacking. This sets up some nicely executed special effects sequences, all of which were done the old fashioned way (rather than through CGI) as shown in the “Making of” featurette.

One criticism would be that the film does strain the boundaries of believability at times. The Helen character is histrionic, self-destructive, and plain old regular outwardly destructive for most of the film. I’m actually not critical of that element, but rather the fact that her husband doesn’t do anything while she terrorizes their daughter and destroys their home. A little bit of compassion for her situation is understandable, but things go beyond the pale once he not only lets her escape from the hospital but drives her to their daughter’s school, where she punches a teacher. The fact that any rational person would allow their loved one to do this, or that this behavior would go unnoticed by the local authorities seems unlikely. I realize that I’m complaining about believability in a film about an invisible demon but this element just sticks out like a sore thumb.

That relatively minor detail aside, I still enjoyed FINALE and thought it, fittingly, had an especially well-realized climax. The pacing of the film was excellent and the majority of the performances were good, with Suthi Picotte doing a particularly good job as put-upon teen Kathryn. So while I’d hesitate to throw an accolade like “breathtaking” out there, I still think that FINALE is well worth your time. The Image Entertainment DVD has a great print and includes the aforementioned “Making Of” and a handful of deleted scenes to round out the disc.