A group of art students in the final days of their course have a very grim graduation. RICHARD PHILLIPS-JONES looks at End Of Term.
TITLE: End Of Term
RELEASED: 2 October 2023 (completed 2019)
CAST: Julie Graham (DS Stacy Harcourt), David Bamber (DI Jim Burman), Peter Davison (Professor Leigh), Chelsea Edge (Melissa), Ronald Pickup (Damian Self), Nicola Posener (Ashley), Ben Lamb (Scott), Ivan Kaye (Garth Stroman), Josh Taylor (Andy), Darcy Isa (Lizzie), Adam Paul Harvey (Biddleton), Charley McDougall (Dan)
WRITER: John Paul Chapple
DIRECTOR: Mat Menony
Review of End Of Term
Melissa is an art student, a survivor of a gruesome incident which took place at an end-of-term event at Ford Barrington Art School, a place overshadowed by the lingering presence of the sinister conceptual artist, Garth Stroman and a disturbing vision he had some fifty years previously.
As Melissa is questioned by two police officers, she reveals in flashback the hours leading up to the deaths of several fellow students, and a dark whodunnit begins to unfold. The setting: Stroman’s former home, now acting as the college’s halls of residence, where Melissa was found, strapped to a chair in the blood-soaked basement…
The Covid pandemic had a massive effect on the film industry, so much so that all manner of productions in varying stages of completion were put on hold and, at the time of writing are still making their way out into the marketplace.
One can only assume that’s why this horror-thriller has been sitting on the back burner. Completed in 2019, End Of Term finally makes its way to streaming courtesy of Reel2Reel Films.
Julie Graham and David Bamber add gravitas as the investigating officers – indeed, their scenes questioning the surviving Melissa (Chelsea Edge) are arguably the glue holding the film together. Peter Davison, meanwhile, doesn’t get a great deal of screen time and is perhaps there for marquee value, but he makes the most of his scenes.
It perhaps won’t satisfy those wanting an all-out horror fest (it feels at times like a particularly gruesome episode of Midsomer Murders) and the twist ending won’t be a total surprise to hardened genre veterans, but nevertheless End Of Term makes for an enjoyable hour-and-a-half.
if you’re a fan of police procedural dramas, horror movies and the odd game of Cluedo, and you fancy something which brings bits of all those worlds into the mix, End Of Term might just be your ideal entrée for an October movie fest.
End Of Term is available for UK streaming from 2 October 2023.
Tell us your thoughts on End of Term 2023 in the comments section below!