Daniel Montague's Reviews > The Final Girl Support Group

p. 137: What’s wrong with us? I saw my family killed before my own eyes and didn’t make a sound, but confronted with my friend’s wife shit I’m squeamish? Why are we more comfortable with fast, dramatic deaths than the slow decay most people get? After all, isn’t this why we fought so hard? To have the right to do what Michelle is doing right this minute?
p. 247: “Don’t you realize what purpose monsters serve?” She asks. “Monsters always guard treasure, but it doesn’t have to be literal. It can be knowledge, transcendence. In the center of the Minotaur’s labyrinth lies something precious: monstrous knowledge. Each of us has a monster we must confront, a monster designed to test our personal weaknesses. And in end, they bring about our deaths. Not literal death, but death as the conclusion of this phase and the beginning of another. Death is the harbinger of transformation, that which precedes a new life. No, dammit. I don’t want to upgrade to OS 10.6.”

6 slasher film “final” girls living in a house sounds like a wonderful idea for a show on VH1. In this universe, the final girls are non-fictional and instead of living together, they meet up in a support group monitored by the world renowned psychologist, Dr. Carol Elliott. While, their circumstances and recoveries have been as diverse as the colors of the rainbow, they all share the distinction of being the sole survivor in a gruesome string of murders. As such, the members of this group: Marilyn, Adrienne, Dani, Heather, Julia and Lynnette, share a unique bond.

After two decades of meetings, the group is seemingly at an impasse. Every member appears to fulfill a role and progress has been halted. With future meetings in doubt, tragedy strikes one of their members. Adrienne, the OG final girl and leader of the group has been found dead in a grisly attack at the camp she owns. Not surprisingly, this news shocks the group and the worries of a killer are on the minds of everyone. Will the final girls put aside their bickering to work together or will they succumb to personality conflicts and a potential homicidal maniac?

There is plenty to like about this incisive work from Grady Hendrix. Conceptually, the idea of exploring the traumas of final girls is clever. Imagining just how someone would cope after going through all the dementedly fucked up scenarios that make up slasher films lends itself to a host of fascinating results. Would they try to buy themselves protection with security and a fortress-like mansion like Marilyn? Would they live off the beaten path and embrace austerity like Danni? Become a scholar and advocate like Julia who stricken in a wheelchair has been forced to use her brain instead of brawn. Attempt to shut off her pain by engaging in alcohol and drugs like Heather? Take ownership of her circumstances like Adrienne who repurposed the camp she was attacked at. Or, be like the main character Lynnette who has lived a life of isolation, intent on never becoming a victim again, but in the process has become her own worst enemy.

While, Hendrix shows empathy and is clearly a horror movie aficionado, besides Lynnette, most of the characters are not fleshed out. There are attempts at humor throughout, but more often than not they feel forced and not very organic. Tonally, it vacillates between absurdity and seriousness, much like a slasher film, but in book form it feels muddled. The villains seemed like an ode to “Scream”, which is fine, but their motives other than being obsessed with being on the top heap of monsters by getting rid of all the final girls, was not very persuasive. Overall, I read a few reviews that stated that this would work better as a movie and I agree with their assessments. Though, the concept was clever and Grady Hendrix’s love for the genre is evident, for me it is a 3 star read.