History Film / TheFinalSacrifice

* AwesomeMcCoolname: What the film thought "Zapp Rowsdower" was.
** FailOSuckyName: What "Zapp Rowsdower" turned out to be.
** InherentlyFunnyWords: What "Zapp Rowsdower" became.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The entire plot is pretty much a long string of these.

The movie was directed by Tjardus Greidanus, then a film student at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, using a cast of local theater actors and fellow students. It received a VHS release under the title ''Quest for the Lost City'', and occasional play on Canadian television in the early '90s, but remained extremely obscure until it was discovered by Best Brains and featured on [=MST3K=].

The movie was directed by Tjardus Greidanus, then a film student at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, using a cast of local theater actors and fellow students. It received a VHS release under the title ''Quest for the Lost City'', and occasional play on Canadian television in the early '90s, but remained extremely obscure until it was discovered by Best Brains and featured on MST3K.

** While on the run from the cult, Troy and Zap just randomly discover a cabin belonging to Thomas [=McGreggor=]'s old archaeology partner, Mike Pipper.

The map leads Troy, and eventually Rowsdower, all over Alberta, through some unlikely caves, and finally to the unkempt shack of a hairy, grizzled fugitive by the name of Mike Pipper. Pipper was a partner of Troy's father; he has been hiding in the woods from Satoris for seven years (who never found him, even though it took Troy and Zap a few days at most). Pipper reveals that the cultists are the last descendants of the Ziox, an ancient culture whose civilization was destroyed by their god after they turned away from it and worshiped an evil idol instead. According to Pipper the Ziox built a [[{{Atlantis}} great city]] that was more advanced than "anything the ancient Egyptians or Romans ever knew", but their god sank the city in a yearlong rainstorm.

* {{Mondegreen}}
--> '''Troy''': The map is real!
--> '''Mike''': Map Israel? I believe Israel's been fairly well-mapped...

* BondJamesBond: "The name's Rowsdower. ''Zap'' Rowsdower."

** While on the run from the cult, Troy and Zap just randomly discover a cabin belonging to Thomas [=McGreggor=]'s old acheology partner, Mike Pipper.

Ruled by the evil Satoris, an ancient cult of [[{{Mooks}} Canadian wrestlers]] is bent on world domination. Instrumental to their plan is a map to the ancient [[{{Precursors}} Ziox]] cult idol, recently discovered by a young boy, Troy [=McGreggor=]. When the cult [[CallToAdventure invades his home to recover the map]], he flees and ends up in the bed of a passing pickup truck, driven by the film's DesignatedHero--a burly, surly Randy Bachman-lookalike hilariously named [[AwesomeMcCoolname Zap Rowsdower]]. At first Rowsdower considers turning Troy over to the police, but after Troy helps him to fix his broken-down truck and Rowsdower helps Troy escape from the cult leaders again, he decides to let Troy stay with him. Rowsdower and Troy become friends and together search for the [[MacGuffin lost idol]] before the cult can claim it and take over the world.

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: ''Eagle Hat'' is apparently Medicine Hat, Alberta.

* ATeamFiring: Throughout the film, most notably during a long car chase in which the villains spray the truck with bullets and yet fail to hit either of the truck's occupants. In another example, Rowsdower fires a shotgun at two cultists at near point-blank range and ''misses''.

* OurAncestorsAreSuperheroes: The ancient Ziox civilization, which the cultists are descended from (and which Rowsdower is only a halfbreed descendant of.) Before being cursed by their gods, the Xiox had the power to make floating cities and, if [[BigBad Sartorus]] is any indication, at least some of them had psychic powers as well.

''The Final Sacrifice'' is a noble but doomed attempt to film an old-fashioned adventure film in rural Canada with [[NoBudget an ultra-low budget]] (around $1500) and an inexperienced cast and director. It is best known from [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S09E10TheFinalSacrifice its appearance]] on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.

* OurAncestorsAreSuperheroes: The ancient Xiox civilization, which the cultists are descended from (and which Rowsdower is only a halfbreed descendant of.) Before being cursed by their gods, the Xiox had the power to make floating cities and, if [[BigBad Sartorus]] is any indication, at least some of them had psychic powers as well.

* BadAss: Rowsdower. He does fight his way through the entirety of Satoris's army throughout the film. Granted even little kid Troy managed to knock one out at the beginning, but fighting one's way through an army of mad (and heavily armed) cultists despite being an [[TheAlcoholic Alcoholic]] FatSlob is no mean feat.

* ContrivedCoincidence:

-->''A lost city... A cult of unholy warriors... And a boy's quest for the secret of his father's death.''
-->-- The tagline

* ZombieApocalypse: Satoris wants to conjure up this and....[[TakeOverTheWorld ''TAKE OVER THE WOOOOORLD!'']] (Don't they all?)

Contrast with the films of Creator/DavidCronenberg and Creator/AtomEgoyan, both of whom make ''good'' Canadian movies.

* AdventurerArchaeologist: Troy, despite [[NonActionGuy not being that great of an adventurer]].
** From the way other characters refer to him, it seems Troy's father Thomas was a more straightforward example.

* TheAtoner: Rowsdower is a former member of Satoris' cult.

* EightiesHair: Zap Rowsdower's mullet. Satoris [[http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f226/SpukiKitty/PICS%20for%20Web%20Forums/satoris2_zps6455a29e.png had one]] at the start of the film as well, before trading it in for [[http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f226/SpukiKitty/PICS%20for%20Web%20Forums/satoris3_zpsdf421c39.png a slick feather job.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: A visual one. One concerning Rowsdower's past. In the very first shot of the film the mook on the left applies his red mask...it's [[http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f226/SpukiKitty/PICS%20for%20Web%20Forums/tfs_zps1ae49034.png definitely Rowsdower!]] His wrists are [[CallForward even bandaged]] from the ordeal later shown in the [[CatapultNightmare nightmare scene.]] This would be easy to miss since the viewer's eye would be naturally focused on Satoris & the campfire to notice.

''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode recap [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S09E10TheFinalSacrifice here]].