The Final Sacrifice (1990 Video) User Reviews

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[Smells_Like_Cheese · 1/10 · 3 February 2004]

OK, hands down, The Final Sacrifice is the best Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. I'm still laughing every time I think of this movie, it's just, how do movies like this get green lighted? Or did the director ever stop and wonder if he was making a good movie? The acting and characters were just so unintentionally laughable, it's insane. I can't believe they gave the "hero" a name like Zap Rasdower, that's such a stupid name, but it made for a good laugh, that's for sure. The kid, Troy, looked like such a Lord of the Rings type of dork(no offense to the LOTR fans, it's cool that you like it)that you couldn't help but wanna get inside the film and knock the books out of his hands. The villain or Canadian villain Garth Vador had this ridicules voice, and were did Mike Piper get his voice? Was Yo Sammity Sam like his inspiration? This is just such a ridicules story.

Troy is looking for who caused the death of his father, he finds a map that is supposed to lead him to a lost world. But this cult lead by Garth Vador is after him and wants him dead and wants the map, but Troy outsmarts them by getting on his ten speed bike to out run them. He gets off his bike and hitches a ride with Zap Rowsdower and together they go to find out what this is all about and why Troy's father died. Maybe they can also find out why Rowswer is a... hopeless drunk.

The Final Sacrifice is one of those movies you'll never believe got made, it's just so laughable. I highly recommend the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, it's just beyond funny, I loved every moment in that episode. But I hope the director watched that episode because I wanna see a Zap and Troy spin off, that would be an awesome show with an occasional guest appearance of Mike Pipper. I smell the Emmy's coming for best new show, lol.

1/10

Zap Rowsdower and Troy fight evil guys in ski masks.

[Aaron1375 · 1/10 · 8 November 2001]

That is about the extent of the plot. This nerdy kid finds a map that belonged to his dad who was killed. Evil cult members in ski masks and tank tops come after Troy (the nerdy kid), because they want the map (which is to a supposedly lost city, but really a map to a great big pop-up book). They are led by a guy in a coat who doesn't have to wear a ski mask. Troy runs from the cult members and gets into the back of a truck belonging to Zap Rowsdower the hero of the flick (the most original name I have ever seen in a movie). The hero has a few health flaws and seems to have the hardest time running from one action scene to another because he is always out of breath. You get to see Troy and Zap uncover the ancient map room complete with leaking plumbing. You get to see zap and the bad guy fight with torches and grappling hooks (I always find grappling hooks just lying around). You get to see really bad car chases, bicycle chases, and 10k runs up a mountain. And you'll meet Yosemita Sam's older brother as well. If this sounds like your movie, feel free to check it out, but be warned it isn't as good as I made it out.

Ridiculous

[Gafke · 3/10 · 13 June 2004]

"Quest for the Lost City" (or "The Final Sacrifice" as it is more commonly known) features a paper thin plot apparently thought up by a third grader, stunningly icky and sometimes downright ugly characters, and not much else.

This is the story of geeky little Troy, whose dad was an amateur archaeologist who disappeared a few years back whilst seeking The Lost City! Troy finds a map to The Lost City that his dad left behind and soon, ski-mask wearing moose hunters in black tank tops and sweat pants are chasing after him with machetes. We're never really quite sure exactly why these bodybuilders don't want anyone to find out about them, but their boss Satoris - a greasy, creepy looking guy with an impossibly deep voice and a penchant for black trenchcoats and kinky riding crops - gives the orders and no one questions him. Troy hooks up with a lumpy loser name of - get this - Zap Rowsdower. What the hell kind of a name is Zap Rowsdower? I mean, if you were Mrs. Rowsdower, why would you want to curse your son further by naming him Zap, for crying out loud? But, I digress...

Zap used to be a member of the bodybuilders cult, but was tossed out by Satoris, apparently for having a stupider name than him. Zap might also know more about the death of Troy's father than he's willing to admit, but there's no time for that as Troy and Zap meet Mike Pipper, Troy's dad's old partner. Mike is a strange combination of Yosemite Sam and Jethro Tull, and although I suspect he was supposed to be the wise man of the film, filling in plot holes and offering Yoda-like advice, I couldn't stop laughing at him long enough to take him or anything he said seriously. Apparently, while I was laughing, I missed something important, because Troy is kidnapped by Satoris and prepared for The Final Sacrifice! It is now up to Zap to save him and clear his own name in the process.

Yeah, whatever.

This film might have worked better if Troy had instead been an attractive young girl and Zap had been a handsome young man with a less stupid name... and less facial hair and a better wardrobe and less body odor and...well, it would have been predictable as hell, but it would have been more interesting. I mean, wouldn't the gods that Satoris worships be a little cheesed off at being offered such a goofy sacrifice? This is clearly a family project, with the directors close friends and distant cousins trying to pass themselves off as actors, and the director himself trying to pass himself off as a director. Good gods, a full cast and crew actually wasted an entire sunny weekend making this pile of moose dung. And yet, I found myself rather amused by it all. It's one of my favorite MST3K episodes and I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's the silly names, maybe it's the simplicity of the plot (which reminded me of stories I wrote when I was a dumb kid) maybe I'm secretly attracted to guys with cavernous noses and really stupid names, I don't know. But I liked it. It was just bad enough to be somewhat amusing and was kind of like watching a wrestling match filmed outdoors. I give it a 3 on a scale of 10, and I'm feeling generous today.

Watch the MST3K version if you must watch it at all.

Bad movie--but don't blame Canada

[divaclv · 29 June 2002]

Here it is, folks, a movie that is one hundred percent "deus ex machina." Roger Ebert speaks of the Idiot Plot, or a story that goes on because the characters are too stupid to resolve it. "Quest of the Lost City/The Final Sacrifice" (pick your poison) goes one better: the characters are too stupid to keep the plot moving, but it does anyway through sheer coincidence and dumb luck.

So we've got this scrawny kid named Troy, who as our story begins is rummaging through some junk his late father left behind (Dad, we learned in the pre-credit sequence, got shot seven years ago by a group of thugs in ski masks). Troy uncovers what someone on the production design team thought looked like a mysterious and ancient map. No sooner does he locate the map than the ski-mask thugs break into his house and demand it, having apparently taken seven years to accomplish the rather simple task of finding the dead guy's address and/or family. The thugs are led by a pale guy named Satoris. Satoris wears black and speaks in a deep voice. Presumably this makes him scary; in truth it makes him look like Professor Snape's third cousin and sound like a bad Darth Vader impersonator.

Troy elludes the thugs by hopping into the back of a rusty pickup truck, driven by the boozy and bitter Zap Rowsdower. (Why is he named Zap Rowsdower? My guess is the writer was going for a cool, memorable name like "Indiana Jones" and failed miserably.) Rowsdower happens to know a lot about the thugs (a cult bent on world domination, we are informed), having been one of their number some years back. Apparently, if you are being pursued by a cult and jump into the back of a random vehicle, odds are pretty good that the driver of the vehicle will be a former member of the cult, whose seeming reluctance to help you will conceal a real empathy for your plight.

So Troy and Rowsdower flee the cultists, until Rowsdower's truck unsurprisingly breaks down, thus ending their journey. BUT WAIT! Troy goes off in search for water, and in his random trek comes across a distinct rock formation. The rock formation is on the map! Rowsdower's truck must have read the script, since it conveniently broke down within an easy walking distance of one of the map's landmarks. There's also a tunnel with a copy of the map painted on one of the walls (why don't the cultists just look there?), and a translation guide belonging to Troy's father (which has held up pretty well despite seven years in a damp tunnel). But they can't stay to linger, since the cult has finally caught up with them, so it's off to another chase sequence.

Zap and Troy hide out in a weathered cabin, elluding the cultists and ending the chase. BUT WAIT! The owner of the cabin is none other than Troy's dad's old partner Mike Pipper, hiding in the wilderness from the cult these seven years (cue dramatic music). Pipper looks like a very seedy Jim Henson, and talks like a cross between Yosemite Sam and (speaking of Henson) the "News Flash" guy from the Muppet Show. He also provides more backstory on the cult, who are survivors of a race called the Ziox. Apparently the Ziox started worshipping an evil idol and were punished by having their city sink into the earth, proving that the Ziox have read up on "Great Flood" archetypes and the myth of Atlantis. Satoris wants to sacrifice someone to the idol in order to become invincible, despite Pipper's assertion that the idol isn't located where the map says it is. Pipper also drops a warning in Troy's ear about Zap: "He was with Satoris the night your father was killed." Troy's so shocked he doesn't even bother to ask how Pipper knows this, since a) all the cultists wear ski masks and b) nobody else was around when it happened.

So, somehow Satoris manages to kidnap Troy and take him to the location of the lost city--proving that he did not need the map at all, despite breaking in Troy's door earlier--where the idol waits, having eluded Pipper's searches. (I'm guessing Satoris carts the idol around with him, keeping it in a storage locker in between rituals) Rowsdower pursues, there's a fight, Satoris is killed (don't ask me how) and the Ziox city pops up out of the ground. And all ends well, except for Troy's aunt and caretaker who didn't know about any of this and had a heart attack when she came home to find her house trashed and her nephew missing. Well, maybe not. But it could have happened.

One final note: This film was made in Canada, but I cannot bring myself to ridicule my neighbors to the north because of it. After all, one who lives in a country which has produced "Battlefield Earth" should not throw stones.

This movie sums up Quebec's argument for refusing to adopt English...

[Flick_Montana · 2/10 · 25 May 2005]

This infamous movie will forever hold a place in my heart. It follows the tragic story of a young boy, apparently spawned from the loins of a young Dan Dierdorf and a Ferengi, trying to find his way to treasure in a world of masked sadists, beer-stinking mullets and too-tight red sweaters. Pursued by the all-too-easy-to-kill Satoris, our adolescent protagonist, Troy, must fight through all sorts of challenges placed in his way. From broken down trucks to acid wash jeans, Troy overcomes. His hero sidekick (are you ready for this?), Zap Rowsdower...hang on, I need a moment...OK...is the hops and barely fueled muscle in Troy's fight against evil. Zap Rowsdower is the cinematic equivalent of George W. Bush. He reminds us that truly ANYONE can be a hero. Even beer swilling morons. Finally, the 'bad guy', Satoris, is apparently evil because he has a big face, wears a black trench coat, has a deep voice and waves a cane around in the woods. Sure, whatever you say, Canada.

The plot to this movie isn't really important. You'll probably find it in the same place the Ziox buried their lost city. The real fun behind this Great Northern catastrophe is the characters. From Yosemetie Sam to Zap himself, this movie is completely engrossing. I felt pulled into their lives. And it smelled a lot like back bacon.

Now I know that most everyone has seen this movie only because of the comedy genius of MST3K, or Mistie to the loyal masses. However, I sincerely believe that this film can be enjoyed without the commentary by anyone with a sense of humor. You cannot last this entire film, in its unbridled, unmistied glory without busting a gut.

As an MST, this film is in my top 5 (I am a huge MST fan), but it is one of the few that is easy to watch even without our be-silhouetted trio. From mullets and beer cans to Troy's horribly frightening visage, this film will take you on a journey through the north. You will fight men who wear tank tops in the snow, the ancient traps of the Ziox, a large man with a stick and your own gag reflex. This movie comes highly recommended without MST. With MST, it is simply a must see for anyone who loves to laugh so hard you need to wear adult diapers.

2/10 for the movie, but a hefty 9/10 for the masochists who love MST! ~Aaron

A dire movie, but not quite so much to sacrifice yourself over

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 10 June 2013]

If it weren't for MST3K, I wouldn't have seen or known of The Final Sacrifice in the first place. While it is not the worst of their movies featured(Manos, Monster A-Go Go, Wild World of Batwoman, Space Mutiny and Hobgoblins), it is one of MST3K best and most entertaining reviews/riffs. Make no mistake, The Final Sacrifice is a dire movie but because it made me amused at times, partly because the review and partly because of the absurdity of the characters' names, I can't say that it had no redeeming qualities. Despite those patches of amusement, The Final Sacrifice is one of those movies that has more cons than it has pros. The camera work and editing are not quite as amateurish as Space Mutiny, but it is very slip-shod and continuity-ridden, never shrugging off the viewer's notions that it looks and feels like a first draft of a student film. The dialogue is awkward and laughably bad, I wouldn't be all that surprised if it was improvised often, while the story is ridiculous personified(like the cult knocking on Troy's door after he finds the map seven years after his dad was killed by the same cult) and due to the abruptness of the ending it feels unfinished also. The acting is terrible, with the fake voices it was very difficult to take them seriously, playing the characters for a laugh- as it seemed- didn't work as everything was far too amateur-hour-ish. The worst asset is the soundtrack, being badly recorded, annoyingly orchestrated, overpowering and hugely repetitive(it's literally only 3 pieces of music, all three of which sound as though they belong elsewhere). Overall, dire but I've seen worse, on MST3K and generally. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Can't Really Add Anything Else

[DButcher · 1/10 · 15 July 2001]

This movie is as bad as everybody says it is and I never miss MST3K when this is on. However, I believe that the name is not peculiar at all. I think it has a great deal of gravitas. If I make a political thriller, I will use the name. "Congressman Rowdower's office is on Line 2." Say it, it's fun. "Today, Congressman Rowsdower announced his support for the appropriations bill." "Congressman Rowsdower while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity." The name just keeps on giving. I love Zap Rowsdower.

Low budget film struggles out of quagmire

[Agaric · 5/10 · 28 August 2004]

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Like many others I have seen and enjoyed the MST3K version of this movie and have not seen the unparodied version. I probably never will. Yet I think that like many other films, "The Final Sacrifice" has been unnecessarily maligned through its connection with MST3K. Don't get me wrong, I think the show is one of the most brilliant and hilarious ideas ever conceived. However, I am annoyed that it guides so many reviews on this site. Reviewers write their comments as duplications of the wry satire of Mike and the Bots and ultimately dismiss the films as garbage simply because they were chosen for the show. Association does not make a bad movie. Poor acting, overblown budgets, cheese, poor editing techniques, lack of innovation, and corporate hack-writing make a bad movie. Needless to say, "The Final Sacrifice" contains any number of these elements. But as many other MST3K gems, it should be rendered its status of mediocre, rather than join the ranks of ones that truly are horrid. Now that my rant is completed, I will go on to review this film.

Both the guiding principle of this movie and sadly its Damoclean sword is its modest budget. With a limited cast of unknowns, it was filmed in the wilderness of Canada without proper money for professional set design or effects. Low budget films can be very effective, yet the subject matter tackled in "The Final Sacrifice" is one that requires more money than was available. An ancient civilization complete with ruins and an entire lost city is ultimately laughably portrayed in the film. The chase scenes involve backroads and bicycles, old trucks and beer bottles. Despite the obvious shortcomings visually, the low budget does give the film a rather whimsical feel of an extended college production or a bunch of friends getting together to make a movie in the woods.

The writers opened themselves up to much more inevitable laughs than was necessary. Most of this occurs in the characterizations of the main cast. The name of the hero is "Zap Rowsdower", the evil Satoris boasts a voice that belongs to a werewolf more than a simple man in an overcoat, and the ridiculous Mike Pipper has a mountain draw that can melt any straight face. The tiny cast demands that the characters be explored in depth, but there is little allowance for this and the explanations that emerge are insubstantial. Rowsdower's past as a part of Satoris' cult could have been brought to an interesting level, but his stories of his past leave plot holes.

On the plus side, there is some inventive camera work, though nothing that could be considered innovative or grand. It appears that dollies were not even used, so steady cam shots are the norm, with a few handhelds mixed in. Some scenes were good attempts such as the dream/flashback scene but obviously fail to dazzle or enrich the experience. Overall, "The Final Sacrifice" is hampered by its minescule budget and overblown characterizations more than poor technical work. What emerges is a mediocre, mostly dull experience which makes for a good afternoon viewing on a rainy day at best.

Canada's gift to the world...

[jerome_horwitz · 1/10 · 29 November 2005]

No one alive will convince me "Mike Pipper" isn't Steve Smith, better known as character Red Green on "The Red Green Show". Yeah I realize he's billed as Ron Anderson (III). That's Red Green, unless like 50% of Canadians look and sound like Red Green.

The movie is about some dork who's dorky father was killed by a dorky cult. The dork snoops around and finds his dorky father's notes on a dorky cult. Dork investigates. Not surprisingly the entirety of Canada must be part of the dorky cult because somehow they show up at dork's house, looking for dork and the notes. Dork escapes and meets bigger dork. Chasing continues and rather bland uninteresting dialogue ensue until they run into Red Green. Right around this time dork finds out that bigger dork used to be in the cult, and in fact may have killed his father! Dohwell... didn't expect that now did we? In the end, some dork ends up burning and some really dorky thing happens. Perhaps the oddest thing is the apparent alien abduction of about 10 of the dorky cult members. I couldn't really figure out what exactly took place, and how this fit into the err..story? Perhaps they were walking towards the light?

The story is horrible, acting is terrible, there are no effects, and the script is 1st to none. The only thing I can say there are actually quite a few "motion" cinema shots. That's about the only thing that get's this film a 1. It's dated 1990. I seriously wonder how many decades this sat finished before release? 1/10

Fun schlock

[MonsterVision99 · 5/10 · 5 August 2017]

The Final Sacrifice, or Quest for the Lost City as my copy claims, it's a 1990 movie that is most known for being featured on MST3K, but this movie it's watchable even without the MST3K crew.

The film its one of those "So-bad-it's-good" kind of films, its also quite inspiring in many aspects, it was made with very little money and resources (and it shows), but you can tell that people cared about this little cheesy movie. It makes you want to go out and shoot a low budget schlocky film.

Its incredibly flawed, but it has enough heart to keep you interested.

Pure Canadian Pain

[ajbru · 2/10 · 8 September 2005]

The Final Sacrifice is the perfect example of a Canadian movie that had potential. It had the basic story of an unlikely duo teaming up and fighting an evil cult. Very Indiana Jones-esquire. But that's where the creativity stops.

The movie starts with a short scene of an unknown man being chased by unknown thugs. I think the important thing here is to see the hockey-haired, trenchcoat wearing man who is obviously our villain. The scene ends with the unknown man being shot, but this is expertly done by simply showing a stand of trees, and a gunshot played over as a sound effect. After seven years of credits, we see a boy visiting a grave that one has to assume is that of the man who was shot in the scene earlier. This then cuts to a scene of the boy finding something about lemon mines in the attic, and a VERY wrinkly letter from "Mike Pipper". This then cuts to a short scene about a guy unable to start his car. And then back to the boy. As he apparently studies about lemon mines in the comfort of his home, he is outwitted and then attacked by a hood. His house is overrun by machete wielding grunts, led by the same man from the first scene, who apparently decided seven years of hockey hair was enough, and got it changed. The ensuing chase of a car NOT being able to catch up to a skinny guy on a bike is very heart pounding.

As the movie progresses, the boy, named Troy, meets up with our hero. The legendary Zap Rowsdower! The two have a long series of misadventures, one of the highlights being Rowsdower accidentally bumping his crotch against Troy in an underground tunnel. After a lot of chasing, and a VERY scary grizzled mountain man who sounds like a mix of Yosemite Sam and Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the movie ends with Troy being selected as the final sacrifice, which will give the bad guy with big nostrils an invincible army of zombies, with which he can take over Canada, and then get demolished by every other country in the world.

I won't spoil the ending, but suffice to say, you know it's coming. The movie is uninspired, boring, and just plain bad. Mike and the bots work their magic on this one, creating a very memorable episode from the not as wonderful Sci-Fi era of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Bottom 100? WHY?!

[vornado11 · 8/10 · 3 October 2013]

Before I begin, this movie is not a great movie. It has problems, it's low-budget, and it's silly in parts. Why would it have gotten placed in MST3K otherwise? But one of the worst movies ever made? Baby Geniuses, North, Titanic: The Legend Goes On, and Garbage Pail Kids are all better than this movie? ...REALLY?! Well, let's see if I can open your eyes.

First of all, this movie was made by a freshman college student on a budget of about $1500(and that's in 1990 dollars.) He hired friends and students, used borrowed cameras, and pulled a lot of low-to-no budget tricks to get things to happen in the movie. So, really, that nullifies the argument that it's one of the worst movies of all time right there: They did what they could with what they had. If the movie was $50 million and it looked like it was directed by a three-year-old, THEN maybe there would be a reason to hate it. But as is, there is a LOT of effort in this movie.

The story is generic, yet fascinating. A young boy named Troy finds a map belonging to his late father to a lost city somewhere nearby. Almost immediately, he is set upon by an evil cult who want to find the city and raise the evil that's supposedly buried there. Luckily, on a run for his life, he comes across a drifter named Zap, who is hiding a secret past. Together, they both need to outrun the cult, find the city before they do, and discover the dark pasts of everyone. It's something we've seen a lot, but it feels new here. These actually feel like people going on an adventure, not actors on a contrived mission. Most of the stops feel natural, like you'd do the same if you were in the movie. No red herrings, no awkward surprises, most of the strangeness is explained, this is a solid adventure story!

The characters aren't played by expert actors, nor anyone with a large amount of acting experience, but the actors still manage to bring them to life. Troy is a young man who's slightly timid, but very curious, and the actor makes this really shine through. Every time he analyzes something or tries to put a puzzle together, I see lights in his eyes and I feel excited for him and what he might discover. Zap is a big burly man who's trying to run from something other than the villains, but it's not until much later that we learn his dark secret. He's menacing with a heart of gold, and, and this is an art that's been lost in time, he's SUBTLE. You actually believe this character exists, and not that it's an actor they probably pulled off the street. Even the villain, as silly as they made his voice, is menacing. Every time he appears, you feel how evil he is, how he wants to hurt others and how he won't let anything get in his way. This is a guy that would make Darth Vader bow down in fear. He doesn't have to do anything to command that respect, he just exists. THAT is power!

As I said, this movie is very low-budget, but that doesn't stop the camera work and effects from being quite good. Most of the camera shots are static, but the director knows where to place the camera to get the desired effect. When a character sees something, we see it the way he looks at it. The camera is almost always in the perfect position, never so close we count the zits on their faces, but so far that we can't see what a character does. The effects are minimal, but when they happen, they happen. A torture scene involving the main villain and Zap is the best example of this. This movie shows that a movie doesn't need a lot of effects to be good.

The soundtrack is very good for this sort of movie. Normally, a soundtrack for a very low budget late 80's/early 90's film is comprised of a piano and/or synthesizer playing the same notes throughout the movie. However, this movie has a fast-paced string orchestra that gets the atmosphere across whenever there's an action scene or a feeling of dread or threat. It sounds professional and foreboding, like Hans Zimmer or Danny Elfman. The main theme should be up there with Superman and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now, with that said, there are some silly moments. Some of the dialog is said rather silly, showing the inexperience of the actors(such as the infamous MST3K line "FOOD!") There are also a few characters that appear and are never seen again, but they fulfill their role. And yes, both the Zap name and the prospector character are funny. Still, I've heard a lot worse and there are worse ethnic stereotypes in Adam Sandler movies.

In short, this movie is NOT BAD! It's not great, and it's really low budget, but it's not deserving of a Bottom 100 position. You can tell that everyone working on this movie felt great about it, that they put all their effort into making this the one and greatest movie they'd ever make. It's one of the best movies to be featured on MST3K and I'd prefer to watch this over most of the ADD and cliché riddled action movies in theaters today. If you can find a copy, check it out. Or just watch the MST3K version. CANADIANS!

Also called Final Sacrifice

[indy428 · 6/10 · 28 September 2002]

As in an earlier comment, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, (known as "Final Sacrifice" is a hilarious spoof of this Canadian made movie! Unless you like campy, simple plotted, lame action movies, don't see this one.

"Rowsssssssdowerrrrrrrrr!!"

[ledzepp461 · 1/10 · 9 September 2002]

Ahhhhhh...Quest for the Lost City! Good times!

This film features an alcoholic hick hero named "Zap Rowsdower"; an effeminate teenage boy named "Troy"; a black-clad, mullet-sporting group of Canadian wrestlers; a bad guy who talks like Darth Vader; and Canada's answer to Yosemite Sam!!

Go see it!!

The Adventures of Beer and Nerd

[Pythe · 16 October 2004]

As far as abysmally crappy movies go, The Final Sacrifice isn't so bad. Sure, it's technically inept in just about every way, features horrible dialogue, and doesn't have a character in the entire film with a realistic name (the fact that the director signs his checks "Tjardus Greidanus" goes a long way towards explaining this phenomena), but it's got something most films in its class lack: heart. I'd say Greidanus is akin to the famous Ed Wood, in that he shows not a shred of talent but at least seemed to believe in what he did. Rather than slapping a recycled costume on an assistant director and creating yet another lame, lousy creature feature with an insipid story, he tried to create something original, new, and interesting. He failed miserably, but at least he tried.

The plot revolves around a pre-Internet nerd named Troy, who, apparently, spends his time digging stuff out of the attic that relates to his father's death somehow, stares at it for a while, and then gives up on figuring out what happened and just puts it all away again. He lucks out when a ski-masked cult randomly decides to come looking for a map that leads to a lost city, even though they could have come any time in the seven years prior but for some reason decided to let him grow old enough to somehow thwart their entire incompetent organization with the help of a beer-guzzling, mullet-endowed drifter...but I get ahead of myself.

So anyway, Troy is forced to go outside the house for the first time in a decade and somehow winds up in the truck bed of the aforementioned drifter, who manages to deliver his name, Zap Rowsdower, with a straight face. Even the nerdy kid understands how embarrassing it is to call a grown man "Zap," so he (repeatedly) refers to him as "Rowsthdower," which isn't really much of an improvement. Anyhow, some other stuff happens, involving a gray-bearded, oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-people-like-this-actually-exist-type character named Mike Pipper, who explains some less-than-interesting exposition explaining what they're up against and what's at stake--the world, of course! After looking thoroughly unconcerned, our heroes, though they couldn't pool together enough mental resources to open a can of tuna (though Rowsdower has a lot of experience opening cans...of beer...), find a way to overthrow the muscleheaded cult, defeat the villainous Satoris (a man with a voice deeper than the lead singer of Type O Negative), knock over a pole, raise the lost cardboard miniature of Ziox, and save all of Canada, acting like it's some sort of major accomplishment all the while. The movie ends with an inspiring shot of Troy and Zap in the Zapmobile, going somewhere for some reason. My bet is that it involved beer and cheese.

It has a hero named "Zap Rowsdower"! How bad could it be??

[lemon_magic · 3/10 · 18 June 2005]

Don't answer that! Obviously what sunk this movie was the tiny budget and the utter amateurishness of the writer/director. The plot reads like a ninth grade school boy's attempts to reproduce Robert E. Howard or H.P. Lovecraft - some weird melange about a lost city and a sacrificial cult and an exiled loner and a chase into the lost wastelands of Noggoth...er, or at least rural Canada.

Anyway, there are actually elements of a decent movie in here...they just get torpedoed by bad choices in almost every scene. The movie does give a sense of the isolation and loneliness of the land. "Zap" is something of a lunk, but he is an agreeable lunk, and makes a believable 'Everyman' character, even if he is something less than magnetic or inspiring. The guy playing the villain seems to have modeled himself after the Tall Man from "Phantasm" (not a bad choice, really), but instead of having the Tall Man's menacing rasp, he seems to be choking on a throatful of phlegm.

In fact, given a real budget and a real director and some decent film stock, the 3 main actors might have been able to pull off something that didn't resemble Amateur Night at the local community theater...but these poor fellows are completely over their heads. I'll say this for them, they gave it a good try.

Oh, and the soundtrack: it's one guy with a synthesizer. And it manages to be incredibly ambitious AND irritating. The composer shifts and changes moods dozens of times, sometimes within the same scene, varying wildly from "Beethoven's Fifth with aphasia" to "Video Poker Music" (from Mike Nelson's MST3K coverage) in an attempt to drum up some excitement. But it actually turns out to be one of the film's biggest problems. It's like having a kazoo band provide background music for your dinner party - no matter how many leitmotifs and riffs and themes they play, it's still kazoo music, and you wish they'd shut up and let some actual instruments play...or even allow some restful silence.

And just when I thought I was going to be able to at least accept this movie on its own terms without giggling hysterically at every new scene, along comes a character channeling Yosemite Sam. Yosemite Sam is a great Warner Brothers cartoon character, but for God's sake, what is he doing in this movie???

FWIW, as silly and amateurish as this movie is, no way does it deserve to be this deep into the Bottom 100. It's a very earnest little number that tries to be "about" something; and while the actors are unskilled and badly directed, they don't ham it up or chew the scenery, and they come across as sympathetic and likable.(That's more than you can say about 'Hobgoblins' or 'Space Mutiny').

I don't know, you guys....

[electronsexparty · 5/10 · 9 June 2005]

I don't know, you guys, I kind of like The Final Sacrifice. Yeah, it was a pretty crappy film, but what do you expect from such a low budget? There are tons of big budget films that are worse than this film. The acting wasn't bad at all either. The characters were interesting and the plot actually had a little something going on. The problem: not enough back story. I would have loved to learn more about Rowsdower and Troy. Their characters needed to develop more. The plot needed to some meat on its bones. The writers should have dropped Mike Pipper and had Troy and Rowsdower somehow discover what was going on themselves. Plus, Troy and Rowsdower made such a... uh... cute couple and they had tons of sexual tension and chemistry. There should have been a bit of romance between the two. The movie had potential that it just didn't live up to.

Feverish, Standard Thriller/Adventure

[full_meddle_jacket · 1/10 · 22 February 2002]

Some people still can't believe that anyone expects great acting, etcetera, from low-budget films, and shouldn't criticize anything without a big budget. However..."The Blair Witch Project" (though I'm no fan) was low-budget yet has become a cult phenomenon. "The Red Violin" had no big budget, yet was critically acclaimed. In "The Quest For the Lost City," (a.k.a. "The Final Sacrifice") a kid conveniently stumbles upon a map of some sort that is a key to a "lost city." A cult of guys in ski masks, led by Satoris--decked in a trench coat, suit, and tie while riding around in rusty GMC trucks--want the map and run after the kid. But he finds the company of a drunken loser who helps him fend off the cult, save the day, and restore a "lost city" made of cardboard. This film is feverishly written and features cheezy performances. The only good thing about "The Final Sacrifice" (noted so many times, it is now a cliche`) is that it was humorously torn apart by our trusty friends at "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

This movie cost $2,500 to make and it shows.

[dirk275 · 4/10 · 1 April 2010]

Somewhere in Alberta (Eagle Hat?), Troy MacGregor is trying to find out why his father was killed when he comes across a map of the Ziox civilization in his attic. He's not the only interested party however, and is chased by Satoris and his hooded thugs. Troy chances up with Zap Rowsdower(yikes) who just happened to be a member of the cult until he was kicked out. Zap seems to have an instant dislike for Troy,as did I, and tries to rid himself of him by turning him into the police. As events unfold, it turns out the pair are close to where the map places the city so Troy investigates. Soon they meet up with Mike Pipper, who is Troy's fathers former partner. He's also the filthiest, grimiest man ever to grace the screen. Troy is kidnapped by the cult so Zap is off to save him and the truth about what happened to Troy's dad comes out in one big happy Chevy pickup truck flavored ending.

Alright, it all sounds like a great story, but really, it's not told all that well. I guess it was made by some college students on a bus fare budget, which actually seems to add to the appeal. All the characters are hilarious at best. Rowsdower is an out of shape drunk with awful hair. Troy is a stick thin nerd who fills out a red sweater like nobody's business. And of course there's Mike Pipper and Satoris. Pipper's voice must be heard to be believed and Satoris is just terrible as the villain.

Still, I actually will watch this movie and kind of like it. I've seen the MST3K version and I love it, but I've also seen it without Mike and the bots. It has a certain charm to it. It's not good by any means but it's fun and fun to laugh at. All in all, I say give it a try if you can find it.

A DELIGHT!

[jasoN-128 · 1/10 · 21 February 2000]

Few films i have ever seen have made me feel quite like this one has. Greidanus is a GENIUS in his day, and Christian Malcom's acting is truly MAGNIFICENT. He could be the next big action hero. I would recommend this film to anyone!

"I'm Rowsdower... Zap Rowsdower."

[bensonmum2 · 2/10 · 17 September 2009]

While rummaging through his father's old stuff, a boy named Troy discovers a map that leads to an ancient civilization. Troy thinks the map may also lead to answers to his father's death. But there are other, darker forces at work. A cult bent on world domination wants to get hold of the map. With the help of a former cult member named Rowsdower, Troy hopes to get to the bottom of the mystery before he ends up like his father.

While I usually pride myself in being able to separate the two, in the case of The Final Sacrifice, it's really difficult to imagine watching the movie without the Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary. The movie seems to have been tailor made for that type of ridicule and mockery. From Mike Pipper's Yosemite Sam-like voice to the over-weight Canadian guys in black hoods and tank top running through the woods to the nonsensical plot to the cardboard Ziox civilization – it's like shooting fish in a barrel – the riffs just can't miss. I've probably seen The Final Sacrifice a half-dozen or more times and I'm always astounded at the ineptitude of it all. Some things are so bizarre, however, that it leaves me scratching my head in wonderment:

• Zap Rowsdower? Really? You've got to be joking. The name, the actor, the character motivation – none of it makes the least bit of sense.

• Troy McGreggor? Again, you've got to be joking? I sincerely doubt you could find a punier or bonier looking guy to play the role. And that incessant whining of the name "Rowsdower". It makes me want to slap the guy every time he opens his mouth.

• Plot coincidences. Can you write a plot with more unrealistic and unfathomable plot coincidences? Take the bad guys timing in coming after Troy. The map has been sitting undiscovered in Troy's attic for seven years. That's right – SEVEN years. But the moment Troy discovers the map, the bad guys immediately show up on his doorstep. Yeah, right. Or take Troy's chance meeting of Rowsdower. Of all the trashy, redneck pick-up trucks in Canada, what are the chances Troy would pick one to climb in that just happens to be owned by a former member of the cult that's chasing him? Not very likely.

• Is Canada really that desolate of a place? Troy's aunt's house appears to be in a neighborhood of some sort. Is there no one around to notice that something's amiss when hooded goons take a chainsaw to her front door? Does no one notice a band of thugs chasing Troy on his bike? And why doesn't someone notice the shootout Rowsdower and the cult members have on the highway? Is this kind of activity normal in Canada?

This is too easy and I've barely scratched the surface. I haven't mentioned the lousy technical aspects of the film, the amateurish acting, the poor special effects, or the ridiculous music score. The Final Sacrifice has it all and none of it is good. Because of some unintentional entertainment value I derive from the film, I can't rate it any lower than a 2/10. But as far as MST3K episodes goes, it makes for one of the best. I'll give that version a 5/5 on my MST3K rating scale. Enjoy.

The worst film ever to come out of Canada? Maybe. (Some spoilers if you actually want to watch this)

[chguenette-1 · 1/10 · 31 August 2002]

Where to begin? First, you have this cult of masked wrestlers from the old Stampede territory, led by a verrrrry slllllow talllllking leader killing a man, presumably as a sacrifice, searching for some underground city somewhere in Southwestern Alberta. Seven years later, the father's son, a skinny geek who couldn't even get a date from a blow-up girl, rummages through the attic and finds a map and other assorted notes from trying to find this city. Well, the masked Stampeders invade the kid's house, and he averts the cult on his ten-speed bike (while the bad guys are driving a PICKUP TRUCK?!). He soon meets up with a drunken, mullet wearing guy named ZAP ROWSDOWER! They outrun the Stampede cult despite being in a truck that seems to be one mile away from complete and utter collapse. Soon after, the truck conveniently dies near the site of the underground city. Our two heroes end up in the ramshackle shack of a Yosemite Sam-sounding hermit who used to be the partner of the geek's father. We also find out that Rowsodwer was one of the guys that killed the geek's father, and he has the tattoo on his arm that our cult masked men from Stampede also have. Anyway, there's the big climax scene at the end where the kid and Rowsdower kill the leader (with a bullet to the ass, I guess), the Stampede wrestlers head back to the Corral, Rowsdower's tattoo disappears after he doused some whiskey on it, and the underground city rumbles back up to the surface. But before we can see what's in the city, we're suddenly looking at Rowsdower's truck driving back home (or wherever it was going). End of movie.

A word of advice: Don't ever watch this movie, not even the MST3K version. No matter how cool somebody might think you'd be for viewing it. It's just not worth the two hours you'll lose watching this atrocity on film. Take up needlepoint instead.

PS: If there's any old Stampede Wrestling fans reading this and think I was making fun of their territory with the masked cult guys, I wasn't. They just looked like a bunch of masked wrestlers in tank tops.

MST3K Episode #910

[ClarusTheDogCow · 10/10 · 1 August 2003]

Wow. This one hurts. Don't want the original un-MSTied version or your eyes will probably burst into flames...

This movie comes from Canada, need I say more? A banal movie. One of the protagonist is named "Zap Rowsdower". Lets throw in the label Stupidity with the aforementioned banal bit.

Anywho, Troy and Zap fight some dumpy hood-wearing canadians, meet an old prospector who has a wire brush in his throat, and save the legend of the Ziox society.

The MST3K comments on the movie are a riot and this is a very good episode of MST3K that I recommend to anyone to watch. Crappy Movie. Good Heckling.

10/10 for MSTied version.

Hilarious!

[Xomby · 6/10 · 20 July 1999]

This film is the zaniest piece of garbage to be tossed into the US from Canada. It stars Zap Rowsdower, a hateable drunk who can get out of ANY dangerous situation with his beer bottles. Hes pretty resourceful, even making a molotov cocktail out of one in a great scene. Then theres Troy McGregor, an adult child, probably a eunuch, who is the "handsome" lead. All he does is make dumb comments and run from people chasing him, as well as hiding in a basement all day and night. Then theres the villain, who sounds like a tape recorded message in slow motion and has animal caves for nostrils. Finally theres the old backwoods codger, who does a good Yosimite Sam impression but otherwise isnt much other than laughs. This movie really should have been marketed as a comedy...it would have been a lot more successful. Overall, not horrible...Its a good movie for Canadian standards.

I wish Zap snapped the directors neck...

[bosnia-2 · 1/10 · 11 January 2010]

Well, I've never seen a Huffy outrace a muscle car... but I guess when you are making a completely irrational film it is certain to happen somewhere along the line. I think you can count the lines of dialogue in the first thirty minutes on two hands. I guess the director's rationale was that it's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it and remove all doubt. Then again I think assuming there was any rationale involved in the production this movie is giving the director too much credit.

This film has some of the most hilarious chase scenes I have ever seen. First you have Troy's epic escape from machete wielding villains via his mountain bike. I swear this scene would not end. Literally ten minutes are spent tracking Troy as he eludes a car full of goons on his Huffy. Eventually the heroes give up chasing this kid in a car and decide to foot it. Sadly enough, they come closer to catching him on foot than they did when they chased him with their car. Finally, when it seems as though these villains are about to catch Troy, he hops into the back of a truck. This is no ordinary truck, however. This is a truck owned by the dumb, drunken protagonist Zap Rowsdower... yes, Zap Rowsdower. This guy is a cross between John Candy and Joe Dirt. I think that I could use my ass cheeks as a face and be a more effective actor than this guy. Anyway, after Zap and Troy reach a gas station another hilarious chase scene ensues. Of course Zap and Troy have the last laugh. The funniest part about this scene is when the villains car treads off of a hill and takes a long winded drive towards a creek. The scene could have easily been ended by just blowing up the car, or by the villains simply hitting the brakes but NO. For dramatic effect the director had the villains speed across a 500 feet straightaway into a creek.

The chase scenes are all good and fun, but the supporting cast is what makes this movie so "fun" to watch. ESPECIALLY the character Mike Pipper. This character is a hybrid - one part Macho Man Randy Savage, one part Ted Kaczynski. I was just waiting for him to shout out "Ooooh Yea!!!" after every single line. And let us not forget the performance of "Satoris", the antagonist of the film. Satoris, as we learn, is hell- bent on taking over the world. He plans on achieving this by sacrificing our virginal protagonist, Troy. Unfortunately he doesn't succeed. After a bunch of useless scenes, horrible acting, and utterly retarded dialogue the "climax" is reached when Troy kills Satoris and in doing so saves the world from the necessity to continue this horrible film.