For noted film buff Sam Westergaard ‘22, movies can mean a wide variety of things.

“If I am watching a low budget horror movie with stunning gore, it makes me want to grab my iPhone and film something,” said Westergaard, “Sometimes I will watch a movie because everyone is talking about it or something related to it, or sometimes I will watch a movie because it looks interesting.”

When talking about the movies, Westergaard said, “My two favorite films of all time are ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘The Shining.’ I’m a die-hard ‘Star Wars’ fan, so I absolutely love the ‘Empire Strikes Back.’ ‘The Shining’ is definitely a close second, there is nothing quite like it, the whole film is a mystery. Both are also amazingly directed and acted.”

“Besides watching films, I also customize LEGO Minifigures,” Westergaard said. He features these LEGO creations on his Instagram account @samwestergaard. “I also watch a lot of anime, and help with the West anime club.”

“My favorite genres are sci-fi and horror,” said Westergaard. “I recently discovered this one film called ‘Final Exam.’ It’s this slasher film from the early 80s.”

“Final Exam” follows the story of several teenagers studying for their final college exam, as a mysterious killer butchers them one-by-one.

“‘Final Exam’ is based off previous slasher films, like ‘Friday the 13th,’ and ‘Halloween.’ However, it’s different from other slasher films because of the focuses on the teenagers who get killed rather than the killer. It’s really interesting, especially when looking at the slasher genre,” Westergaard said.