Final Exam

Based on the comments I looked at for FINAL EXAM, it appears that this once forgotten film may be getting a rebirth after nearly 18 years, thanks to SCREAM, BUFFY, and the return of the slasher-horror genre. FINAL EXAM does have some suspenseful chilling moments, including the finale where the girl meets the psycho atop the campus tower, plus a couple of gruesome mutilations. The best thought I had in viewing this one was that it's a simple basic average movie, as there was nothing new or groundbreaking. But with slasher's comeback, it may be worth checking out. Another movie I'd recommend is MADMAN, which is far more original and horrifying than FINAL EXAM, and because it has a special purpose in mind.

An unexplained killer kills college kids during final exam week because...the script told him to? If you thought Halloween was simplistic and threadbare in terms of plot, I give you Final Exam. The killer is just a nondescript man without a mask of any sort and there seems to be no motive to speak of. Thankfully, most of the college kids have enough personality to go around and, while it can be amusing to watch them go to the cafeteria, steal exams, and stage fake terrorist attacks to get out of taking exams (yes, this really does happen!), it takes a little too long to get to the slashing and, once they do, it's very light on gore.

Spoilers herein. There are lots of tiresome slasher films. But you can find some interesting elements, either in the level or method of self-reference or (most usually) in the story behind the story: why is the slasher doing it - and sometimes how and who. What makes this so totally bad - quite apart from the poor production script and acting (but then they all have that) - is that it has no underlying story. This guy just shows up. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Final Exam gets a bad rep. It's not gory, it's not terribly scary, and it takes about an hour to get to the slashing, but it's obvious that it was tying to do something a little different. Judging by most people's reactions, they didn't succeed, but I beg to differ. Not once was I bored and that's more than I can say for a lot of other movies. The characters and performances were amusing and watchable, which kept me going until the bodies began to hit the floor. The killer could stand to be a bit more imposing and I do think, in this case, he should have worn some kind of a mask, but that's a small quibble. I admire Final Exam for trying something new. On the surface, it seems like your run of the mill slasher film (which it turns into in its last half hour), but there's a uniquely humanist angle here that I like.

I expected Final Exam to be much better than it was...sadly it turned out to be very boring and not at all gory. People say it's a Halloween rip-off, well some parts of it are but not many. If you want a Halloween rip-off then watch Offerings, a much better slasher film than Final Exam. The only decent part in this film is when the killer stabs the woman and her blood splatters over her artwork. This is also the closest to gory that this film gets. There is no mystery surrounding the killer whatsoever...in fact towards the end they just start showing his face without even trying to create a sense of mystery. It seems Final Exam was made by the type of people who think that having your killer walk around aimlessly will create suspense. I would not recommend this to slasher fans because it's just too dull. Completists will want to see it, but if you're looking for entertainment then don't bother.

Certainly one of the most wretched slasher movies ever made. Timothy Raynor as the killer could not be worse. The real blame for this turkey must be attributed to Jimmy Huston. There is no gore, no suspense and no intelligence. And it is slower than paint drying.

Is this an exposé on how juvenile mentality, hazing insensitivity and substance abuse plague college campuses around the country? Actually, no it's not. It's just a tame slasher film about bunch of worthless, blabbermouth college kids sitting around and behaving brain dead for an hour before the director shows us some mercy by throwing in a psychotic killer. No one has the patience to endure this notoriously boring exercise of false alarms, college hijinks, endless talk that amounts to nothing and dull murders. Score: 1 out of 10

Final Exam is your average 80's slasher. It has some cool college pranks and all that tomfoolery that takes place at college campuses around the world(except Union). But this movie drowns in its own character development. It takes WAY too much time with its characters and totally forgets its a slasher flick. And the slashings aren't very good. I want gore with my slash! 6/10.