Customer Reviews

Final Exam (1981) [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

For me, this is among the very finest of the lesser-known early 80's slasher films. Among those more obscure movies, my favorites are 'Happy Birthday to Me' and 'Hell Night', with this one coming in third. This is a typical slasher film (although I regard it as substantially better than most). What I mean is, if you are looking for something revolutionary, then by all means look elsewhere. You won't find anything new here.

Personally, I like slasher movies that adhere to the classic precepts, but then make them their own. After all, there is plenty of room for variation within the traditional slasher motif.

A terrific example of this would be the film's heroine. Most of these types of films have a virtuous,likeable heroine. 'Final Exam' falls within that tradition. However, even though she is similar to others we find in the genre, she is still unique. In fact, she is among my absolute personal favorites. She is a lovely, pleasant, authentic girl, and she elevates the film beyond what it could have been without her.

'Final Exam' takes the classic slasher concept-inserting a mysterious killer into an otherwise unremarkable setting-and executes it quite effectively. The idea is very similar to 'Halloween'. Don't get me wrong........it's not NEARLY as good as 'Halloween.' But the basic structure is similar-namely, a bunch of people going about their business, with a killer always lurking off on the periphery. As with 'Halloween', if you want buckets of gore or tons of nudity, then you'll be disappointed.

But if you like that traditional slasher motif, of a seemingly safe, tranquil environment-but with a hulking, mysterious figure, always off to one side, always waiting, but who always seems to vanish before anybody actually starts to worry about his presense-then there's a lot to like about 'Final Exam.' If you don't like slasher movies, this is certainly not the one that will change your mind. But if you do, this one features all the traditional elements.

'Final Exam' manages to take those traditional elements, and place its own stamp upon them. The film creates a sense of time, and place, and carves its own distinctive niche within the slasher pantheon.

I liked this film very much. It is aimed directly at the slasher audience. For me, at least, it was an effective slasher film.I guess different people prefer different things.It is not the goriest, although there are a few brutal moments. But it has the sort of ambience I like. The action unfolds as a killer stalks people on a relatively small college campus. The pace is natural and subdued, as we watch the students going about their business during the day.......and as we see the killer arrive on campus and begin stalking them. They take the time to establish the college campus as a safe, pleasant environment. Dorm life, among the girls in particular, is presented as warm and comfortable and relatively free of infighting and pettiness. I think that this helps to make the movie much stronger. This is a place where the people are accustomed to feeling safe and secure.

This placid environment sets the stage for a stark contrast once the carnage begins.

You get a typical collection of the usual stock characters-the 'nice' girl, the cheap blonde, the obnoxious athletes, and the stupid hillbilly cop.Of course, what would a film about young people be without-you guessed it-the requisite bespectacled geek. In this movie, the geek is a sort of Alpha geek. A time or two, it actually seems that the heroine might be showing a glimmer of interest in him. And he comes painfully close to getting to play hero......but he IS a geek, and this IS a movie, so you can guess how that turns out.

Anyhow, I liked this film quite well. But it seems to me that it places restrictions on itself that keep it from being as good as it could have been. For example:

This movie features a killer with no apparent motive. I have no problem with that. I actually like it. But I believe that killers in slasher films should wear a mask. This serves to heighten the mystery that surrounds the figure, and makes him a bit more macabre. Now, the killer in this movie is a big,burly guy. He's rough, and he's violent. But he would be so much more interesting if he wore a mask. As it is, he just looks like some disgruntled guy who got laid off from the mill or something.

My other pet peeve about Final Exam is that they waste too much time. Too much time on college antics, and too much time on hillbilly cops, hillbilly coaches, hillbilly security guards, etc. It would have been much better if they had devoted those minutes to the unfolding story. People who want frat house antics, or people who want rednecks, can always watch movies that cater to those folks.

But my overall impression is very positive about Final Exam. I especially liked the heroine. Personally, I liked her substantially better than Jamie Lee Curtis from Halloween or Adrienne King from Friday the 13th. She is a lovely girl, and the movie would not be the same without her presense. She comes across as thoughtful and strong, and very much her own person. And when she IS a little awkward, or a little uncertain.........well, these qualities wind up having an endearing quality about them, owing to her sincerity. Some of the scenes between her and the geek are actually quite good. There is a degree of depth, and warmth, in their interaction, that you don't often find in a slasher film.

Put a ghoulish mask on the killer, and subtract a few hillbillies, and you'd have had a classic. But it's still very good as is. Among the more obscure, lesser-known slasher films, it is among my absolute favorites. They succeed in establishing a powerful sense of time and place. It kind of reminds me of my own college experience, especially what it was like on a late Friday, when lots of people had left and the place was kind of desolate.And the movie holds up extremely well to repeat viewing. Like most of my other slasher favorites, I continue to like Final Exam better over time.

Here we go again another slasher flick from the early 80s. After the success of John Carpenter's Halloween and Sean Cunningham's Friday the 13th it seemed every horror flick coming out in the early 80s was a slasher movie. From 1981 we have the college campus based slasher Final Exam.

Final Exam is one of the forgotten slasher flicks of the 80s while it's still remembered by some regardless of if the person liked it or not Final Exam is a slasher you don't hear much about. Despite the bad reputation the movie gets I personally think it's a bit better than it. There's nothing here we haven't seen before, but Final Exam also strays from the typical slasher flick.

After the first two murders no one else dies for about the next 55-minutes, which is bound to turn some people off. If not for a couple of shots of the killer wandering around the college campus you might even forget you're watching a slasher flick. The first half of the movie is a mix of a comedy full of pranks and jokes and even some sappy dramatic moments. With all of this happening some of the audience might get bored with the lack of thrills.

Final Exam tries to be more than the typical slasher flick; writer/director Jimmy Huston takes his time and actually develops the characters. Most of the characters here are the typical characters we see in slasher flicks. Only difference instead of being in the movie for a few minutes before getting killed they stay around a lot longer before getting killed.

The characters are still 1-dimesnional, but better developed than most in this type of movie since we spend so much time with them. Final Exam may not rate as one of the greatest slasher flicks from the 80s, but I do think it's one of the better written ones. The script is nothing amazing. But it does work for the most part. Like I said while the characters are the typical slasher movie characters the fact so much time is spent with them we get to know them slightly better. Radish played by Joel Rice seems to be a pretty big influence on the Randy character from writer Kevin Williamson.

But that is part of the reason why Final Exam takes so much heat from slasher fans. The final 35-minutes though deliver with about 8-death scenes, but the problem is the gore is lacking. There isn't any gore at all. The closest we come to any of the red stuff is some blood splatter. So taking all this into account it's quite easy to understand why Final Exam is a mostly forgotten slasher flick. But despite all that I do think the movie is better than what most people say. If you can make it through the first hour and not be bored you'll be happy with the last half.

As director Jimmy Huston does a fairly good job. It's quite obvious he was a fan of Halloween. There were many shots Halloween inspired with the killer just walking into frame. In the first half like I said it was more of a comedy/drama than a horror flick, but every so often the killer would appear which would remind us we are watching a horror flick; but even with those couple of shots the sense of dread and looming danger is never quite there. I actually wasn't bored by the first half for the most part it held my attention. But the 2nd half is when things begin to pick up.

The 2nd half of Final Exam gets to the stalk and slash aspect and while not the best I have seen it is fairly effective. The only problem though is that it does suffer from being too much. Once the killings start it just too many one after another, while the set ups are fairly good it just is too many coming at once. The death scenes are pretty much the same. The set up though again is fairly good, while I can't say Final Exam is scary, but there is some decent suspense.

The final act works rather well as the killer played by Timothy L. Raynor chases Courtney played by Cecile Bagdadi all around the college campus. There are some solid suspense scenes and while it may not go down in slasher movie history it is effective and gets the job done.

The acting here is slightly better than most of slasher flicks; while the acting isn't great I think it was a little better than most and Cecile Bagdadi made for a likeable heroine.

The most interesting aspect of Final Exam is the killer lacks any motivation. We never find out his name or why he is killing people. Normally back in the 80s the killer had some sort of motivation. A lot of the times it was about revenge. The victims sometimes had a connection to the killer and other times they had no connection. But normally it was some sort of revenge aspect. Even in the slasher movies where there was no revenge story, we would get a little history on the killer. But here we never find anything about the killer.

Some people disliked that concept, but I think it works rather well. It would be nice to know a little something, but it does add some realism. Most serial killers target random people. There might be a connection between the victims, maybe hair color or style. So the fact we never learn anything about the killer is a little disappointing, but also works in my opinion.

Even though I did enjoy Final Exam it's not much of a surprise it isn't highly talked about. 1981 was a big year for slasher movies. In 1981 we had Jason's debut as the killer in Friday the 13th Part II, Halloween II, The Prowler, My Bloody Valentine and The Burning just to name a few. Compared to those, Final Exam lacks in the gore and or nudity department. But despite all that I must say again I think Final Exam is slightly better than the reputation it gets.

Final Exam does lack the thrills and suspense and is quite weak in the gore area and there is only one scene with any nudity. But despite these flaws I still enjoyed the movie. There is some decent suspense at times, but not enough for Final Exam to stand out. Slasher fans have already probably sought this one out for those not really into slashers it's probably best you skip this one.

In closing, Final Exam is a flawed film, but despite those flaws I did enjoy the movie.

just your regular slasher movie but no plot to it, no reason why the killer is killing the college kids. Its sort of like halloween because of the way the killer stalks them, it starts of with a killing scene but it gets kind of slow with the horror then it finally picks up with a rash of kill scenes. If you want a plot do not order but if you just love slasher movies i highly recommend this movie.

This has to be one of the most under rated slasher flicks to have come out of the eighties. Although there were nearley 5 a week coming out back then and most were done on very limited budgets most of them have now gotten fair treatment so to speak with getting put out on dvd. Although this made it to Dvd many people still don't know about it. It is a true gem of a movie, top notch and a must watch for all slasher fans. I highley recomend this flick. Check it out.
-Heath

There certainly are some entertaining parts to this movie, but that is also where it fails. This slasher movie consists of quite a few slasher scenes that are loosely held together by the thinnest of plots (Oh gee, and that is unique for slasher films?). There is no reason given for the killer other than he apparently woke up one morning and decided to go out and kill people; as provided by the paranoid nerd/genius (a brain is a terrible thing to waste). The pacing of the movie is good with some well done action scenes. Whether as a result of editing and/or scripting, the killer is either in two places at once or the fastest SOB to weild a knife. Although, when he starts his spree, any story that was developing stops and it is just one slasher scene after another. One scene of interest in where the slasher catches an arrow with his hand; which is well done. There are several well done scenes; unfortunately it becomes a collection of slasher scenes with nothing to hold it together. This is a shame. With a little more story and a little more humor they could have had a good movie or a good parody; as it is, it is neither.-Bob

Slasher films have got to be the easiest type of movies to create-- grab a group of victims(the more the merrier), have at least half of them be female(and at some point nude), toss in a maniac on the loose, and WHAM-- you got yourself a winner! Score some solid acting and production values, maybe even an actual plot-- now you've got some icing on the cake(but far from requisite additions)! Simple right? Well, for hundreds of no-name directors and actors throughout the 80's it was... unfortunately for everyone involved in Final Exam, not so much. The story follows a small group of kids finishing up their college semester with only a few final exams left to take before they can pack up and head home. The kids left consist of the prototypical Corvette driving womanizer, football playing lunkhead, blond tramp who uses her sexuality to "get what she wants," obnoxious(and possibly gay) nerd, old drunken campus security guard, and the down to earth virgin girl(aka the heroine), among a few others that you've seen before in plenty of other films of this ilk. A man drives up in his van... and the slashing begins. Final Exam really is as generic as it sounds, with a killer who is fittingly just as generic: a semi-chubby guy with a butcher knife who looks about as menacing as the clerk at Wal-Mart's automotive section(in fact, I think this guy rotated my tires last week). The movie delivers little nudity and even less blood or gore; the only thing more lifeless and dull than the characters is the lame killings by the aforementioned non-descript killer... but best of all has got to be the 54 minutes between the first killing and the next-- OUCH! I think of myself as a fairly unpicky fan of Slasher cinema(just check my reviews for April Fool's Day and Happy Hell Night for verification LOL!) but Final Exam plays like the worst episode of Saved by The Bell ever... with 6 kills thrown in to snatch a R rating. Only recommended for those that remember this from their youth, and harbor some(bizarre) fond nostalgic attachment to it... all others should skip this Final Exam!

What's scarier than a guy just going crazy and killing people at random or seeking out a section of people and targeting them for termination just for the hell of it? Well, John Carpenter did this to perfection in the original 1978 "Halloween". And perhaps even earlier than that, it was done almost as well in "Black Christmas" and a little later in "He Knows You're Alone". However, it wasn't done as well in this movie called "Final Exam". That's not to say that "Final Exam" was a complete failure, but it was an inferior ripoff of "Halloween". The movie failed to produce a horror movie like atmosphere that is essential to making a great horror movie. However, the movie did do a good job of character development. There was no whodunnit like suspense with this movie for the most part, but perhaps that's the beauty of simplicity. The problem is that this particular killer comes off like some Joe Blow guy from the gas station, and while that's the simplicity and brilliance of it, the problem is that the actor who played the killer did a very poor job in his role. All and all, this is a pretty decent slasher flick that goes by the rules, but does a particularly good job of character development and setting, but it just fails to deliver on atmosphere and mood. I've seen much worse in the way of 80s slashers, but this one was pretty much run of the mill.

Final Exam (Jimmy Huston, 1981)

The best thing about Final Exam is a spoiler, and so I can't really come right out and say it, but it's something that really, really confused me when I first saw it back in the day and really, really impresses me now. It's something that I can't remember any other slasher film doing, before or since. Which if you think about it is pretty darned impressive. That's not to say this is a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly makes it memorable. I hadn't seen it, before a few nights ago, in something like twenty-five years, and I still remembered a great deal about it. (Of course, this could be because I also still had the novelization of the movie, and read it obsessively in seventh and eighth grades; for that matter, I may still have my copy around here somewhere, as beaten-up as it must be by now.) One way or the other, though, it was much as I remembered it, though now dated and seeming somewhat cliché now that I have a larger grasp on the history of slasher movies than I did in the early eighties. Back then, I'd only seen two or three. I don't want to think about how many I've seen now...

Plot: it's time for finals (actually, I could swear that in a few places, they say it's actually midterms, but I guess Midterm Exam didn't quite have the same ring to it) at a small college in the middle of nowhere. A killer struck (in the movie's opening scene) at another college just down the road, which has got everyone pretty keyed up as well, which isn't helped when the local numbskull fraternity plays a practical joke that sends some of the more gullible students scurrying for the cops. (Cue obvious "boy who cried wolf" subplot.) Of course, the killer has migrated, and starts picking off some of the last students left on campus, as most have already gone home for break.

It's your typical slasher, except for that one thing (the question you're left with at the end of the movie? Yeah, that one thing), so don't go into it looking for any revelations vis-a-vis the acting, camerawork, score, or anything else; it's very typical of its subspecies in every other way. Still, that one thing does make it well worth your time if you're even a casual fan of the slasher movie, so in that case, you should probably hunt it down. **

This movie is a great reminder of early 80's horror, not one of the best but very good and has several jump in your seat moments. Don't expect alot of plot explanation..there isnt any. The killers motivation is NEVER even hinted at..he is pissed off and he is killing with a BIG KNIFE and thats all you will ever know, but hey it was fun and watchable and for the cheap price a must for collectors.