Final Exam (1981 film)

Final Exam is a 1981 American slasher film written and directed by Jimmy Huston and starring Cecile Bagdadi, Joel S. Rice, and 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.

Final Exam
Promotional film poster
Directed byJimmy Huston
Produced byJames McNamara
Perry Katz
Written byJimmy Huston
Starring
Music byGary S. Scott
CinematographyDarrell Catchart
Edited byJohn A. O'Connor
Distributed byMotion Picture Marketing[1]
Release date
  • February 27, 1981 (1981-02-27)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$363,000
Box office$1.3 million

Upon its limited release, the film was met with middling reviews with many comparing the film unfavourably to both Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980). While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic. The film has since been noted by critics for its focusing on establishing characters as well as featuring an entirely arbitrary killer.[2]

Plot

One night at March College, a young couple are making out in a parked vehicle. An unseen assailant harasses them before murdering them both.

Meanwhile the nearby Lanier College is preparing for its final exam date. In order to ensure a group of students ace their chemistry final, a fraternity fakes a shooting on campus so that the students can have more time to study. The prank works, resulting in a small number of students remaining on campus until the following day's final. Meanwhile, the murderer responsible for the March College killings arrives on campus in a van and begins stalking the remaining students.

Bookish Courtney is studying hard for her exams, while her wealthy roommate Lisa is preparing to leave for her home in New York City. Lisa is also having an affair with one of her professors, Dr. Reynolds. At nightfall, Gary, a pledge for Gamma Delta, suffers from a prank in which he is bound to a tree. The murderer unties him, before killing him with a knife. Gary's girlfriend, Janet, goes searching for him, and mistakes a silhouette in the distance for him. When she realizes it is not Gary, she attempts to flee, but is attacked by the killer and murdered.

Another Gamma member, Wildman, is lured into a darkened gymnasium while attempting to steal prescription drugs from the football coach's office. The murderer appears and chases Wildman to the weight room, where he is garroted on a weight-lifting machine. Another student named Mark discovers Wildman's body and is subsequently chased by the murderer into the school's electrical building. The murderer emerges from a barrel and stabs Mark, killing him. Nerdy student Radish discovers the carnage and attempts to alert the police, who do not take him seriously due to all the ongoing pranks. Radish goes to warn Courtney but finds the murderer in her room instead and is also killed.

Courtney returns to her dormitory, where she discovers Radish's body pinned to her door. A terrified Courtney attempts to alert her dormitory, but everyone has gone home for the break. Lisa waits for Dr. Reynolds in the school's conservatory but the murderer enters the room and stabs her to death. Courtney goes to the conservatory to alert Lisa, but discovers her body. The murderer chases after her, and Courtney arms herself with a kitchen knife, before taking refuge in the campus's clock tower. Alerted by Courtney's cries for help, a coach arrives and shoots an arrow at the murderer, but he catches it in his hand and impales the coach with it, killing him. The murderer attempts to finish Courtney off but she manages to push him from the top floor of the tower. Thinking him dead, Courtney is seized by the murderer when he grabs her ankle. She stabs him 12 times, ultimately killing him.

The film ends as Courtney sits on the front steps of the building and begins sobbing over the events that just took place.

Cast
  • Cecile Bagdadi as Courtney
  • Joel S. Rice as Radish
  • Ralph Brown as Wildman
  • DeAnna Robbins as Lisa
  • Sherry Willis-Burch as Janet
  • John Fallon as Mark
  • Terry W. Farren as Gary
  • Timothy L. Raynor as The Killer
  • Sam Kilman as Sheriff
  • Don Hepner as Dr. Reynolds
  • Mary Ellen Withers as Elizabeth
  • Jerry Rushing as Coach
  • Shannon Norfleet as Student in Car (male)
  • Carol Capka as Student in Car
  • R.C. Nanney as Mitch

Analysis

Todd Gilchrist of IGN notes elements of homoeroticism in the film, particularly its depiction of hazing rituals among the fraternity: "What's problematic about this kind of idiosyncratic behavior isn't that it's homoerotic, but that it doesn't mean anything in the movie and never connects to anything else that happens... Nerds, jocks, and nubile co-eds are all integral parts of the slasher-movie mythos, but none of those character types are used to any effect other than expanding the body count once the killings actually begin."[3] Ian Jane of DVD Talk makes a similar observation of the film in a retrospective review.[4]

Production

The majority of the cast on Final Exam were stage actors cast in Los Angeles, California.[5] The film's lead, Cecile Bagdadi, was cast after she was seen performing in a production of Faces on the Wall at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles.[1] The film was shot over a period of six weeks from September 15, 1980 to October 25, 1980[1] at E.O. Studios in Shelby, North Carolina.[6] Additional photography took place at Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina,[7] and Isothermal Community College in Spindale, North Carolina.[8] The film's budget was approximately $363,000.[9]

Release

Box office

Final Exam received a limited regional release on February 27, 1981, screening in St. Louis, Missouri[10] and Dayton, Ohio.[11] It continued to screen regionally throughout the spring[12] before having its Los Angeles premiere on June 5, 1981.[1]

The film was a minor commercial success, grossing $1.3 million in the United States.[13] Per a June 26, 1981 report from Variety, the film was ranked number 7 at the U.S. box office at that date.[14]

Critical response

Hal Lipper[9] of Dayton Daily News compared the film positively to Halloween (1978) stating that he found the film to be "slicker" and "better acted" than the latter but less scary due to the killer frequently being shown. Lipper also went on to praise the camerawork: "A welcome addition to "Final Exam," however is its competent camerawork. It's a polished, professional effort that bellies its $363,000 budget, although a couple of hand-held camera shots at the film's finale might have heightened its impact." He then wrote that the performances of Bagdadi and Rice were highlights of the film. Linda Gross of The Los Angeles Times gave the film a middling review, noting that it "vacillate[s] between the college-prank humor of an Animal House and a killer-thriller like Prom Night."[15] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune deemed the film a "rip-off" of Halloween (1978), characterized by "standard stalking-shots as the camera rolls in on the girls as they cower in terror in hallways and classrooms."[16] TV Guide called the film "dull" and "virtually bloodless", panning the film's dialogue heavy scenes.[17] The Baltimore Evening Sun's Lou Cedrone panned the film, writing: "The script never explains who the murderer is or why he's doing the killing...  The most horrifying thing about it is the behavior of the fraternity boys, and the only really commendable thing about it is that the killings are handled with restraint."[18]

The Courier-Journal's Gregg Swem noted that the film "reeks of cheapness," with "childish" dialogue, though he conceded that the film "succeeds at scaring. There are some suspenseful moments that linger mercilessly."[19]

Modern assessment

AllMovie called it "a hybrid of frat-boy comedy and slasher-thriller exploitation which features no slashing, no humor and fails to exploit anything".[20] 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.[21]

In Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies, film scholar Jim Harper notes that the film takes "the autonomous face of the slasher movie killer to the extreme: The man terrorizing the teenagers is shown on screen, but he has no name, no connection to his victims, no history is ever given, nor any motive. He simply appears, begins killing, and is defeated."[2] He also notes the film's shortcomings in character development, writing: "If the rest of the characters had been as well drawn as Radish, then Final Exam might well have been a minor classic. As it is, they're all stereotypical jocks and cheerleaders, and ultimately forgettable."[22]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 13% based on reviews from 8 critics, with an average rating of 3.5/10.[23]

Home media

The film was first released on DVD by BCI on September 23, 2008 and was later released by Scorpion Releasing on September 20, 2011.[4] The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray by Shout Factory on May 13, 2014.[24]

Musical score
Final Exam
Soundtrack album by
Gary S. Scott
Released1981
Genre
Length34:47
LabelAEI Records

An official score was released for the film in 1981 by AEI Records.[25]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Main Title"1:08
2."On the Prowl"1:43
3."Love Theme"0:47
4."Stealing the Exam"0:50
5."Mighty House of Gamma"4:18
6."Art in the Dark"1:14
7."Sweet Young Girls"2:02
8."The Wrong Answer"5:42
9."The Executionist Song"0:48
10."The Massacre"2:30
11."Courtney and Radish"2:09
12."The Chase"7:49
13."End Title"3:47

Novelization

A mass market paperback novelization of the same name, written by Geoffrey Meyer, was published by Pinnacle Books in 1981. It later went out of print.[26] The novelization further expands on the development of the characters, including the couple who are murdered at the beginning of the film. While the couple are nameless in the film, this adaptation reveals their names to be Dana and John and provides them with a backstory. Additionally, the novelization hints at the motivation of the killer which is never explained in the film.

See also

References
  1. "Final Exam". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017.
  2. Harper 2004, p. 47.
  3. Gilchrist, Todd (May 12, 2012). "Final Exam". IGN. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020.
  4. Jane, Ian (August 27, 2011). "Final Exam: DVD Talk Review". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020.
  5. Willis-Burch, Sherry (2014). "Interview with Sherry Willis Burch". Final Exam (Blu-ray). Shout! Factory.
  6. Muir 2012, p. 164.
  7. Powell, Scott (October 25, 2010). "This 'Final Exam' is enough to scare anyone". Gaffney Ledger. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  8. Albright 2012, p. 276.
  9. Lipper, Hal (March 3, 1981). "'Final Exam' almost a carbon copy of 'Halloween'". Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  10. Pollack, Joe (February 26, 1981). "Movies: Opening". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 6C – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Movies". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. February 26, 1981. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "General Cinema Theatres". Tampa Bay Times. Tampa, Florida. April 2, 1981. p. 91 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Nowell 2010, p. 234.
  14. "Top Tens... Movies". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. June 26, 1981. p. 19S – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Grossman, Linda (June 11, 1981). ""Final Exam": Some Answers Missing". p. 7.
  16. Siskel, Gene (June 9, 1981). "Final Exam". Chicago Tribune. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Final Exam - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  18. Cedrone, Lou (June 30, 1981). "In 'I Sent a Letter to My Love,' Signoret shows she's still got it". The Baltimore Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. B5 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Swem, Gregg. "Everyone, including moviegoers, done in during 'Final Exam'". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. B8 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Binion, Cavett. "Final Exam". AllMovie. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  21. Galman, Brett. "Horror Reviews - Final Exam (1981) [Blu-ray edition]". Oh, the Horror.com. Brett Galman. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  22. Harper 2004, p. 89.
  23. "Final Exam (1981)". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  24. "Final Exam (1981) - Jimmy Huston". AllMovie. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  25. "Final Exam by Gary Scott". iTunes. Apple. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  26. Meyer, Geoffrey (1981) [1981]. Final Exam. New York: Pinnacle Books. ISBN 978-0-523-41585-7.

Sources
  • Albright, Brian (2012). Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-47227-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Harper, Jim (2004). Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies. Manchester, England: Critical Vision. ISBN 978-1-900-48639-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Muir, John Kenneth (2012). Horror Films of the 1980s. 1. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-47298-7. OCLC 840902442.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Newman, Kim (2011). Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s. London, England: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-408-80503-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nowell, Richard (2012). Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle. New York City, New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-441-12496-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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