During my time at film school, I remember when editor Sonya Polonsky (
Matewan) in the middle of class said, “Just because you shot it, doesn’t mean you have to show it.” The line stuck with me because you feel like you made an effort to shoot the footage, you don’t want to just toss it into the editing room floor. It’s like throwing money away. But rarely do you remember those moments are taking seconds and minutes away from the life of your audience. It’s a rather like a horror film in reverse where you’re killing the viewers by making them stay longer in the theater. I was kind of shocked to see that Fatal Exam 114 minutes long. Was it really that action packed that it could last near 24 minutes longer than a normal 90 minute horror flick?