The Final Rose (2022) by Tim Cruz

Director: Tim Cruz

Year: 2022

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Slasher

Plot:

Selected to join a reality dating show, a single mother who was reluctantly approved to appear arrives with the other hopefuls and begins to go through the rigors of the program, but as she suspects something is wrong with the disappearing contestants' true nature puts the shoot in jeopardy.

Review:

This one proved far better than it should've been. One of the finer features here is the enjoyable sendup of reality shows that take place here which gives this one a strong starting point. From the slap-dash manner of how the show is put together including her being selected at random, a nice bit about the previous history of the show with this being the next chapter in their success, the catty nature of the majority of the women there contrasting with her more reserved maternal side for plenty of drama to conflict with even before the actual competitions on the tapings start. Going even further into the realm of mockery with the characters notably putting on a show for the cameras by behaving differently under the suggestion of creating drama simply completes the picture which gives this a lot to like.

That gives the film a decent start to the sudden influx of ambush sequences with the killer knocking them off. Relying more on the suddenness of him coming up out of the shadows to strike someone who's not expecting anything in the slightest to happen, these are quite shocking when they occur leading to some brutal moments as they get knocked off. Considering the victim is usually isolated and the entire event can be written off in a way to explain the disappearance, there's a burgeoning mystery that develops here as she slowly comes to believe something is wrong as the constant hints about their true state only serve to enhance this idea. It all comes together in the final half where it sets up the confrontation with the killer once they realize the dead bodies popping up around the shoot that finally gives this a decent stalking scene with the chase to stop the killer. Alongside some decent enough gore for the kills, these are the film's positives.

There are several factors that bring this one down. One of the biggest drawbacks is the highly underwhelming pacing that has quite a lot of downtime here focusing on the aspects of the reality show that aren't too appealing for genre fans. Those expecting more overt stalking scenes or encounters with the killer will be disappointed to find them integrated rather awkwardly into the film at these random spots to remind us of its genre fare. That's due to the film spending so long in making sure the reality show is the central part here which is to the detriment of the slashing as that gets shuffled aside to these brief sections. The final part here that holds this one down is the lackluster killer reveal and motivation which is so underwhelming it's hard to buy into which all combine together to bring this down.

Overview: ***/5

A generally solid slasher with more going for it than expected, this one does suffer a few drawbacks that manage to keep it down from what it could've been based on the positives on display. Those who appreciate this kind of style or are curious about it should heed caution here while most others who don't appreciate these factors should heed caution.