A young man named Troy McGreggor finds a map belonging to his late father, who was murdered seven years earlier. Troy’s father Thomas was an archeologist who met his untimely death after becoming involved in a plot with a mysterious cult led by a strange man named Satoris. The orphaned Troy decides to follow the map to learn about the circumstances of his father's death.
The cultists learn about Troy and his father's map and begin chasing him, but Troy escapes on his 10-speed bicycle. Troy jumps into the back of a battered pickup truck heading into the Alberta countryside. The truck belongs to a drifter named Zap Rowsdower. Rowsdower considers turning Troy over to the police, but after Troy helps him to fix his broken-down truck, he decides to let Troy stay with him. At a campfire that night Troy asks Rowsdower lots of questions. This irritates the grumpy Rowsdower, who drinks lots of beer and rubs his tattooed left arm as if he's in pain.
The map leads Troy and Rowsdower through the countryside to some hidden caves, and finally to the house of a grizzled recluse named Mike Pipper. Pipper was a partner of Troy’s father, and has been hiding from Satoris for seven years. Pipper reveals that the cultists are the last descendants of an ancient and advanced race called the Ziox, whose civilization was destroyed by their god in a month-long rainstorm after they turned to worshiping unholy idols. According to Pipper, the Ziox built a great city that was more advanced than "anything the ancient Egyptians or Romans ever knew." He believes that Satoris wants to raise the buried city in hopes that it will restore power to the Ziox and allow him to conquer the entire world. Pipper also casually mentions that Rowsdower once belonged to the evil cult and may have killed Troy’s father. Rowsdower reveals he has the cult’s insignia branded on his arm, like the other cultists. Satoris seems to be able to torment Rowsdower through the mark, as we see Rowsdower writhing in agony while asleep.
Troy is captured by Satoris and his cult, who use the map to locate their ancient idol. Satoris intends to sacrifice Troy in the ritual that will raise the city. Rowsdower must save Troy and put an end to the cult’s activities. Pipper gives him his horse and an old rifle, and directs him to the ancient Ziox sacrifice site that he was able to decipher from Troy's map. Rowsdower finds the site and begins to duel with Satoris, who reveals that Rowsdower had not been able to bring himself to kill Troy’s father and Satoris had done it himself.
Satoris is about to kill Rowsdower when Troy intervenes, shooting the cult leader in the back with Rowsdower’s rifle. Satoris’ death causes the destruction of the idol and the reemergence of the lost city of Ziox. Instead of bringing about evil, the risen city is a force for good, and Satoris' cult breaks up as its members are freed from his evil influence. Troy and Rowsdower observe the rise of the lost city from the ground, then the two heroes drive off together.
The Final Sacrifice, also known as Quest for the Lost City, is an independent film directed by Tjardus Greidanus in 1990 while he was a freshman at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. The student film was made on a budget of approximately $1,500 using cameras borrowed from the school, and none of the cast (made up of local theater actors and SAIT students) were paid for their roles in the film.
In the closing credits, Bruce J. Mitchell (Rowsdower) and Christian Malcolm (Troy) are credited for each other's characters. According to Mitchell, the film ran out of money to fix it, and the mistake remained in the film.[1]
Malcolm was a drama student at SAIT and co-wrote the screenplay.[2] Mitchell also contributed to the script.
The working title for the film was The Dawn of Ziox.[3]
During the film, a distinctive crow caw sound can be heard several times. This is a stock sound effect, used most famously on The Simpsons during establishing shots of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
One of only seven films released in the 1990s to be featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 during its original run.
The woman holding the wine glass in the photo on the dash of Zap's truck is Bruce J. Mitchell's wife Angela.
