From A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 to The Evil Dead (2013), addiction has been a topic horror films have used through the years. Horror-Nation director of the year in 2023, Harley Wallen, tackles the real-life horrors of addiction with his latest film, Final Recovery. Writers Jerry Lee Davis and Nick Theurer attempt to deliver a fresh take on an age-old theme with leads Charlene Tilton and Jasper Cole driving the audience into the dark world of drug rehabilitation. Will this talented team stick viewers with a jolt of fear fuel, or leave fans feeling like they were duped by a dealer of darkness?
Nanny Lou (Tilton) suffers a horrific experience during her youth. In response, the scarred woman opens up a recovery center to help addicts. Patients Rodney (Cole) and Dustin (Damien Chinappi) are in and out of the facility as they both have fallen hard to the drip of addiction. Once patients begin to leave the facility under unusual circumstances, the drug fiending duo begin to suspect that an even more sinister shadow than addiction has fallen over the rehab center. Fighting to remove the mask of their dark desires, Rodney and Dustin unravel a new battle that could take their lives quicker than a dirty hit of smack.
Final Recovery is a well-crafted slow burn shot in the arm, which leaves the viewer with a horror high and wanting more. As he has done with Vampires and Slashers, Wallen once again presents a fresh new take on a sub-genre that has been presented many times before. The script is an altruistic piece that perfectly displays empathy toward those battling demons as well as perfectly portraying loved ones that suffer alongside them.
The entire cast puts in a terrific terror shift, with Cole driving the narrative as a hopeless addict looking for a glimmer of hope. Cherish Lee brings fantastic energy along with a glimpse of dark comedy, which brings a much-needed light to the film, breaking up the intense pitch-black road that the audience is taken down. Final Recovery is horror heroin. It starts off slow and smooth, but by the end, the film is an adrenaline filled blood pounding attack from which there is no escape.
Scream Score: 8/10