Taissa Farmiga leads The Final Girls as Max, the daughter of the famous big screen scream queen Amanda Cartwright (Malin Akerman). During a screening of Amanda’s claim to fame, Camp Bloodbath, Max and her friends Gertie (Alia Shawkat), Vicki (Nina Dobrev), Chris (Alexander Ludwig) and Duncan (Thomas Middleditch) are forced to step through the screen of the movie and when they come to on the other side, they realize that they’re actually at Camp Bloodbath right along with the camp counselors from the film and the notorious machete-wielding slasher, Billy.

While at SXSW for The Final Girls world premiere, I got the opportunity to ask Farmiga, Akerman, Dobrev, Shawkat and Angela Trimbur one of my favorite questions to consider - which one of them could actually survive a horror movie? (Yeah, I probably think about that too much.) We also discussed the horror movie references director Todd Strauss-Schulson gave them, shooting the movie at a girl scout camp, Farmiga’s wicked machete-twirling skills and more. You can catch it all in the video interview below. (Note: The audio is a little low due to the noise in the restaurant, but it picks up around the one-minute mark.)

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Image via SXSW

Alia Shawkat, Angela Trimbur, Taissa Farmiga, Nina Dobrev & Malin Akerman:

  • 00:00 - If they could throw themselves into any horror movie and fight their way out, which would it be?
  • 00:59 - If they were in a horror movie, would they react like their characters in the film?
  • 02:02 - Which cast member could actually survive a horror movie?
  • 02:22 - The horror movie references they got from director Todd Strauss-Schulson; making the relationships feel real within the crazy world.
  • 03:08 - On the shooting schedule; starting with the first scene at Camp Bloodbath.
  • 03:33 - Camp Bloodbath is actually an operational girl scout camp.
  • 04:35 - The main house that was built specifically for the film.
  • 04:50 - Shooting the 360-degree running shot.
  • 05:14 - Shooting the booby trap scene.
  • 05:37 - Was the shoot all fun and games or did they ever have to stop and think, ‘What is my character feeling right now?’
  • 06:20 - On the one especially emotional scene in the film.
  • 06:39 - Farmiga and Akerman on selling the unique mother-daughter relationship.
  • 07:49 - Farmiga on her killer machete-twirling skills.

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Image via Stage 6 Films