Synopsis
Some may pass the test… God help the rest.
In a small college in North Carolina, only a select few students are left to take mid terms. But, when a killer strikes, it could be everyone's final exam.
1981 Directed by Jimmy Huston
In a small college in North Carolina, only a select few students are left to take mid terms. But, when a killer strikes, it could be everyone's final exam.
Jovens Em Perigo, Examen, Pánico en el colegio, Prueba Sangrienta, Examen final, Egzamin koncowy, O Exame Final, Последний экзамен, A Hora das Sombras - Exame Final, Το Τελευταίο Διαγώνισμα, 期末考试, A Hora das Sombras, 마지막 시험
Rotten Tomatoes: 13%
IMDB: 4.7
Release Date: 05 June 1981
Distributor: Motion Picture Marketing
Budget: $374K
Viewing Platform: Amazon Prime
Amazon Ranked
First Viewing Ranked
Radish: "Being brilliant has its drawbacks."
SYNOPSIS: A psycho killer shows up on college campus to slash up pretty co-eds and dumb jocks.
Final Exam is an anomaly of the early 80s slasher craze. It eschews blood, gore, and sex, in favor of characters and atmosphere, which actually works to a degree.
It has all the ingredients of a typical 80's slasher - deserted location, silent killer, spooky synth score, lots of coeds for the picking - but its attention to character and college hijinx help it to stand out from the glut of similar…
It’s been a year or so since I’ve watched Final Exam and I definitely jived with it more than past viewings, especially the payoff of seeing obnoxious frat bro dudes getting slaughtered. Not without its faults though, Final Exam has pacing issues and really drags at times, and although there’s some good stuff here (comic performances, scoreboard gag, art room scene, fun third act) it’s just missing that extra zing to lift it out of middle of the road slasher territory. Final Exam does have an awesome poster though... and it’s definitely worth a watch for slasher fans looking to dig in past the big franchises.
Also... hot damn... a lot of pranks in 80’s slashers are crazy mean spirited but this staged terrorist attack prank on the entire school is one for the books. I doubt that’ll make it into movie nowadays.
Finally, the straight up slasher movie I wanted when I watched Scared to Death. It was almost a sure bet that I would like this because it’s set in my home state of North Carolina, but it’s also pretty entertaining with a couple of inspired scenes and quite a few delightfully bad/good moments, like a girl trying to get away from the killer and running around this huge party campus that suddenly nobody else seems to be on when and a guy who gets impaled with an arrow that clearly went between his side and his arm.
Also, this was one of the gayest horror movies I’ve ever seen that wasn’t directed by David Decoteau. Those awful frat bruhs were fooling literally nobody but themselves so yeah it’s actually a lot like college after all.
Bananameter: 🍌 is that a banana in your pocket or what 🍌
some frat guys decide to prank a college by staging a fake shooting and somehow get let go without any actual punishment. absolutely nothing about this film makes any sense. the acting is bad, and every single scene was extremely boring, even the kills. i don't know what some of you are seeing in this film, but clearly i am missing whatever it is.
A rare example of tonal inconsistency working in a film’s favor. The bulk of it plays like an unassuming college comedy, complete with standard-issue ensemble of rambunctious miscreants and the lovably love-starved. The characters are fun and it’s all fairly amusing, but your guard is down for so long that when it hard-lefts into suspense territory, it is genuinely nerve-wracking and effective, and even though its low-budget trappings don’t initially inspire confidence, by the end you realize they threw all of their money into an inventively bloody final act. This Tarantino quote from the Grindhouse press tour pops into my head often, and it sums up the experience of Final Exam better than I could:
“One of the things I…
Not terrible just boring. Takes too long to actually become a slasher but at least the kids do have some strange personality detail to them and have some funny situations/lines, and I do ultimately kinda like the idea of the killer just being some anonymous dude with no attempts made to explain him. That being said, when the school shooting prank sequence (an insane thing to type out) in the opening 10 minutes of your movie has way more visceral and visual impact than 95% of the actual slasher kills we’ve got a problem.
A barely passable slasher that takes forever to get going. Most of the characters are boring. You pray for them to die. One of my biggest debates with Final Exam is the question: Is the killer the best or worst character in the film? The killer billed as The Killer is a guy who likes to stab people. We have no motive or backstory. He simply stalks a college, killing all in his way. He’s a generic serial killer. A creeper. Kill! Kill! Stab! Stab! Die! Die! I guess he’s a Michael Myers clone.
The potential victims: Umm, Pledge Gary? Yes, he’s known as Pledge Gary. Wildman? What? A dumb jock they call Wildman? I’m done. I can’t do this. However,…
"Final Exam" is a 1981 slasher film directed by Jimmy Huston. Only making a few directorial entries during a 20-year period of time from the mid 70's to mid 90's, "Final Exam" is probably Huston's most successful effort. Personally, I do have some recollection of his later 80's film "My Best Friend Is a Vampire" (1987) but haven't followed any of his other works up to this point. "Final Exam" is something of a film that got buried, intermixed in the strong late 70's/early 80's onset of Slasher film infamy. You obviously have the war that is "Halloween" (1978) and "Friday the 13th" (1980) kicking off against each other. Through the repetitive nature of those two franchises going head-to-head, we…
Justice for Radish.
I often get asked why I like slasher films so much. Honestly one of the reasons is that I love taking a time machine with these films and seeing all these vintage locations. Whether it’s a shopping mall or a college campus, the cozy factor is through the roof and makes me wish I could attend Lanier College, you know as long as there isn’t a psycho killer running around.
This one has plenty of ridiculous moments, wild card characters, and an ambiguous killer with a haircut that would make Anton Chigurh shudder. It’s light on the gore but the cheese factor is out of control. Also enough to bring back real nightmares of final exam week.
#SlasherSunday
"Sometimes students just have to let off a little steam" -Frat Boy,
- Horror Hunt 24: boxd.it/5wPL8
Where's the blood and death?
Ah college shenanigans. This film has some great jocks, frat boys, lascivious professors and coeds ripe for the slaughter. It takes a while to get going and right as I was about to scream "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST KILL SOMEONE" someone finally died... then it got slow again. The killer is boring, the pacing is pretty awful, the gore is below average and overall it's an uninspired early slasher with no direction or focus. I mostly hated it.
You best be studying hard because this will be your Final Exam!
Mid to low tier 80s slasher that is just kinda there. Had potential but it never reaches those memorable moments like many of its peers. For one I just really couldn't get down with any of the characters. They all just seem like watered down versions of characters from other 80s slashers. Nerd guy, jock guy, nice wholesome girl, scandalous girl etc. The unintentional comedy I love so much about slashers just isn't present.
The school shooting prank is one of the weirder moments and is such an overly dramatic and entertaining scene. It really doesn't make a lot of sense and is a real WTF kinda scene.…