‘The Final Rose’ Review (Tubi Original)
Stars: Christina Masterson, Brytni Sarpy, Robert Palmer Watkins, Roger Howarth, Brittany Underwood, Robert Adamson, Brian McGovern, Carrie Alexander | Written by Tim Cruz, Blake Rutledge | Directed by Tim Cruz
Single mother Jess arrives on a remote island to compete on Love At Last, TV’s number one dating show (think The Bachelor – hence the title of the film). Her quest for love becomes a fight for survival when she slowly discovers that a mysterious killer is slaying the contestants, one by one, even with the cameras rolling. Jess must navigate a sea of two-faced beauty queens, coldhearted producers, and one mysterious and deadly killer in order to get off the island alive.
Another Tubi original, which some might feel isn’t saying much given the response to a lot of the streaming services output, The Final Rose feels like those typical trashy Hallmark/Lifetime thrillers – only this one cranks up the slasher angle and the gore effects to take to the next level. It’s still a trashy movie though… But to be fair it does have to match the trashy atmosphere of the reality TV shows it aims to emulate. Plus the film captures the grottier aspect of the slasher movies of the 80s. In fact, if you substituted the Bachelor-esque story with a bunch of models and you’d have a gorier version of the stone-cold classic 1984 TV movie, The Calendar Girl Murders.
However, UNLIKE those aforementioned Hallmark/Lifetime movies, The Final Rose has a decent cast across the board, with lead actress Christina Masterson capturing a great vulnerability in her performance – as you get from a mother who’s been burned in the past and is going on a crazy TV show to find a partner and more importantly score the prize money. And the rest of the women on Love At Last, well its made up of a number of actresses whose performances capture the gamut of the stereotypical participants; plus there’s plenty of behind the scene characters (producers, the host etc.) that capture the sleazy nature of the makers of this kind of reality television too. Apparently, the cast includes plenty of TV stars anyway – featuring as it does actors from The Young and the Restless, General Hospital and One Life to Live – but given I’m definitely I’m NOT a soap opera fan, I’ll have to take IMDb’s word for it!
In terms of the horror of The Final Rose, this film is not a terrifying tale. Instead, it walks a balance between laughs – the stupidity of reality television and the desperation of some of those that take part – and thrills; with the occasional smattering of gore, from scissors in the head, sliced throats, a face smashed in with an iron and more. And like all good slasher movies, the film keeps you guessing just as to who is behind the film’s masked killer… Talking of masks, damn what a mask this film’s killer wears! This psychopathic murderer looks like they’re wearing a “glitter ball” on their head, with a seemingly bedazzled balaclava on their head!
If you’re after a film that’s a cheesy slice of slasher movie fun, The Final Rose most certainly fits the bill. It’s definitely better than some of Tubi’s other original movies that’s for sure!
*** 3/5
The Final Rose is available to watch on Tubi now.
