This movie is excruciatingly long. I think there's a fun low budget so bad it's good film somewhere in there but it turned into an endurance exercise.
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nasarkoi-2277013 October 2022That bad slasher film me not look bad bad you not look that.me love slasher that slasher film Friday the 13th (1980) and nightmare (1981) me look bad slasher film fatal pulse (1988) that fatal exam (1990) look the film VHS tape not good fatal exam bad bad slasher film.bad laugh slasher film l look graduation day (1981) l look blood frenzy (1987) that bad slasher film.l look 2000s slasher films sorority row (2009) l love the house on sorority row (1983) l love slasher films l look a bay of blood (1971) and cheerleader camp (1987) and the prowler (1981) and Splatter university (1984) and don't go in the woods (1981)
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jtbenson-5632910 April 2023In a way it reminds me of those incredibly talky 1940's / 50's crime serials where conversation was just a vehicle to explain every last detail and consequence to the audience.
The real stunner to me is the total disregard for the 90-minute runtime that was so integral to the success of the cheap 80's horror genre. Two hours? You're insane!
I can't give it less than three stars, though. That's reserved for movies that proselytize without entertaining, that pursue b-movie charm synthetically and intentionally, or that engage in other bad faith movie-making behavior.
This is shot-on-video. There are no trained actors, models, or bodybuilders. Just a bunch of average kids trying to make a movie, and in that way, it's kind of endearing. There's cheap murder, not-too-terrifying glints of death and an honest attempt to make a movie the entire group would be proud of.
Above all, though, there's just too much damn talking, too much explaining, and too much runtime.
Three stars for effort. Watch if you have a really laissez-faire attitude about how your time is spent...and want to see a kid solve a demon problem with a handgun. -
BA_Harrison29 August 2021You have two hours. You may begin...
Q.1 (5 marks) Director Jack Snyder's total rejection of established film-making techniques renders Fatal Exam a dull and worthless experience. Discuss.
Q.2 (2 marks) Who do you think gives the most lifeless performance in Fatal Exam? Give the reasons for your choice.
Q.3 (3 marks) Examine three characters from the film and describe the personality traits that render them thoroughly obnoxious.
Q.4 (5 marks) How do Snyder's editing decisions affect the mood of the film? In your opinion, does his holding on seemingly irrelevant shots for longer than is necessary add to the atmosphere, or make the film as boring as hell?
Q.5 (1 mark each). Give an example of how each of the following adjectives are applicable to Fatal Exam: moronic, amateurish, soporific, illogical, laughable
Q.6 (5 marks) You are given the task of reducing the film's unbearable 1h 54min runtime to a slightly more palatable 84 minutes. Which scenes would be first to go? Give reasons for your decisions.
Q.7 (4 marks) Explain the symbolism of the doll's house. Please!
Q.8 (5 marks) The painting in the film looks like it was done by a six-year-old. Discuss how a particularly awful prop can render a scene unintentionally funny. Give suggestions of how a far better painting might have been acquired while still keeping within budgetary constraints?
Q.9 (2 marks) The Pepsi cans: a really bad decision by the soft drink's marketing department, or simply a case of free advertising? Discuss.
Q.10 (4 marks) Some films are regarded as being 'so bad, they're good'. Do you think that Fatal Exam is one such film, and if so, what is wrong with you?
Please leave your paper face down on the table in front of you when you have finished. -
juderussell-840945 January 2022College students explore a haunted house as per their professor's wishes and many of them are killed one by one.
Fatal Exam's crime isn't the bad acting or amateurish filmmaking, but the plodding and uninteresting script that seems to go nowhere and, when a film with no point pushes the two hour mark, you know you're in trouble. I'm not sure if a shorter run time would have helped all that much, but it would have made it a lot more tolerable. -
nixflixnpix31 January 2022Not fun. A chore. Actually straining, a struggle to finish.
Not horror. Not anything. Weak.
Bad dub throughout. Bad FX throughout. Non-writing. Actors read lines for the first time while delivering them. -
allentitinik-832082 December 2019No idea what I just watched....pathetic yet funny horror movie
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BandSAboutMovies12 October 2021Written, directed, produced and edited by Jack Snyder, this movie was made in 1985 and released in 1990. It concerns a group of college students who must spend the night inside a haunted house in order for their supernatural and the occult class. So they do what college students do - they get drunk, high and laid - and just when they think they're in the middle of a prank, a very real grim reaper begins killing them off.
To get there takes over an hour, time during which the forty-something twenty-year-olds in this movie drink lots of beer and talk a whole bunch and then drink some more and then chat some more and then wander around and then drink some more.
A warning - this movie is two hours long. Maybe more. And yet there are two minutes of stop motion demon that kind of make it all worthwhile, along with a synth score that just drones on. But mostly, it's dudes with mustaches chatting and drinking, if that's your thing.
Fatal Exam was barely released in any format and never officially made available on disc before Vinegar Syndrome restored it in 2K from the 16mm original camera negative and included it on their Home Grown Horrors Volume One box set along with Winterbeast and Beyond Dream's Door. -
jakerchief5 August 2022Awful ADR, boring, and should never be watched by anyone. There is no "so bad it's good" here. It's so boring it's painful. Stay away from this movie. I have had more fun in a hospital waiting room.
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tvcarsd9 June 2021Being a fan of Nightwish (1989) I started watching this movie with some hope of a spookfest. Fatal Exam starts slowly with some students gathering in their parapsychology classroom to be told they are off on an excursion to a real haunted house. Backstory about the place is explained here so you kind of have to slow the movie to normal speed here an pay attention as a previous investigation had already taken place.
The music's is xylophone, piano, synth and stock midday type music which was very typical for its time. Yes, this is a long movie so you need to fast forward if you don't think it will hold you attention for 2hrs. At about the 20min mark the students get to an old largish house with large yardage and begin their investigation. Check out the recording equipment they use, you've got to love the old vhs days.
Today, a movie like this would more than likely be made with 'shaky cam' like Hell House LLC but instead we get conventional directing for its time. You know, pans , zooms ,fun dream sequences and a head in a coffee table. Keep that fast forward pressed though this isn't ground breaking horror. At least these students remembered the beer and a shovel.
So by the 50 min mark we get some amusing special fx and by the 70 minute mark we get some bloody scythe horror and the body count meter finally starts to move and the whole thing just has to make you laugh. This is fine "B" Grade horror, its just over detailed in ways that doesn't pull most of us in. This is the mystery part of the movie which is the history of the house and some artifacts. You just don't care though until demons get mentioned and its you do a double take. Oh demons, finally because demons opening doorways to earth and stuff like that always catches attention so on we go.
By the 90 minute mark we get to a melee fight with classic cartoon sound fx used for the landing of kicks and punches. More humour, and some more scythe action in the yards at night to follow with tense musical scores. The cloakmen with scythes equals the artwork for the movie.
This isn't bad budget horror if you can remember to keep fast forwarding at the right time. This will effect how you feel about it in the end because you can't expect much with budget horror and you just don't care. Something happens you'll never remember anyhow. -
equiribeau12 November 2022Real cool movie. The actors made some pretty interesting characters, though the acting could be a bit better as evidenced by the nonchalant tone of voice many of them had, even during dire moments. This ironically worked well with the character of Jim (or at least I believe that was his name; names weren't particularly established well). For awhile, Jim is the only one that notices strange happenings around, but yet unlike the typical character who screams and tries to convince himself that what he saw was fake, Jim insists that he was right all along. He says this very casually and adamantly, even though the others refuse to believe him. This is the type of spin on slasher movies characters I love to see, and adds to the comic relief of the movie, even though it doesn't seem like it was intentional.
The plot seemed all over the place at first, but despite the chaos of it, all was explained at the ending and left no loose ends. I wouldn't consider Fatal Exam a supernatural film because while it does contain supernatural elements, they don't necessarily contribute to the main plot directly and instead build up the tension. The first half of the movie is a mystery film while the second is a slasher, so even though it's almost 2 hours long, you get the best of both worlds with two different genres. Score was well composed as well and it's a shame no soundtrack was released!