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". 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". 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. 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". 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". 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. 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. The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray by Shout Factory on May 13, 2014. Musical score An official score was released for the film in 1981 by AEI Records. Track listing 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. 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 List of American films of 1981 List of horror films set in academic institutions Halloween Final Examination, a 2003 horror film with a similar title References Sources External links