Final Exam (film)

Final Exam

Promotional film poster
Directed by Jimmy Huston
Produced by James McNamara
Perry Katz
Written by Jimmy Huston
Starring Cecile Bagdadi
Joel S. Rice
DeAnna Robbins
Sherry Willis-Burch
Ralph Brown
John Fallon
Timothy Raynor
Music by Gary S. Scott
Cinematography Darrell Catchart
Edited by John A. O'Connor
Distributed by Avco Embassy Pictures
Motion Picture Marketing
Release dates
  • June 5, 1981 (1981-06-05)
Running time
 89 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60,000
Box office Unknown

Final Exam is an 1981 American slasher film written and directed by Jimmy Huston and starring Cecile Bagdadi, Joel S. Rice & Timothy L. Raynor. The plot follows a killer stalking the remaining group of students left on a college campus days before the university's summer vacation.

The film is notable for focusing on establishing its characters and solid pacing. Upon its limited release, the film was panned by critics. Despite this, the film has gained a small cult following and was released to DVD for the first time in 2008. It is also referenced in Scream 2 along with other college themed slasher films such as: The House on Sorority Row, Graduation Day, The Dorm That Dripped Blood and Splatter University.

Plot

Late at night, two college students (Carol Capka and Shannon Norfleet) are kissing in a parked convertible. Ignoring the girl's frequent objections, her boyfriend pushes on. Outside, an unknown killer attacks and cuts through the car's roof with a kitchen knife. Soon, the boyfriend is grabbed by the killer and is stabbed on the car's hood while the girlfriend screams hysterically.

Lanier College is nearing the end of a final exam week. To assist certain members pass a chemistry final, a fraternity fakes a mass shooting as a distraction. The students prepare for their tests as well as the coming vacation break, while unbeknownst that the killer is stalking them. Courtney (Cecile Bagdadi) is completing her exams and is studying hard; averse to hitting the books, her roommate Lisa (DeAnna Robbins) is busy packing and getting back to the city. Meanwhile, Gamma Delta fraternity pledge Gary (Terry W. Farren) is suffered from a prank where he is tied up against a tree until nightfall, but the killer soon murders him after untying him. His girlfriend Janet ( (Sherry Willis-Burch) comes to find Gary before she is attacked and killed off-screen by the murderer.

Gamma brother Wildman (Ralph Brown) is looking for pain pills for his frat to sell on the open market, where he is then led into the darkened campus gym. After finding pills, he is then attacked by the killer where he is cornered into the weight room and is garroted from a weight machine. Soon enough, Mark (John Fallon) discovers Wildman's body in the locker room, before chased by the killer into the college's electrical building where he is stabbed from the killer emerging out of a barrel. Meanwhile, fellow nerd Radish (Joel S. Rice) finds Mark's body in a locker and immediately calls the police, but the authorities are disbelieving due to ongoing pranks from the Gamma house. Running to Courtney's room, the killer breaks through the door and grabs him to his demise. Shortly thereafter, Courtney returns to her dorm where she finds Radish's body hanging through her broken door. Frightened, Courtney tries to rouse help from a now abandoned dorm, but the campus is now desolate.

Meanwhile, Lisa is awaiting for her boyfriend Charlie in the conservatory, where the killer enters the room and stabs her. While in the conservatory, Courtney hears music from the piano room upon the killer awaiting; she flees into the cafeteria where she arms herself with a knife and the police with no luck. After she hides in the automatic food chute, the killer finds her where she traps him in the kitchen storage room, but Courtney forgets to lock a second door. After a chase throughout the school, she frantically wanders outside in the quad before seeking refuge in the campus tower. Screaming for help inside the tower, the college's coach (Jerry Rushing) arrives and shoots at the killer with an arrow. Brazenly, the killer catches the arrow and stabs it into the coach, killing him. During the struggle, Courtney succeeds as the killer is fallen down the two-story tower. On the bottom floor, the killer grabs Courtney's ankle, before she repeatedly stabs the killer to his death. Still night time, Courtney walks out of the tower and is now alone and the film ends with her sitting out on the steps.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. It currently has a 17% "Rotten" rating on film review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes with an average of 3.4/10 based on 6 reviews.[1] Brett Gallman from horror review website Oh, the Horror! gave the film a positive review. Complimenting the film's characterizations, and slow mounting tension while also criticizing the murders as uninventive and long stretch before the murders occur.[2] TV Guide called the film "dull" and "virtually bloodless", panning the film's dialogue heavy scenes.[3] AllMovie called it "a hybrid of frat-boy comedy and slasher-thriller exploitation which features no slashing, no humor and fails to exploit anything".[4]

Release

The film was first released on DVD by BCI on Sep 23, 2008 and was later released by Ada on Sep 20, 2011. The film was released for the first time on Blu-Ray by Shout Factory on May 13, 2014.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Final Exam (1981) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Galman, Brett. "Horror Reviews - Final Exam (1981) [Blu-ray edition]". Oh, the Horror.com. Brett Galman. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Final Exam - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Binion, Cavett. "Final Exam - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Final Exam (1981) - Jimmy Huston". AllMovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 25 September 2015.

External links

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