Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

  As I sat down to watch Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter I found myself getting a bit confused, nothing in this film seemed familiar. I didn’t recognize the characters, the sets, or the kills. At around the halfway mark I had to admit it: I had never seen this film before. Somehow, the first time I watched the franchise, I skipped from three to five and didn’t even realize it. With that being said, this was a damn delight to watch. 

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was written by Barney Cohen (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), directed by Joseph Zito (The Prowler) and was released on April 13th, 1984 to generally negative reviews. The Final Chapter was made on a budget of $2.2 million, made $11,183,148 upon opening, and went on to make $32,980,880 worldwide. As the title suggests the film was originally intended to act as a finale for the franchise, but its success prompted a sequel released less than a year later.

After his seeming death at the end of Part III, Jason Vorhees (Ted White, Romancing the Stone) and his victims are taken to the hospital morgue. There Jason kills the mortician and a nurse and escapes back to Crystal Lake. At Crystal Lake a group of teens have rented a house for the weekend next door to the Jarvis family. As is the way in these tales Jason begins hacking his way through the teens leading to a climactic final confrontation with Tommy (Corey Feldman, Stand By Me) and Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck, Deadly Intentions).

This is, hands down, my favorite of the franchise so far and I’m shocked that I hadn’t seen it until now. While following closely to the formula set by the previous films, this one manages to differentiate itself by introducing a family element. In addition to the Jarvis family we also meet Rob Dier (Erich Anderson, Felicity), the brother of one of the victims from Part 2 out for revenge. 

While the teens of this film are similar to the ones from previous films (they love sex, beer, and weed), they’re a lot of fun to spend some time with before their inevitable slaughter. Of particular note is Crispin Glover’s (Back to the Future) Jimmy, who is endearingly awkward. The kills are excellent across the board and Savini’s effects are great.

It’s interesting to note that what was intended to be the final installment was the one that introduces Tommy Jarvis, Jason’s most frequent foe and one of the few “Final Boys” in the slasher genre. Feldman makes a good impression as Tommy and the final confrontation between Tommy, Trish, and Jason is great.

Overall, The Final Chapter is a lot of fun. Of the first four films it’s by far my favorite and I’m glad that I got to have this as a first viewing.

Ranking: 3.5 monster masks out of 5

Other Observations

• Does the Dog Die? Gordon the dog jumps out of a window to escape Jason. He’s not seen again but it’s implied that he survives.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: Axel's death. Throat slit and head twisted almost entirely around. I yelled.

• When The Fuck Is This Movie Set? So I need to amend my previous timeline as this film establishes that Pamela Vorhees died (and therefore the first film is set) in 1979. This film picks up the day after Part III so we’re in 1984 (one of the few set in the year it was released).

• How big is Crystal Lake? So far we’ve got two camps, and three houses (one of which has its own barn) on this damn lake.

• Next Week: The final week of the theme month with Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.