Final Exam [Blu-ray]

1978's "Halloween," almost immediately upon its release, ignited a firestorm in low-budget filmmaking, instantly creating a brand-new sub-genre of horror movies all its own, better known as the classic "SLASHER"-flick era.Indeed, less than one year on from "Halloween's" first appearance, a new breed of low-budget slasher filmmakers had emerged, who were quick-enough-off-the-mark, so as for their respective works to already be in production, using similar themes, images, and music, that all hearkened back to John Carpenter's seminal shocker.It's a little-known fact that, the movie being reviewed, writer and director Jimmy Huston's "Final Exam," was among the earliest in these batch of films, to be made in the wake of the obvious runaway box-office success of the aforementioned '78 sleeper hit, "Halloween." According to the former movie's Wikipedia page, principal photography on "Final Exam," in fact, commenced as early as September of 1979, and a mere six weeks later, in late October of that year, nearly all of the picture was by then wrapped up and in the proverbial can. So realistically, "Final Exam" was being produced at roughly the same time, as other such "early-starters" in the initial slasher wave cycle, which included the likes of "Silent Scream," "Mother's Day," and "Don't Answer the Phone!" (all released in 1980). Strangely though, for some reason, "Final Exam," apparently sat on the shelf for at least another year and a half, from the time of its completion, it not having received an actual theatrical release (and a fairly limited one, at that) until as late as the summer of 1981.The plot itself of "Final Exam," it should be said, is pretty rudimentary, it involving an apparent (?) revenge scenario, for a university exam-type prank gone awry, in which an unknown, and scarcely-seen, psycho-killer, is lurking quietly in the shadows, of the hallways and dark corridors of Lanier College, the last students to remain on campus before the school year wraps up, now being stalked by said perpetrator. Eventually, as the movie progresses, it takes a dramatic shift in tone, to being much more "serious," and way more eerie, over mid-way through the picture, as the actual carnage finally begins to ensue and the murders start.Which leaves us with the first hour or so, which bears a decidedly different approach to horror movie filmmaking than say, for example, most Italian spaghetti-"giallo" flicks of the same time period, the latter of which tended to consist of frequent lumps of painfully-dull, and dreary stretches, in between, and whose main purpose was only to serve as a set-up for, what was clearly the main point of the exercise -- that being, the use of stomach-churning splatter effects -- and usually, not without bad acting (and even worse dubbing), with the scripts of these Italo "blood-spurter" epics, often having seemingly been thrown in as an afterthought."Final Exam," on the other hand, follows the exact opposite pattern, with the emphasis, for once, being on character development, rather than on explicit gore, meaning that it took the road less travelled, as compared to most of its slasher movie brethren of the day. Specifically, it presents us with actual likeable and memorable characters, that really engage us, and that we can root for, who overall seem to be much more well-drawn, and have far more depth, and complexity to them, than do your usual kids-in-peril in these types of films, the latter of whom usually exist as nondescript caricatures, seemingly present only to boost the movie's body count as far as the budget permits.In "Final Exam," there are your typical outlandish jock bullies, as well as their gossip-y and promiscuous female co-ed counterparts, both of whom seem to be far more preoccupied with sex, and getting drunk, than they do their studies. At the heart of "Final Exam's" appeal and kinetic energy, though, are the unforgettable performances, and relationship that develops, between the movie's two core players: Namely, the character of the typically awkward, but surprisingly sincere and witty, nerd-ish, "nice-guy," Radish (Joel S. Rice), and the film's chief female protagonist, Courtney (Cecile Bagdadi). (And it should be noted that this was the film debut for both actors.) The duo's on-screen chemistry is indeed so natural, and inspired, and has such a profound and playful, youthful "innocence" to it, that make "Final Exam" a true "diamond-in-the-rough," that belies the usual standard of the slasher movie sub-genre, whose characters tended to be much more formulaic and cookie-cutter as a rule.And make no mistake about it, Cecile Bagdadi, who was around 18 or 19, and barely out of high school, at the time of filming (according to the DVD's bonus cast interview segment), aside from being such a charismatic and believable female lead, and much more than just a passive screamer, also has to be one of the absolute CUTEST slasher movie girls in history (if not one of the cutest girls to ever exist, period). No, but she really is just breathtakingly-beautiful, and with such a sweet and friendly demeanor to boot, throughout every frame that she's in of this film, and is a HUGE asset that makes this particular movie endure for me so well, with each passing year.And finally, this 2011 Scorpion Releasing edition of "Final Exam" (the version that I'm reviewing), is among the best in the line of the (sadly) short-lived, and now-defunct, series of "Katarina's Nightmare Theater" horror movie DVD titles, that Scorpion put out, between roughly 2011 and 2013. With it as always, you get the usual entertaining and insightful optional intro and outro, and commentary, courtesy of our charming and attractive hostess, the delightful British lass, not to mention all-around low-budget film buff, Katarina Leigh Waters. So, while "Final Exam" has technically since made it to Blu-ray (via Shout! Factory in 2014), this now out-of-print Scorpion DVD version has rightly become an expensive and collectible rarity of its own online, with remaining copies being snapped up rapidly, and prices increasing by the day, not only for just the movie itself, but undoubtedly, for the presence of our lovely host, Ms. Waters.Either way, though, in any format you can find it in, due primarily to the aforementioned, appealing cast members, and unique character development, "Final Exam" is, an unusually distinctive, and truly classic little gem of a slasher, as well as a personal favorite of mine of the genre, and is NOT to be missed!

As a huge fan of 1980 horror/slasher films I was very, very eager to watch "Final Exam". I had heard so much about it, both good and bad things. In addition, I had seen the trailer/preview on other DVD releases but wasn't able to get my hands on it. The only DVD available at the time was out of print and being sold at a hefty price. Adding insult to injury, I wasn't able to rent it anywhere. Therefore when this most recent addition became available I gobbled it up.The story is very simple and basic, but aren't all of these horror flicks from the 80s? It is the end of the semester at Lanier College and most of the student body has left the campus. The remanding students are studying and/or cramming for final exams, when they aren't joking around. Enter the killer who roams the campus slowly taking out each student one by one.As for the characters, there is the usually gallery of college students (victims); the dumb jock, the obnoxious frat guy, the eager frat pledge, the nerdy guy, the easy girl, the love struck girl and the nice girl. The nice girl is Courtney and is played by Cecile Bagdadi. Courtney is a pretty girl in a "girl next door" sort of way. She is sweet and actually the film gives time for her character to develop a bit, which makes her a great "final girl".As for character development, this movie actually has it. This might seem odd for a slasher film but it is true. All of the characters have apt amount of screen time before they meet their demise. I actually found this refreshing, different and interesting. I will return to this notion in a moment.As for the killer himself, he is just some guy, some random dude killing people. He doesn't wear a mask or costume. There is no complex origin of how or why he became deranged, he just is. Actually from a distance he could be a stunt double for a young and frumpy Jim Belushi.I recall hearing/reading that "Final Exam" is a failure in the slasher genre due to the following elements:* Extremely slow pace* Lack of gore* Banality of the killer* A wannabe "Halloween"I must say I loved this movie for the same reasons it is disdained.Extremely slow paceI found the slow pace a ruse to promote character development and build tension. Not to mention the college campus setting was extremely different. I believe at this point in time slasher films only took place at a camp. The lighting and mood created many eerie aspects in this film. The shot under the basketball score board is a prime example.Lack of goreAs for the lack of gore it really didn't bother me. There was blood in this movie, but there weren't bucks of guts, blood and entrails. I love gore in a flick but it isn't a deal breaker.Banality of the killerThe "insipidness" of the killer I found interesting. Many times in these types of movies there is a long and winded story of why the killer came to be. In this movie the guy is just blooming nuts. No rhyme, no reason, and no explanation he is just crazy and that is all there is to it.A wannabe "Halloween"As for a "Halloween" rip off, no it really isn't. Michael Myers is a complex character and Bootleg Jim Belushi is not. The only comparison I can make to "Halloween" and "Final Exam" is the catch phrases in the trailers. In "Halloween" it is "The Night He Came Home"; in "Final Exam" it is "He's Come Back". Since there is no background on the killer in this movie it is sort of silly to state "He's Come Back" but whatever....As for this DVD edition, it is pretty cool. As for the transfer of the film, it is wonderful. The picture is crisp and clear, as is the audio. The movie has a "play only" option or watch the movie with an intro and outro by Katarina Leigh Waters. KLW use to be on WWE, I don't really watch wrestling so this was my first exposure to her. I found her intro to be great mainly because she gave some basic info about the movie but didn't provide any spoilers. I found her remarks witty and insightful. The outro was also pretty cool. She also provides a commentary track with one of the producers of "Final Exam". I haven't heard the commentary yet. Another feature is some interviews with some of the cast from the film. There are also some trailers for other movies in this DVD series.I absolutely loved "Final Exam" I loved the dualism within the title of the motion picture. I will be watching this movie again and again for years to come. I do think slasher and 1980s horror fans should give this a go. This movie if nothing else is a testament that I have no plans to go back to college.

A knife wielding killer stalks and kills the students at a university.Possibly the most average slasher film in history, not bad just very so-so. The story is quite strange, the first scenes are of a killer stalking & killing a young couple however it takes about 45-50mins for another killing to take place, although we see the killer stalking in the shadows during the mid section the bulk of this part is about the students and there far less interesting activities including a frankly stupid fake mass campus shooting scene. The characters are pretty much a cliché of the slasher genre, the nice girl, the geek, the jocks etc.., none are very memorable & you don't really care that much about what happens to them although by the end the lead girl Courtney, played by Cecile Bagdadi is the one you have any compassion for, in truth the performances are fine, no-one is wonderful but equally no-one is terrible. The one issue with the picture is though is the killer, he just simply turns up stalks & kills for no rhyme or reason, has no name or story just a knife and green jacket, this mystery could've worked but along with the rest of it there is no tension or suspense just some fairy enjoyable & bloody killings towards the decent climax.All these little things don't add up to a bad film it is actually very watchable it's just never anything more and doesn't have something to make it stand out amongst the slasher crowd. Very surprisingly this ended up on the section 3 list of siezeable titles here in Britain, there's nothing particularly outrageous or shocking here, just, I'll say it again everything's average. 2.5/5

Bit of an odd one for a slasher pic. Wanting to stay away from the established formula the director decided to stay away from the gore effects and concentrate more on the teen characters getting killed and the killer just kills for no real reason,no back story.While this approach is somewhat original for the genre it kinda backfires as the tension is lost and it comes over as a weird hybrid of college drama and slasher that really don't work.On the plus side the acting is good as are the picture and sound in this scream factory bluray release with some decent extras.Downside is it is region A locked so you will need a multiregion player in the ukCommentaries:Audio Commentary by actors Joel S. Rice, Cecile Bagdadi, and Sherry Willis-BurchExtras:Interviews:- actor Joel S. Rice (6:46)- actress Cecile Bagdadi (3:42)- actress Sherry Willis-Burch (4:57)Theatrical Trailer (1:30)

The Blu-Ray transfer is great and I can say the same about the special features. The movie isn't perfect but it's better than most Friday the 13th movies and can be tense at times. 4/5

fantastic transfer for a crazy film

The movie itself is very average but typical of the glut if slasher movies in the wake of Halloween and Friday the 13th. The transfer is pretty good, its never looked better, with good definition and pretty clean. The audio is pretty basic, but sounds clean and clear. The extras are slim but entertaining. If you are a fan of old slasher movies it's definitely worth a look.