Review #924: 'Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday' (1993)

For the exhaustive ninth entry into the Friday the 13th franchise, the creative's behind the scenes made the huge mistake of believing that what this franchise needed was something fresh, something out of the left field. After all, we've had eight of what were basically the same film, with only the embarrassing Jason Takes Manhattan managing to move the action away from Crystal Lake. What this franchise needed was to simply stop, but while there are teenagers eager to hand over their cash for 90 minutes of undemanding trash, there's always more juice to be squeezed. So, with Jason as a supernatural being already established, he now has the ability to transfer his soul into different bodies.

With Jason (Kane Hodder) melted in toxic waste at the climax of the previous film, the machete-wielding psychopath is inexplicably back at Camp Crystal Lake stalking a woman taking a shower. When she escapes her log cabin, Jason pursues, but is trapped by a small army of FBI agents who routinely blow him to pieces. Yet somehow his heart survives unscathed, and his remains are taken to the morgue for further investigation. His soul passes into the coroner (Richard Gant), who butchers the hospital guards and heads back to Crystal Lake, where a group of partying teens await him. Jason turns into a media sensation, and infamous bounty hunter Creighton Duke (Steven Williams), who claims to be the only one who knows how to truly kill Jason, is employed to take the demon down once and for all.

Along with the aforementioned Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell is the most hated of all the entries by fans of the series. Worst of all, the film leaves their biggest draw - Jason himself - in the background for the majority of the film, while B-movie actors stumble around like zombies doing the killing instead. But aside from the fact that this is particularly terrible entry into a beloved franchise, this is simply a badly made movie, and worst of all, a poorly executed horror. The acting, script, cinematography and score are offensively drab, and there are gaping holes in the story that are simply not explained. Why is Creighton suddenly in prison when he was free in his previous scene? Why does he break the fingers of the man who ultimately has the same goal? Why is Jason suddenly a spirit who can puke his black, putrid soul into other people? If the film at least offered one or two decent set-pieces or memorable murders these factors could have been forgiven. But Jason Goes to Hell is simply a waste of time and celluloid.


Directed by: Adam Marcus
Starring: John D. LeMay, Kari Keegan, Kane Hodder, Steven Williams
Country: USA

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie