From left, Alexander Ludwig, Taissa Farmiga, and Nina Dobrev in The Final Girls (Sony Pictures)

The makers of The Final Girls pull of an admirable trick. They present a credible, genial spoof of 1980’s slasher flicks while successfully incorporating a sentimental yet credible theme of appreciating and letting go of grief. It’s impressive and gives the movie more heft than most of the joke-a-minute spoofs that, say, the Wayans brothers throw up every few years.

Like all slasher flicks, there is a prologue: Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga) is daughter of former scream queen Amanda Cartwright (Malin Akerman). Amanda starred in the ’80’s slasher “masterpiece” Camp Bloodbath, the trailer of which we catch at the beginning. It is priceless in its accuracy. The actress has been attempting to live it down ever since. Max and Amanda clearly have a special bond, but a horrible car accident puts an end to that, and Max is left alone.

Three years later, a friend of hers is hosting a double screening of Camp Bloodbath and its sequel. Max reluctantly agrees to come. Joining her are her hunky tutor, Jameson (Alexander Ludwig); her best friend, Gertie (Alia Shawkat); Gertie’s film nerd brother, Duncan (Thomas Middlechurch); and ex-friend and Jameson’s ex-girlfriend Vickie (Nina Dobrav). Things go horribly awry at the screening, and the movie theater becomes a flaming inferno. The only way out are the exits behind the screen. Max finds a shard of glass, slashes through the screen and….

They enter the film. They are now in Camp Bloodbath, and they have to find their way out or the movie’s Jason, the unstoppable, machete wielding Billy Murphy, will slice ’em and dice ’em. Turns out the only way to do that is to find the final girl and stick with her. For those not in the know, she’s the last person standing in a slasher flick. She’s generally the serious, slightly awkward one partaking in sex, drugs, partying, etc. She is awake and aware and a virgin, always a virgin. So, that’s all they need to do, but, of course, nothing in life or the cinema turns out as planned.

For one thing, the kids can interact with the characters in the film who are archetypes that fill every horror flick: the horndog (Adam Devine), the sexpot (Angela Trimbur), the token black dude AND New Wave guy (Tony N. Thompson)—two for the price of one; the badass chick (Chloe Bridges); and to Max’s consternation and eventual delight, the sweet girl who plans on losing her virginity for the first time, played by Max’s mother, Amanda. Max knows her mother’s character is one of the first to go because she plans to have sex. Her gambit is to influence her mom not to in order to become the final girl to kill Billy Murphy. This forms the heart of the movie as Max bonds with her “film mom” and convinces her to survive so she can have a future and a daughter, well, like Max.

Surrounding this is a goofball homage crossed with some sharp sketch work as the modern kids interact with the significantly less smart slasher kids (it’s not their fault, they were written that way). By far, the scene stealer is Adam Devine. His tight shorted, tank topped yet always good-natured horndog is a riot visually and verbally, and Devine tosses out the one-liners with the enthusiasm and confidence of a game day quarterback on a winning streak. Everyone else does a fine job, but no one touches him in the laughs department.

Some diehards will be disappointed as the film moves more toward an emotional climax than a horrific or even a comedic one. I, for one, was fine with that. The trackwork was laid out, and the chemistry between Akerman and Farmiga is sweet and touching. All in all, it’s a rare film that gives everyone a little something on the plate without skimping out on the meal. It’s the perfect film to take a squeamish date.