Friday the 13th:
The Final Chapter – Only If You Stop Counting
By Matt Wintz
 |
Release Date:
April 13, 1984 – U.S.
Rating: R
Genre:
Horror
Running Time:
91
Minutes (Theatrical),
97 Minutes (Uncut)
Director: Joe
Zito
Writers:
Barney Cohen and Bruce Sakow
Cast: Corey
Feldman, Kimberly
Beck, Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson,
Crispin
Glover, Peter Barton,
Lawrence Monoson, Camilla More,
Carey More, Ted
White
|
A bit of a bonus review
for the Mortuary since it's been a while, as I wanted to take my
first stab into the "Friday the 13th" series. Instead of
starting at the beginning though, I decided to look at my favorite
entry and also the movie that I think pulls off a perfect slasher
film: the 1984 fourth chapter dubbed "The Final Chapter"
although that would be untrue. However, that wasn't how it was
originally planned.
The movie is pretty
standard for the slasher genre at the time, thanks to the slasher
boom in cinema the first "Friday the 13th" started in 1980.
A group of teenagers/twenty-somethings are vacationing by a lake
just days after Jason Voorhees had been taken down (as seen in
flashback scenes from "Friday the 13th Part 3"). The movie
does a great job of giving anyone new to the series some backstory,
using "Friday the 13th Part 2's" campfire story from Paul,
mixed in with scenes from the first three installments, to set up the
Jason Voorhees mythos. We then get a shot of Jason still motionless
in the barn, axe imbedded in his mask and head, and taken to the
morgue. While Jason revives and murders a nurse and morgue
attendant, we get introduced to the main characters Tommy and Trish
Jarvis, and the house full of expendables. Notable entrants in this
movie are Corey Feldman as Tommy and Crispin Glover as Jimmy. Just a
year later, both these two would see great career moments with The
Goonies and Back to the Future respectfully.
We are given insight
that young Tommy is a monster mask/special effects kid and he goes
through the swing of being a kid with young women next door, which
makes for some interesting moments in the film. Trish is the
protective older sister, trying to keep Tommy from both breasts and a
serial killer throughout the movie, all-the-while with a feeling of
young adult angst that she doesn't partake too much in the partying
next door. As stated above, the house next door and the young people
inside aren't of serious consequence, they are fodder for Jason. The
character of Rob, a big brother from one of Jason's victims in
"Friday the 13th Part 2," is portrayed as a possible male
hero, but even he falls to Jason. This leads to the fateful showdown
between Jason and Trish and Tommy, one in which Tom Savini's make-up
effects are on full display to end Jason once and for all.
Or at least, that's how
the movie was originally intended. Like I said, from a story aspect
this movie doesn't do anything slasher films haven't done before, but
it's in the spirit that they are done that make it excel past a
majority of the movies done before it and during its time. Slasher
movies are, to their detriment at times, formulaic. This movie is
not a break from that, but its embrace of the formula is what makes
it work. Jason isn't relegated to being a shadow a lot, you see him
do the killing. The special effects, by wizard Tom Savini, marks
Savini's return to the series since the first installment, and he
shows off some of his great work here. It has even been mentioned
that the reason he came back was to make sure Jason stayed dead. Joe
Zito directs with a steady hand, showing that this wasn't going to be
just a slapped together effort. The movie, from a slasher and horror
film fan's point of view can be quite close to perfect: iconic
villain, fun relatable hero, excellent special effects and kills,
nudity and sex, drugs, weird 1980s dancing, and a good amount of
jumps for a first time viewers.
The movie was intended
to be the final chapter in Jason Voorhees' legacy, but that changed
when the movie became such a hit. Made for only $1.8 million, the
movie grossed $32.6 million and cemented the idea that movie-goers
weren't intent on saying goodbye to Jason quite yet. This led to the
resurgence of the series and the fifth film (which I know I'll review
later), but this is the final chapter of "real Jason."
Part five has a twist ending and part six begins the "zombie
Jason" films, so here in part four we are given our last look at
a realistic Jason. While some might think to themselves "How
can he be real if he was chopped in the head with an axe in part 3?",
and that question is not without merit, it can be explained as just
being a serious wound not a kill-shot. The movie also creates
Jason's most notable nemesis Tommy Jarvis, who appears in parts four
through six, although Feldman wouldn't return to play him full-time.
Personally, this movie
is not only my favorite of the series, but my favorite slasher movie
ever. I watch this film on any "Friday the 13th" I can,
and I remember fondly when I saw it for the first time. A good
friend of mine and I would rent VHS horror movies from Hollywood
Video when we were in high school or right out of it, spending our $2
a tape on four or five movies. We'd then go to one of our houses,
grabbing food on the way, and settle in for an all-day horror fest.
There were days when we'd get there in the morning when they opened
and nine hours later bring back the movies, kindly rewound, and pick
up more. "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" was the
fourth of the series I had ever seen (in order – Part 3, Part 9,
Part 1, than Part 4) but as soon as I saw it I was hooked. Jason
Voorhees became my favorite horror movie character, I learned what
the term "Dead F––" meant, and Corey Feldman became
much more than just a Goonie to me.
So in honor of this
amazing film, I don my hockey mask and remind you that the Mortuary
is now closed.
