Sep
7
“Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” Review
Filed Under Cult Films, Movies
After three successful “Friday the 13th” films, Paramount decided to end the franchise on a high note. Movie four, “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” was originally intended to lower the curtain on Jason Voorhees’ stalk-and-slash career. That being said, seven more “Friday the 13th” movies have since been made with an eighth — produced by Meat Loaf video wunderkind Michael Bay — set for release early next year.
Still, it’s hard to top “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.” The Nuart screened the film last Friday as well as a mind-blowingly bad short film called “In the Wall” about a guy who accidentally kills his pregnant wife and tries hiding her body, well, in the wall. I’ve had no luck with short films of late.
The less said about “In the Wall,” the better. Rather, this is a review of “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” one of my favorite entires in the franchise. It parts from the conventions of the earlier films, introducing a young, Robert Urich lookalike named Rob (E. Erich Anderson), the brother of one of Jason’s previous victims. Where most characters in these movies are quick to assume Jason is long dead, Rob knows Jason’s still out there and comes equipped to kill him. I like the idea of some grieving family member coming after Jason. I also like how Rob isn’t the guy who takes him out. Rather, Rob’s cut down with some gardening tools, and probably the only character in the series who narrates his own demise: “He’s killing me! He’s killing me!”
A quick note to horror screenwriters: show, don’t tell.
Another way the film departs from previous installments is the inclusion of the Jarvis family. Tommy Jarvis, played by a young Corey Feldman in this film, is a super-sophisticated makeup effects guru, a character bit that’s paid off in a very unusual way at the film’s climax. His sister Trish is about ten years too old to still be playing a teenager, but she’s nice to look at nonetheless. Their mother disappears from the film after all hell starts to break loose. It’s implied that Jason gets the jump on her, but her body doesn’t become part of the corpse menagerie that Jason creates in the final reel.
Of course there are your typical dumb teenagers in this film — among them is George McFly himself, Crispin Glover. My favorite is the sleazy Samantha, played by Judie Aronson. Her comeuppance, getting stabbed through an inflatable raft while out for a swim, was apparently a right bastard to shoot with temperatures near freezing and her being completely naked. I applaud Ms. Aronson’s commitment to her craft.
There are some clever kills in this one. A guy gets stabbed in the back of the head through a projector screen; another guy gets a harpoon to the man-parts and hoisted into the air; Crispin Glover gets a corkscrew through the hand and a butcher knife to the face; we see a girl get impaled in silhouette during a flash of lightning (an arty kill, that one); and Jason himself takes a machete to the side of his head, falls on top of it, then slides down the blade. Oh, I almost left out the guy who gets a hacksaw to the throat and his head twisted 180 degrees.
Makeup artist Tom Savini went all out for “The Final Chapter.” He was also on the first film, so it seemed fitting for him to do the effects for what was thought to be the last. It’s no coincidence the young hero’s name is Tommy, in a none too subtle nod to the makeup effects wizard.
Speaking of Tommy Jarvis, “The Final Chapter” is the first of three films that feature the character, though played by a different actor in each one. Trish is written out of parts five and six, but it is interesting to see Tommy’s evolution in a franchise not known for character development. Movie four ends with a chilling shot of young Tommy, sort of leaving the door open for a sequel in which he takes up Jason’s mantle. But after the uneven fifth film, “A New Beginning” — the one with a vengeful paramedic(!) donning the familiar hockey mask and carving people up — the filmmakers decided audiences were only on board with these films so long as Jason’s the one stacking up the bodies.
The series began experiencing diminishing returns at the box office after “The Final Chapter.” Each subsequent film has some gimmick, from the imposter in the fifth to Jason’s brief visit to the Big Apple in the eighth. I can manage to wring some entertainment value out of even the weaker entries. But “The Final Chapter” is really where the franchise reached its apex, thanks in no small part to Crispin Glover’s moves on the dance floor.
-Brad Lohan
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