The Final Patient (2005) User Reviews

The Givers and the Takers

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 30 June 2007]

Willy Jenkins (Jason Scott Campbell) and his greedy and cynical roommate Cameron Streckman (Alex Feldman) have just finished the medical school and are traveling together before starting residence. While driving through a country town where Willy spent his childhood, they stop for resting and having meal, and they hear an intriguing story about the strength of the retired physician and Willy's acquaintance Dr. Daniel Green (Bill Cobbs). They become curious and go to Dr. Green's farm where they meet the old man, who tells them that he lives alone with his sick wife and invites them to have dinner with him. While eating chili and drinking beer, Dr. Green tells the story about a miraculous Chinese medicine that he has been using for years, awakening greed in the ambitious Cameron with fatal consequences.

The low-budget "The Final Patient" develops and builds in low pace an intriguing story about an old good family man and physician, who misses his lost son Nathan and lives with his sick wife. There is an excellent criticism to the behavior of most doctors in North America that could be extended to many other countries where a great number of these professionals are mercenaries and interested only in making money. The performances, the screenplay and the direction are excellent regarding Dan, Cameron and Willy, but simply forget the key character of Elizabeth Green. Suddenly, this mysterious woman appears like an insane murder, trying to kill everybody and destroy her house without any clear explanation. My interpretation is that she was kept alive by her beloved husband against her will; then she becomes insane and addicted in the Chinese formula, triggering her murder instinct in the end, but I am not sure about the correctness of my viewpoint. Further, I do not know if the problem was with the script or restraining budget, but unfortunately something was missing regarding the development of the motives of Mrs. Green to make "The Final Patient" a great little film. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Último Paciente" ("The Last Patient")

Not that bad, just a bad ending!

[reeves2002 · 5/10 · 5 September 2007]

First off I want to say don't listen to what "kingdio" said about this movie."kingdio,you had no right calling someone an idiot for liking this movie and then saying they must be deaf and stupid". Not everyone will like this movie that's true but other's will enjoy it. I enjoyed this movie.I liked the slow buildup of the story as the deranged Doctor Green (played perfectly by Bill Cobbs) explains to his visitor's how a potion he created out of snake venom gave him superhuman strength while a storm was raging outside.I liked how Doc Green,Cameron and Willy all sat around his house drinking beer while each had their own motives.It was funny watching Cameron(played by Alex Feldman)trying to manipulate the doctor by getting him drunk.And good acting by new comer Jason Scott Campbell also who played Willy.This is the type of movie where you have to pay attention to the detail of what was being said. The part I didn't like was how the wife ended up turning into a monster.I was expecting their young son Nathan to show up instead,especially after the doctor mentioned that his dead son visits him when it's dark and he fed the boy candy.You never do see the boy other then his grave and I did not understand what all the candy wrappers were for.What the hell was the Doctor doing with all the candy.I think the story would haver been better if the doctor had his son hidden in an upstairs bedroom of his home instead of the wife.It would have been more creepy to see a kid transformed into some kind of a creature because of his father's cruel experiments.I did not understand the connection between the candy wrappers and his wife.The ending was what I didn't like because it doesn't really end like others said.It ends right in the middle of a part of the story in a hospital room.If there is going to be a sequel then I can understand it, but to leave it the way it was does nothing for it and is very amateur.It is a sad way to end a well acted movie.

only the last 15 minutes deliver something

[trashgang · 4/10 · 8 March 2012]

This was filed over here as horror but I can tell that there's nothing in it to mention horror. It's just a story being told about a doctor having found the fountain of youth. By chance two students are eating their meal while visiting their old town when they hear the story of something supernatural.

It doesn't take long before they become friends with the doctor and from there on it's talking and talking and talking until the final 15 minutes were the red stuff comes in and a scary face of the doctor's wife. Why she's berserk isn't explained but I guess she being kept alive by the doctor. The performances are okay but for me there was too much of blah blah going on. And just before the end credits they are trying to put the jump part into the editing but again, predictable.

People who love soft horror can easily watch it but for others stay away from it.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

What a disappointment!

[rascal9tx · 1/10 · 3 July 2007]

I watched this movie with quite a lot of hope for having found a diamond in the rough, but was thoroughly disappointed. The movie is VERY slow throughout the middle of the film and the ending is so bizarre that I was very irritated when the credits began to roll. The ending could have been better if the filmmakers had elected to explain WHY Mrs. Green wanted to kill everyone. I gathered that she was homicidal because of the effects of the drug, but the film didn't really clarify, either through a back story telling about her addiction to and reactions from the drug or some other device. Basically, it showed her sneaking downstairs to snag some of the formula while her husband went to town (what did she do to get the drug all those months when her husband DIDN'T go to town?) and then she goes wildly crazy at the end and tries to kill everyone. I think it's sad when a movie has to have it's back story explained on IMDb message boards rather than during the film. And how come hubby wasn't homicidal while taking the same formula?!? And then Mrs. Green magically pops up under Cameron's (whose character is extremely annoying in the beginning) hospital bed, unbeknownst to the medical staff who go in and out of his room at all hours of the day and night. The ending would have been laughable had I not been so irritated at the whole waste of my time. As slow as the film was, I kept telling myself, "This had BETTER make up for the slow-going with a great ending!" Wow, was I let down. . .

This film is bad, not finished at all!!

[filmarena1 · 1/10 · 29 April 2007]

I started to watch this movie due to reaction of my customers :-(. And I totally agree with them, it is a very bad movie, it could have been so much better. Bill Cobbs is really great but cannot rescue the movie. Alex Feldman is everything but good in this movie.

You just do not get the story because the film is not finished. It builds up very nicely, but I still do not get it why the doctor while drinking beer starts to bleed more and more (suicide?. Why is his wife so mean and knows everything? even when she is locked up only in her bedroom?)And then suddenly she is lying in a hospital under Alex Feldman's bed? What happened in the burning house how did Alex Feldman get out? Why not his friend? And it ended fast and like cheap slasher movie.

This movie is SO bad....

[thespy8 · 2/10 · 9 July 2006]

I don't know what movie the other reviewers were watching, but they must be associated with the production or are family members of one of them to write that type of review. This movie is boring and predictable. The plot, if there is one, is full of holes. This movie looks like a project a failing cinematography student may put out. Warning, I saw this movie under the title: One Step Closer. One can only imagine why the creators are trying to distribute it under a different name... As a side note, this site is here for guidance in helping us pick movies to watch. I cannot understand why it is becoming more and more a vehicle for some people to mislead the general public. I think IMDb should be aware of this!!!

God awful. Stay away!

[kingdio · 1/10 · 15 June 2007]

The other reviewers are right. Horrible acting, horrible direction, and a half-witted story line make this one of the worst movies I ever rented. The movie is amateurish at best, and you're sure to find better films on youtube.com. They must've had like a 1,000 dollar budget. And it all went to Cobbs. I thought that little picture on the cover was for some independent film award, but it's obviously recognition for longest home video. It's not scary, nor suspenseful. It's actually an embarrassment to all movies that don't suck this much. My only question is this: Who is that idiot that gave it a good review? He must be blind, deaf AND stupid.

Good story and acting, too slow paced.

[mergatroid-1 · 3/10 · 11 August 2010]

I like Bill Cobbs. I have enjoyed him in everything I have seen him in and have no doubt about his acting skills whatsoever.

In this movie he plays a country doctor who stumbles on an ancient document that tells how some monks who made a monastery in the middle of nowhere were assisted by drinking this herbal concoction every day. Over the years the Doctor manages to perfect the liquid until he can use it to improve his strength and that of his sick wife. Unfortunately it is not a fountain of youth but merely keeps him healthy and unusually strong for a man of any age.

Two young men just graduating from Med school come to town. One of them used to live in the town and goes to visit the doctor, bringing his friend. They learn of the doctors discovery and try and take it for themselves.

This could have been a great movie but the pacing was so slow I had to fast forward through some parts because I was getting bored. If they had of increased the pace, and maybe improved the ending it could have been a very good movie.

I agree with another review here.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 18 November 2012]

This really isn't a bad film at all. In fact, it's a fairly good one, and is a refreshing change of pace for the horror genre nowadays in that it entirely hinges on character and performance. That is, until its misfired finale that is much too conventional and disappointing considering just how much build up is in this thing. The excellent veteran character actor Bill Cobbs shines in a rare lead role; it's a good thing that he should get such a major showcase for once. He plays a septuagenarian doctor / farmer with an ill wife who needs looking after. One day, on his property, a local kid is playing around and gets pinned under an old tractor. Dr. Dan (Cobbs) then proceeds to exhibit some superhuman strength and lift the tractor off of the boy so that he can be moved. Word of this miracle spreads to two college kids, Willy (Jason Scott Campbell) and Cameron (Alex Feldman), and Cameron is determined to find out all of Dans' big secrets - some of which he does reveal to him, in a standout sequence where Dan spills out his big back story, having heard of a powerful drug used by monks in ancient times which Dan has been able to replicate. As a result, he's in much better shape than he should by all rights be; he can outrun his dog, for one thing. But on the dark and stormy night that Willy and Cameron pay a supposedly social visit to the solicitous, friendly senior, bad things soon start happening. One element that helps bring "The Final Patient" down a peg or two is the way that co-writer / director Jerry Mainardi doesn't seem too keen on explaining just a bit more, at least in regards to the motivation of Dans' wife Elizabeth (Lizan Mitchell); what exactly is her deal? Affecting music and good acting can only do so much to keep this thing interesting; Campbell and Feldman aren't on a level with Cobbs, but deliver basically creditable performances; also on hand is another solid and under-rated actor, Guy Boyd (the sardonic detective in 1984's "Body Double") as the local sheriff. The film really is very light on horror until its final act, but the horror that takes place is nothing special. There's some good gore, but the makeup effects on Elizabeth really aren't that great. (One thing's for sure, and that's that the big reveal of her appearance wouldn't be as ineffective if it weren't advertised on the back of the Blu-ray cover.) Overall, this would have to rate as a nice try that just doesn't properly deliver in the end...especially given how clichéd that end is. Cobbs pushes up the rating by a point. Six out of 10.

An Indie not to be missed

[ineedthebeach2 · 10/10 · 19 May 2006]

This movie was not only scary, but well executed. BIll Cobbs, Alex Feldman, and Jason Scott Campbell's chemistry added to making the whole story truly believable. Subtle hints throughout the movie explain the outcome of the movie, but of course, many of them are missed until you go back and think about what has happened. There were also some comedic scenes, such as in the bar, and the cocky behavior of Alex, (one of the medical students), as well as the conversations among the bar patrons, that will make you chuckle. The patrons in the sleepy little town where the movie was filmed, seems to be stuck in the seventies... or perhaps, its just small town America. The two college students are certainly a rude awakening to what America has become. A society with its main focus on money, success and greed. You will be taken by surprise as the events of this movie unfold. The story is well crafted and intriguing. Bill Cobbs is at his best!

An elderly doctor stumbles upon a serum proving to have outlandish effects on the human strength and stamina

[duckdive84 · 8/10 · 18 August 2006]

I saw this movie because of buzz I heard over the net and wanted to see for myself. The movie is very character driven rather then explosions and special effects rammed down your throat. It has a great plot and keeps you wondering about where each character stands throughout the movie. It almost has a twilight zone type feel, it has no problem keeping you on edge and guessing. The acting is top notch, Bill Cobbs is truly under rated as an actor and I believe this movie gave him the chance he needed to stretch his legs and take a lead role. Most of the other people in the movie I have not heard of but also impressed me throughout. This movie is one of the better I've seen in a while, I would check it out.

Well executed and subtly terrifying.

[sonadow · 10/10 · 7 June 2006]

The Final Patient (Released as 'One Step Closer' in the UK) is a truly engrossing film and you will find yourself mesmerised by the storyline. I've watched several films like this and have always worked out quite early on how the film will end, but surprisingly The Final Patient will have you confused throughout. The movie has only around 10 actors and most of it revolves around Dr. Daniel Green's house and it's inhabitants. The only let down in my opinion was the ending, I feel as if this was rushed and wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. But other than that, superb acting by Cobbs and I definitely suggest you rent this out.

Thrilling

[wdolphin81 · 8/10 · 4 June 2007]

I rented this movie with no knowledge of the film or the comments here only the brief summary on the back of the DVD. I was glued to the screen through out the entire movie. It drew me in got my interest, peaked my curiosity and then left me hanging. There were so many questions left unanswered that it makes me hope and want for a sequel or at least a website with the back stories. I hopped online as soon as it was over to try to find the answers that i so desperately wanted from the movie. Why was the doc killing himself when he knew the consequence of alchol? why was his wife so angry with the two guys? What happened to the one that did not make it? and on and on. I think another 15 minutes would have been sufficient to wrap up the loose ends. PLEASE LET US HAVE THE ANSWERS WE SEEK!!!

Home Remedy...

[azathothpwiggins · 21 January 2022]

THE FINAL PATIENT stars Bill Cobbs as Dr. Green, an aging small town physician with a severely ill wife. Despite his age, Green seems to possess superhuman strength and vitality. Two young med students are determined to learn his secret. Unfortunately, there's a hefty price for such knowledge.

Cobbs is excellent in his role, managing to be both kindly and mysterious. This movie is reminiscent of some of the better episodes of the old TV show NIGHT GALLERY from the 1970's.

It's nice and creepy with a malevolent twist. It's only real flaw is its length. About 10-15 minutes could have been shaved off to make it more tense...