Final Exam (1981)

I ended up being more than underwhelmed by Jimmy Huston's 1981 slasher Final Exam, which suffers from an almost total lack of atmosphere, violence & logic as well as a killer that might very well be THE most boring knife-wielding psycho stalker ever.

[Blu-ray Review] The narrative is by no means free and clear of clichés, but it becomes exceedingly obvious all the same that an attempt was made to separate it from the glut of similar body-count fare inundating the marketplace at the time.

Quite possibly the dullest slasher movie ever made.

In the early 80's many Slashers have made their mark. Many Slashers have been lost in the countless sea of Halloween rip-offs. Some are sometimes better to be forgotten. Final Exam is one of those Slashers that are really in between. The film is mediocre with nothing really good to offer genre fans. The biggest problem with this film is that it has a rather mundane script and poor cast. Add to that it's pretty boring and there's never anything interesting happening. There's some pretty good kills on-screen, but never any real substance to really make it memorable. The film is unfocused and tries to combine many other elements, thus in turn it loses track of what tries to be. The performances aren't that great either, and as a whole, Final Exam is a Slasher that is hit and miss. The film had so much potential, but it just doesn't have the effective elements that have made the genre so popular among horror fans. This film simply doesn't have any good writing, even by Slasher film standards. Usually the killer's motives are what make up for these types of films, and gives the film some of its interesting qualities, however this film just doesn't have a good enough plot to keep you interested and you end up feeling bored most of the time. The direction is sloppy, and the film will disappoint fans of the genre. Good idea ruined by a poor script and with all the good kills near the end, just doesn't make this one worth checking out. Final Exam is a mediocre flick that should only be watched when you're really bored.