Director: Zach Bressler

Cast: Allison Bloch, Reverend Flash, Nadja Hoyer-Booth

Production Company: IHTK Productions

Runtime: 72 minutes

Whodunnit? Sometimes it’s not about the killing—it’s about the guessing. In some cases, getting to the scary bits can be half the fun. Director Zach Bressler rolls out a thoughtful and measured thriller with his dramatic film, Semester’s End (2008).

In the movie, a serial killer is murdering women at a local college campus. Rachel (Allison Bloch) is a grad student who may be the next target of this homicidal maniac. The campus is crawling with weird and suspicious characters, but who is actually responsible for the mayhem?

The growing mystery is definitely the main focal point of this feature. There are more than enough suspects to keep you guessing for some time. There’s some blood and violence along the way, but this is primarily a suspense story, not a gore fest.

Bloch’s performance is key to the entire movie. She appears in most scenes and has to deal with all the other characters in the film. She capably exhibits a wide range of emotions as Rachel, and manages to make her character believable and sympathetic.

The film also features Nadja Hoyer-Booth from Grindsploitation (2016), Sam Masotto from Kung Fu and Titties (2013), and Gina Musumeci from The Formulation of Rectangles (2009). Reverend Flash has an interesting turn as a janitor, and Rocco Stefani is notable as Detective Graves.

Bressler himself even appears as a college professor, who is a creepy suspect…

Nightmares are used to add to the tension and play with our expectations throughout the feature. These dreams often tell us something about the characters, but they’re also used to mislead us. Since Rachel is always the dreamer, we can’t help but relate to her more.

Semester’s End simmers toward its surprising conclusion. Be sure to watch past the end credits for an additional scene…

– John Migliore

For more information on the film, check out the links below…

Official Trailer

IMDb Page

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

Semester’s End on Vimeo