Set in a high school somewhere in modern day America, The Final begins when a slightly awkward student named Dane (Marc Donata) and some of his fellow students who failed to make the 'cool kid club' are being tormented by a group of dickhead jocks and their snotty girlfriends. This all too common scenario has been plaguing Dane and his ilk for years and has, in turn, made their high school years pretty much a living hell. As anyone who was ever laughed at or picked on knows, bullies suck. We don't really need a film to point that out to us, but as a set up, the scenario works as a few minutes into the movie we're already feeling sorry for these kids and wishing they'd get to stick it to the bad guys.

See where this is going yet?

Dane and his pals decide to serve up a little vengeance ice cold when they host a costume party. See, this way no one will be able to recognize anyone else and those 'in the know' will have an advantage. The previously picked on now become the tormentors of their enemies and before you know it, the cool kids have been doped up and bound. Our formerly meek and mild victims have turned the tables as they set about torturing their prey physically and emotionally.

The Final, despite a strong thematic resemblance to Revenge Of The Nerds, is played completely straight. The characters deliver impassioned monologues and diatribes about why they're doing what they're doing, and while they're justified to a certain extent (at least in their anger, if not their ultimate actions), the film's message is messy. Is it trying to tell us that we shouldn't bully people because if we do they'll turn into psychopaths? Is it trying to tell us that everyone has an inner maniac bent on sadistic revenge tactics? Both? Does the scene where these kids ask God to stop them if their anger isn't righteous meant to infer that the Good Lord Above gave them the thumbs up to get nasty or is it meant to infer that he doesn't care or doesn't exist in the first place? There are more than a few narrative inconsistencies here that take away from the moments in the film that actually work quite well.

The film revels in the suffering of the jocks who find themselves at the mercy of those who were once the butt of their jokes. It's all portrayed in graphic detail and the camera rarely turns away. The acting is solid, with Donata's Dane played a bit over the top but never so much as to ruin it. Casting him alongside Lindsey Seidel, who plays the cute if slightly goofy Emily, was a good choice and she proves to be perfect for the part. She steals the scenes she's in and benefits from being able to play one of the film's more interesting and less clichéd characters.

Obviously inspired by the events that took place in Columbine a few years ago and the similar events that have taken place in other schools around the country in the years since, The Final understandably gives an outlet for the rage that certain segments of America's student population feels or has felt. It's initially very easy to sympathize with who we think are the heroes and the film does do an interesting job of making us think about who the good guys really are and, ultimately, what it means to be a better person (that last part may sound corny but it's true). On the flip side of that coin, disjoints in the storyline and conflicting morality undo much of this and for every great moment in the film, there are equal parts messy writing and clichéd characters.

Video:

The Final arrives on DVD in a 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that generally looks pretty good once you get used to the look of the film - because the colors have definitely been messed with on this disc. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or nasty edge enhancement but sometimes the black levels suck out some of the detail that you might expect to see. Skin tones look red quite frequently, which is the most distracting issue here. Aside from that, this is a well authored release of some clean looking source material.