I hosted a horror movie night tonight for some friends. We watched the blu rays of Evilspeak and Final Exam; both by Shout! (Scream) Factory.
Evilspeak was really good, especially when the action got going. Clint Howard was entertaining and had a solid supporting cast around him. I was very entertained for the most part and pleasantly surprised by how blasphemous it got at times with the chapel setting and religious imagery. Some good gore gags riled us up, too, and for a film combining fledgling computer technology with satanism, it delivered in spades.
Final Exam however was extremely disappointing; it’s possibly one of the worst slasher films I’ve ever seen and lord knows I have seen more than my fair share. There is almost an hour between the first and second kills and most of the violence happens off screen. There never seems to be any rhyme or reason for anything that happens; I’m not talking about a fancy story by any means, but at least something that makes some sort of sense as to why the people and killer do what they do. There is one solid kill involving a cheesy fight followed by a death at the gym. I’m surprised this film apparently has somewhat of a cult following and Scream Factory would bother releasing it.
The one thing that really impressed me about the bluray of Final Exam was the stunning picture quality and awesome transfer. The audio was a bit rough at times mostly during some of the dialogue. I would not recommend the purchase unless you are an absolute slasher film completist; honestly, it barely qualifies as a slasher flick at all.
– JP
The Horror Booth 
I’ve been meaning to watch Evil Speak again. I haven’t seen it in many years (since renting it at Blockbuster) but remember liking it! Final Exam was just another slasher that came out in the shadow of Fri the 13th and Halloween. Although I know I saw it, I can’t remember a damn thing about it, lol.
Lol…can’t say I blame you. I already forgot about it the day after.
While by no means a great slasher at all I quite enjoyed Final Exam. The same year it was released saw releases for Halloween II, Friday the 13th Part 2, My Bloody Valentine, the Burning and the Prowler. So not a shocker Final Exam is semi-forgotten. But I like how it attempts to do more with the characters and to some degree it does, but they’re also the typical characters only we spend more time with them. Final Exam tries its best and while it may not fully work I still liked it a lot and find it to be the underdog of the slasher film. It won’t make my top 10 slasher films. Not even close, but again I liked Final Exam and respect what it wanted to be even if not fully successful.