THE FINAL RIDE (2019)

THE FINAL RIDE (2019)

Tagline: Ride and Die

(Horror, Comedy, Let’s Get Physical) [R]

Note: This movie was not given a rating by the MPAA, but it would have landed an [R] for language. It is given a TV—MA on streaming services. 

It should be noted that this movie was distributed by WILD EYE RELEASING. They seem to have a rule about only picking low-budget stuff to get out on streaming services. So you will see two different versions of the poster for this movie. The one with the humans on it is more “movie accurate”. The one with the skeleton driving the car looks cool, but it doesn’t depict anything we see in the film. 

The story revolves around an Uber or Lyft-type driver named Jean that picks up people and takes them wherever they need to go. Over the course of 3 days, 3 dark stories unfold. What Jean doesn’t know is that the last one involves her. 

Because this is an anthology, I am going to rate each section, then give an overall rating for the movie. I will say that generally I love anthologies so I typically walk into them already predisposed to liking them. In the first story, Peter and Monica two of Jean’s passengers move into a house and start watching the VHS tapes they find behind the furnace. The VHS tapes are just a dude working out, but Peter gets obsessed with them and his behavior becomes more and more erratic. 

I am guessing this is the story where they were going for the comedy part of the film because the other two stories have nearly zero humor. I don’t think there is anything overly original here, we have had weird stuff happen if you watch VHS tapes in the past, but the story execution was interesting enough and Matthew Chisholm who plays Peter, does a solid job in the acting department. I also liked Monica for the most part who is competently played by Annette Wozniak. Both talents are probably best known for Reel Phobia Productions' only other full-length feature film SECRET SANTA. This was Matthew’s last film but Annette has continued getting roles. 

I liked this one the best of the 3, it lands a score of 4 out of 7 for just being a bit fun and out there. 

The second story involves another passenger of Jean’s named Cody that ends up getting drunk and goes to get a tattoo with his friend Ray.  Ray never gets the tattoo because he passes out, but Cody does and it immediately pisses off his girlfriend Tina. That isn’t the only issue though, over the course of a few hours, the tattoo starts getting larger and larger and ultimately takes over Cody’s entire body. 

I am not sure if this story was meant to be an anti-tattoo tale overall, but it definitely has that effect. Out of the 3 stories, this is the only one that I could have seen showing up in my high school short stories. I had one that was anti-smoking with a crazy twist only not like the one in CAT’S EYE, it was a bit darker than that. I really couldn’t get into this one until the very end when we find out what is going on. The stand-out actress in this section is Niki Kerro as Tina. She’s been in some other stuff I haven’t seen, but she can clearly act. 

This story gets a 3 out of 7. I can identify with what was going on, but the writing is terrible. 

That last story is about Jean picking up a jerk who starts to scare her over the course of the ride the way he is talking. She is relieved when they are pulled over by a cop. 

I think Keegan Chambers was fine as Jean in the last story, but the plot was super basic. I think if you are going to do two stories that are at least creative, then finish that thing off with a bang. This last story is lackluster and lands at a 2 out of 7. Not because I didn’t think the ending had its moments, it just played out like it was meant to be in a completely different movie.

I did think the opening and closing credits were pretty cool with a decent track playing in the background.  Having said that, my final score for this film is a 3 out of 7. That last story was just too out of place to say this thing was solid overall.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF REEL PHOBIA PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.