Fans tend to agree that “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” was the installment where the series finally hit its stride (odd, considering it was initially intended to be the end of the series). Jason’s got his hockey mask, his machete, his Tom Savini and no stupid 3D gimmicks or anything like that to get in his way. As a matter of fact, many fans tend to point to this movie as the best example of “Classic Jason” above most other sequels.
An axe to the face isn’t enough to keep Jason Voorhees (Ted White) on the slab. Escaping the morgue, Jason returns to Crystal Lake to pick up right where he left off. This time, he sets his sights on Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) and his wholesome family. Filling out the body count is the house next door, rented out by a half dozen pot-smoking teens. However, Jason might find opposition in Rob (E. Erich Anderson), a backpacker out for revenge over the death of his- Oh fuck it, you know he’s gonna die just like everybody else. Who am I fooling?
Steve Miner takes leave from the series he helped mold, passing the torch on to Director Joseph Zito (the guy who directed “Missing in Action”…seriously!). Zito’s take on the series isn’t anything special, I have to admit, and “The Final Chapter” blends in seamlessly with the three “Friday the 13th” flicks that came before it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, as at least the series thus far has been pretty consistent in tone and direction. If anything might stand out, “The Final Chapter” features more boob shots than the previous films. As a somewhat related aside, the scene in the morgue tends to linger more on the workout program/softcore porn flick than Axel’s death, which always struck me as hilarious.
While “Friday the 13th Part III” had quite possibly the worst cast of any film in the series, “The Final Chapter” manages to upgrade the acting quality by an acceptable margin. While the acting is still bad, it’s less excruciating and more entertaining this time around. I point to the death of Rob as a prime example of this: as Jason is hacking him to pieces, he summons up the courage to scream “Oh God, he’s killing me!” I can only hope I show such awareness when my ticket gets punched. “The Final Chapter” also happens to be the most, er, “star-studded” installment in the series, featuring Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover. I guess that qualifies as “star-studded”.
So far as the chronology of the series is concerned, “The Final Chapter” marks a couple turning points in the storyline. Firstly, it’s the last film in the series to feature a “human” Jason. Starting with “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives”, Jason will become a zombie. No longer will he run after victims, but simply walk slowly behind them and eventually catch up to them somehow. Some fans prefer the more “human” Jason over the super zombie, though I don’t mind either way. Just as long as he isn’t a Hellbaby or a cyborg.
“The Final Chapter” also ushers in a story arc fans like to refer to as “The Tommy Trilogy”: three consecutive movies with the story focusing on the character of Tommy Jarvis. Tommy’s evolution throughout the series is a bizarre one, as he goes from well-adjusted kid, to near-mute psychopath, to well-adjusted teenager. It’s interesting to see Jason match wits with a 10 year-old boy as, up until now, he’d never interacted with another child before. It is rather amusing that a house full of eight drunk, stoned and horny teenagers failed to stop a rampaging maniac, but a kid with a Bic razor and some Barbasol had no trouble solving the problem. Tommy’s ultimate solution is kind of silly to watch, probably looking a lot better on paper. But who cares? Tom Savini’s makeup effects kicked ass.
Speaking of which, Tom Savini, makeup artist from the original “Friday the 13th”, returns to bring us “the last” (HA!). His work is great, as the stupid kids all die a number of wonderfuly gory deaths. They might seem a little mundane at first, but c’mon, you know you’ve always dreamed of seeing George McFly strung up in front of a doorway by corkscrews. Jason’s appearance is also one of his best, as he looks less like the hilarious heavy browed mongoloid you laugh at on the street and more like a rabid maniac who is going to eat your babies. The “unmasking” scene always used to be a big part of the “Friday the 13th” series, and “The Final Chapter” boasts one of the coolest.
While Paramount would almost immediately break their promise of “The Final Chapter” and go on to make “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning”, they’d at least keep Jason dead throughout that one. Of course, this wouldn’t be the last fake-out of the series, unless we forget about “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday”. As a matter of fact, let’s forget about that one, shall we? Anyhow, this is certainly one of the better installments in the series, even if the scenes involving the partying teenagers can tend to drag on for way too long. Good movie marathon fodder, never the less.
Grade: C+ (as in “Can you believe that the dog is the smartest character in the whole movie? At least he knew when it was time to get the fuck out of Dodge”.)
An axe to the face isn’t enough to keep Jason Voorhees (Ted White) on the slab. Escaping the morgue, Jason returns to Crystal Lake to pick up right where he left off. This time, he sets his sights on Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) and his wholesome family. Filling out the body count is the house next door, rented out by a half dozen pot-smoking teens. However, Jason might find opposition in Rob (E. Erich Anderson), a backpacker out for revenge over the death of his- Oh fuck it, you know he’s gonna die just like everybody else. Who am I fooling?
Steve Miner takes leave from the series he helped mold, passing the torch on to Director Joseph Zito (the guy who directed “Missing in Action”…seriously!). Zito’s take on the series isn’t anything special, I have to admit, and “The Final Chapter” blends in seamlessly with the three “Friday the 13th” flicks that came before it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, as at least the series thus far has been pretty consistent in tone and direction. If anything might stand out, “The Final Chapter” features more boob shots than the previous films. As a somewhat related aside, the scene in the morgue tends to linger more on the workout program/softcore porn flick than Axel’s death, which always struck me as hilarious.
While “Friday the 13th Part III” had quite possibly the worst cast of any film in the series, “The Final Chapter” manages to upgrade the acting quality by an acceptable margin. While the acting is still bad, it’s less excruciating and more entertaining this time around. I point to the death of Rob as a prime example of this: as Jason is hacking him to pieces, he summons up the courage to scream “Oh God, he’s killing me!” I can only hope I show such awareness when my ticket gets punched. “The Final Chapter” also happens to be the most, er, “star-studded” installment in the series, featuring Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover. I guess that qualifies as “star-studded”.
So far as the chronology of the series is concerned, “The Final Chapter” marks a couple turning points in the storyline. Firstly, it’s the last film in the series to feature a “human” Jason. Starting with “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives”, Jason will become a zombie. No longer will he run after victims, but simply walk slowly behind them and eventually catch up to them somehow. Some fans prefer the more “human” Jason over the super zombie, though I don’t mind either way. Just as long as he isn’t a Hellbaby or a cyborg.
“The Final Chapter” also ushers in a story arc fans like to refer to as “The Tommy Trilogy”: three consecutive movies with the story focusing on the character of Tommy Jarvis. Tommy’s evolution throughout the series is a bizarre one, as he goes from well-adjusted kid, to near-mute psychopath, to well-adjusted teenager. It’s interesting to see Jason match wits with a 10 year-old boy as, up until now, he’d never interacted with another child before. It is rather amusing that a house full of eight drunk, stoned and horny teenagers failed to stop a rampaging maniac, but a kid with a Bic razor and some Barbasol had no trouble solving the problem. Tommy’s ultimate solution is kind of silly to watch, probably looking a lot better on paper. But who cares? Tom Savini’s makeup effects kicked ass.
Speaking of which, Tom Savini, makeup artist from the original “Friday the 13th”, returns to bring us “the last” (HA!). His work is great, as the stupid kids all die a number of wonderfuly gory deaths. They might seem a little mundane at first, but c’mon, you know you’ve always dreamed of seeing George McFly strung up in front of a doorway by corkscrews. Jason’s appearance is also one of his best, as he looks less like the hilarious heavy browed mongoloid you laugh at on the street and more like a rabid maniac who is going to eat your babies. The “unmasking” scene always used to be a big part of the “Friday the 13th” series, and “The Final Chapter” boasts one of the coolest.
While Paramount would almost immediately break their promise of “The Final Chapter” and go on to make “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning”, they’d at least keep Jason dead throughout that one. Of course, this wouldn’t be the last fake-out of the series, unless we forget about “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday”. As a matter of fact, let’s forget about that one, shall we? Anyhow, this is certainly one of the better installments in the series, even if the scenes involving the partying teenagers can tend to drag on for way too long. Good movie marathon fodder, never the less.
Grade: C+ (as in “Can you believe that the dog is the smartest character in the whole movie? At least he knew when it was time to get the fuck out of Dodge”.)
1 comments:
I always thought Jason's face in this one was a bit messy and "too much" going on. I didn't like it as it looked more like a boredom doodle with sculpting clay than anything scary. I thought this face looked silly- like a decaying horse or something.
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