Review #569: 'Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter' (1984)

Contrary to the film's title, this is, of course, not the final chapter in the Jason Voorhees franchise, which has up to now reached ten movies, as well as a re-make and a spin-off. But the huge success of the series meant that production company Paramount Pictures could not turn down such an easy money-spinner, given the movies cost around a mere $1.5 million to make and usually grossed $20-30 million. Although the movies generally range from bad to awful, it is easy to see why they were a huge success - simple plots, lots of tits, plenty of gore, and a truly memorable killer in Jason. The Final Chapter is widely considered the best of the series by fans, deviating slightly from the repetitive plots of the preceding movies, and giving the film a recurring hero in Tommy Jarvis (here played by Corey Feldman).

Picking up straight after the third instalment, Jason (Ted White) is believed dead and is taken to a nearby morgue, where a doctor and a nurse are having a sneaky fumble. Naturally, Jason miraculously awakens and butchers them. Meanwhile, a group of horny college kids (where would this franchise be without them?) are making their way to a rented lodge on Crystal Lake, which is located next to the home of the Jarvis family. After daughter Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) breaks down, she is helped by mysterious hitch-hiker Rob (Erich Anderson), who has rather secretive reasons to be in the area. As the college kids start to party and try to rub up against each other, Jason begins his slaughter.

Having up to this point only seen up to this movie, I can categorically state that this is the best so far, and although it's still pretty basic by normal standards, it certainly elevates the sheer mundanity of the previous instalments. Tom Savini, back for his second and last job on the series, creates some memorable moments of gore, including a cork-screw to the hand and special mention must also go to the craziest actor since Klaus Kinski, Crispin Glover, for his spectacular dance scene - it is one of the most bizarre moments I've ever seen on film. Yet the film only really seems so good when compared to the rest of the series, and, ultimately, is still a formulaic slasher film with no real moments of tension or originality, blandly directed by Chuck Norries-frequenter Joseph Zito.


Directed by: Joseph Zito
Starring: Kimberly Beck, Corey Feldman, Erich Anderson, Crispin Glover
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie