Final Examination is billed as a horror/thriller but could be best described as a very poor crime drama. The film largely follows the perspective of a recently reprimanded detective (following a badly-filmed car chase that has little relevance to the movie, a recurring problem) transferred to Hawaii who stumbles into a murder spree. Had said detective been a comical half-wit instead of just a flat-out moron, there could have been room for entertainment. However, he basically plays out like any generic stock law enforcement/expert protagonist from a cheesy Syfy Original movie. And the movie, which exploits any number of horror tropes, suffers for centering on this character and his investigation.
The other big problem with this movie is a lack of focus. It begins with what looks to be a suicide via an insane driving stunt, followed by something that looks like a drug deal which ends up turning into a car chase and is in turn followed by an office scene leading into the transfer. Basically it eats up a good ten minutes without really ever going into the plot. In fact, the whole suicide in the beginning (which any horror fan would assume to be a central plot point to the movie) isn't even addressed until quite a ways into the movie. Frankly, the film would've been better off WITHOUT the opening scene given how it was handled and it could have been worked into the a flashback (or, if the director was competent, he would have used it as one of the detective's former cases). Instead we're given an incredibly nebulous plot that keeps working in minor characters and returning to other minor supporting irrelevant characters as the movie goes on. This sort of amateur production is completely unacceptable for a director with a number of credits under his belt. And although the acting was pretty lousy, I blame it more on the script and direction than the cast themselves.
A dismal soundtrack, terrible dialogue, a complete lack of focus, etc, all make Final Examination difficult to watch. The *only* upside in the entire movie might be a few nude scenes. Otherwise the film is basically bereft of any entertainment value.
The other big problem with this movie is a lack of focus. It begins with what looks to be a suicide via an insane driving stunt, followed by something that looks like a drug deal which ends up turning into a car chase and is in turn followed by an office scene leading into the transfer. Basically it eats up a good ten minutes without really ever going into the plot. In fact, the whole suicide in the beginning (which any horror fan would assume to be a central plot point to the movie) isn't even addressed until quite a ways into the movie. Frankly, the film would've been better off WITHOUT the opening scene given how it was handled and it could have been worked into the a flashback (or, if the director was competent, he would have used it as one of the detective's former cases). Instead we're given an incredibly nebulous plot that keeps working in minor characters and returning to other minor supporting irrelevant characters as the movie goes on. This sort of amateur production is completely unacceptable for a director with a number of credits under his belt. And although the acting was pretty lousy, I blame it more on the script and direction than the cast themselves.
A dismal soundtrack, terrible dialogue, a complete lack of focus, etc, all make Final Examination difficult to watch. The *only* upside in the entire movie might be a few nude scenes. Otherwise the film is basically bereft of any entertainment value.