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Released by: Scorpion Entertainment
Released on: 9/20/2011
Director: Jimmy Huston
Cast: Joel S. Rice, Cecile Bagdadi, Ralph Brown, DeAnna Robbins
Year: 1981
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The Movie:
Terror strikes a small school in North Carolina when two college students are found brutally murdered in a car. The kids over at nearby Lanier College don't seem too concerned. Hey, it got rid of the other college's star quarterback right? This pleases the school brute and douchebag fraternity jock Wildman (yes, that's his name) to no end, and mildly concerns the school egghead Radish (yes, that's his name). He lays it out right off the bat, sometimes there is no explanation for violent acts. Then there's The Pledge, trying to get into Wildman's frat, who's subjected to all kinds of hazing, including stealing a test and being tied to a tree in his underwear and brutalized with ice and goo. And don't forget about the girls, Courtney, Lisa, and Janet. Courtney likes preppie frat guy Mark and Radish likes Courtney. Lisa is screwing a professor, and Janet is dating The Pledge.
A big dude shows up and starts killing them. He whittles the kids until there's one left, and if you remember the old Embassy VHS cover you know which one it is and what that person does to the killer. They pictured the climax of the movie right on the front.
That's it. The killings are random and without reason. The killer's identity is never discussed; there're no flashbacks to a horrible deed that befell him; he's not even associated with any of the characters in any way. He's just chaos. Ted Bundy didn't go on his college rampage with any exposition. No one knew what hit the school until afterward. Why not make that same unknown piece of information part of a slasher movie? Pretty interesting move, really.
This low-budget effort starts out with a bang, then smolders for quite some time, then comes back a bit to deliver the death scenes, but it never quite gets to the frenzied pace one might hope from an 80s slasher flick. It follows the formula, but in a watered down way. The blood is minimal, the nudity nearly non-existent (but nice), and other then a couple of quick sections, this could easily have played on television with minimal edits. But even with the film not having those crucial elements to satisfy the sleaze hounds, it still manages to be entertaining.
There's a lot of time to get to know the kids who soon meet their maker, and you can't help but like some of them. Radish is a geek, but has some cool posters in his room, so he's ok. Wildman is a dick, but he's funny. Plus he looks like Jerry Butler so he's cool and the guy playing him is really good at that type of character (his only film role). Courtney is that pretty chick everyone would screw but no one will admit to. There are some useless characters (college professor) and some humorous ones (the Sheriff and the school security guard) thrown into the mix which adds some variety. There's some bad dialogue too (“I'm still happy. It's just that I'm depressed.â€) to unintentionally help increase the fun factor.
A slow burner for sure, but fun all the same, Final Exam may not come to mind when thinking of famous slasher movies, but it manages to deliver some good atmospheric moments. Missing is the superhero element frequently present in slice 'n dice films, like the unstoppable Michael Meyers, or the zombie-like Jason Voorhees, which gives it a bit of originality in an often stale genre.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The film has a new 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and it looks pretty nice: lots of film grain, minimal dirt. A lot of the action takes place at night, and as a result there's some murkiness for sure, but the black levels are consistent and void of artifacts. The only audio option is a mono track that sounds just fine and seems to have a proper balance. No noticeable troubles like pops or hissing and no subtitles.
As part of Scorpion Entertainment's “Katarina's Nightmare Theater†line, there is an optional intro and outro with wrestling personality Katarina Leigh Waters. These segments may appeal to some and the outro has a reel of trailer pieces for other titles available on the label, which adds to the material. The cover is reversible so you can display it with or without the “Katarina†banner. The disc offers a brand new audio commentary with one of the producers of the film, Myron Meisel, and is moderated by Katarina. Meisel has lots to say and is loaded with information about the film. Katarina chimes in here and there, but it's mostly all him. It is a bit dry, but it's certainly informative. One of the things he talks about is the reasoning behind making a near bloodless and sexless slasher film. If you really enjoyed the movie you should get something out of the commentary.
The disc also has three interviews with some actors, ported over from the BCI release in 2008. The interviews are with Cecile Bagdadi (Courtney) at 3:36, Joel S. Rice (Radish) at 6:30, and Sherry Willis-Burch (Janet) at 4:41. These are quick little snippets, but are all nice additions to the release. Each talk about their memories of the film and what they're up to currently. Also included is the trailer for the movie, plus trailers for other Scorpion releases: Humongous, The Devil Within Her, Nothing But the Night, The House on Sorority Row, The Incubus, The Pyx.
The Final Word:
If you missed the 2008 release of this movie, which has a different commentary (and is out of print), here's your chance to get it again with a new transfer and a new commentary. It's a fun little movie, and Scorpion did a nice job with the release. Recommended.
