Search - Final Exam on DVD

No passing grade for this Final Exam

D. Wilson | NY by way of Cali | 10/11/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"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!"

Very good-but suffers from Self-Imposed Limitations

G. Garner | vicksburg,ms | 06/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I liked this film. 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.

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 better than Jamie Lee Curtis from Halloween. 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."

Final Exam

E. King | 12/22/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was disappointed with Final Exam. However, any 80's slasher is still worth watching. This one moves at a snail's pace and is similar in blandness to Splatter University. As for the actual product my only complaint is the audio, which is at a very low level and not great in clarity. The picture quality is nice, and it features a commentary track. Check out Rush Week and The House on Sorority Row if you want to see a college slasher film done right."

Good for laughs

mjd2five | 11/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This movie differentiates itself from other slashers by including cheesy character development and random events (the frat prank asks more questions than it answers), with no explanation of the killer's motivation. Don't expect much out of it, there's no plot or coherence. But, the dialogue is easily mocked and the kill scenes are amusing. My friends and I got more laughs than scares out of this, and a good six years after we first discovered it on VHS at a local rental shop we can enjoy it again on DVD. The absurdity of the killer's final victim is worth watching this until the end. This movie will be remembered as the only slasher where the killer kicks a victim in family jewels."