Here it is, folks... the final chapter in the Friday the 13th series! Despite the seven films which follow, this was actually supposed to be the swan song of the Jason Voorhees story. Droves of movie-goers went to the theaters in April, 1984 under the belief that they were saying goodbye to the horror icon, and as a result garnered $32 million at the box office.
The Final Chapter (TFC) earned slightly less than its three-dimensional predecessor â as expected â but fortunately for us it was more than enough to justify a fifth chapter. In Paramountâs eyes anyway.
Fresh off the Chuck Norris action flick, Missing in Action, director Joseph Zito takes this Friday back to its darker and more ominous roots (read: Part 1 and Part 2). Even though this is basically the same film as the previous three, it does offer some of the best and most memorable moments in the entire series. Plus, weâve got actual character development as we meet our first long-term heroic character, Tommy Jarvis, played by a pre-Goonies Corey Feldman.
Beginning exactly where the last film left off, we are dropped into the middle of a police investigation at the Higginsâ farmhouse. The âdeadâ Jason Voorhees is transported to the Wessex County Medical Center Morgue, where the local doctor, Axel (Bruce Mahler), is more interested in Nurse Morgan than his work. Those of you with a keen movie eye will recognize Mahler as the klutzy Sgt. Fackler from the Police Academy series.
The law is laid down in the morgue, as Axelâs neck is cut with a hacksaw, and his whole world is turned 180 degrees. His partner in crime follows suit⦠sheâs gutted in the medication room.
Jason is back and badder than ever!
Back at Crystal Lake, guess what weâve got. Yep⦠itâs another group of teens just waiting to be slaughtered. What happens when you mix six naughty youths looking for a little âR&Râ, two twin ladies looking for some fun, a family of three, a vengeful brother, and a serial killer? Ladies and gentlemen, you have yourself a slasher flick!
On his way back to his old stomping ground, Jason whacks a hitchhiker for the sole reason of teaching those kiddies watching at home that itâs not safe to ride with strangers. Itâs always a good sign when youâre averaging one kill every five minutes to start a film.
Soon weâre introduced to the Jarvisâ, a family of three living near the lake. Trish and her mother, Amanda, go for daily jogs around the lake, while 12-year-old Tommy is quite an impressive mask-maker. Next door, the six punks arrive, and make an impact right away. That night, as Tommy lies in bed, he watches Samantha (Judie Aronson) undress and make out with her boyfriend, Paul (Alan Hayes). Gee, I wonder how long theyâll last.
The next day, while headed into town, Trish and Tommy stumble upon their lovely neighbors taking a dip in the lake sans clothing. Protecting her little brother, Trish quickly pushes him back in the car, and they continue on their way. That is, until their car dies. The handy Tommy tries to get the car started, but is startled by Rob Dire, a local camper. Trish, a tad smitten, gives Rob a ride back to her house and tells him heâs welcome back anytime.
That night, the crazy kids throw a party, inviting the twins they met earlier in the day. With all the guilty parties horded into one place, Jason has quite an easy time picking them off. However, before the killings really get going, we get to see some interesting dance moves by Jim (Crispin Glover). (Look familiar? Itâs George McFly from Back to the Future! Quite an all-star cast weâve got here.) You canât help but feel embarrassed for Glover, but it definitely makes the movie worth watching!
First to go is Samantha. Jealous that her boyfriend is dancing with Tina, one of the twins, she heads to the lake to be alone. While floating in a raft, she gets a knife through the back. Paul soon follows: feeling guilty, he heads out to the lake to see his girlfriend, only to receive a harpoon to the groin!
Moments later, while Jim and Tina are in bed, Terry (the other twin) leaves to head home. Just as she gets on her bike, sheâs harpooned in the back. Now, we donât actually see the kill, but the shadow of the event is shown on the house during a lightning strike.
Neat.
Over at the Jarvis household, the mother comes home to an empty house and no electricity. Heading outside to look for her children, she meets Mr. Voorhees and is killed off-screen. Trish and Tommy arrive a little while after and become worried their mother isnât home yet. Trish heads out to look for her and she instructs Tommy to stay in the house.
Jim heads downstairs to gloat to his buddy Ted and to find some wine. He heads to the kitchen to find a corkscrew⦠Jason hands it to him followed by a meat cleaver through his face. Upstairs, Tina is then pulled out of a second-story window and lands directly onto a car. Which reminds me of another slasher film ruleâ¦
If your name is Tina, you will die.
While looking for her mother, Trish arrives at Robâs tent in the woods. There, Rob reveals he is the brother of Sandra Dire (from Part 2), and is out for revenge on her killer. Itâs actually a decent way to tie the film with a previous entry, while by-passing the dreadful Part 3.
Back at the âhouse of death,â Ted gets a knife in the head while Sara and Doug decide to jump in the shower together. Big mistake, guys. The two are quickly taken out in sufficiently gory fashion.
With a killer on the loose, Trish and Rob hurry back to the house once she tells him that Tommy is all alone. They arrive to find the phone line is dead, and decide to head next door to see if they have the same problem. Chaos ensues: Gordon, the Jarvisâ dog, is thrown out window, Rob is murdered in the basement, and Trish is chased by the lunatic in the mask.
The final battle occurs in the Jarvisâ home. âDoes Jason survive,â you ask? Well, this is the final chapter⦠that must mean something, right? Holding true to the definition of a sequel, the ending does leave open the possibility of another movie.
Generally speaking, the teens we meet in this movie are fairly flat and boring. In fact, most are borderline annoying to the point where you canât wait until theyâre taken care of by our favorite hockey mask freak. There is, however, some relatively serious character development taking form in this fourth manifestation. First, we learn of Robâs motivation based on an event from Part 2. We also are introduced to Tommy Jarvis who will play a significant role in the two films which follow TFC.
For the gore-hounds, we get an exceptional kill right off the bat. Axelâs death scene ranks right up there with some of the more violent ones at the hands of Jason. Perhaps the funniest line comes from Axel as well. While he and Nurse Morgan are fooling around in the âcold room,â Jasonâs âdeadâ hand falls off the table and grazes the nurseâs leg. Completely startled, Axel spews off a line of moderate obscenities where you canât help but crack up.
Weâve easily got the most nudity-filled Friday flick here. Pretty much anyone playing a character between the ages of 18-24 takes their top off. I feel that any nudity in a movie should be justified and move the plot along. In my humble opinion, the excessive nudity displayed here is completely justified⦠after all, Jason needs a reason to off these kids, right?
Many people argue this was the last of the âgoodâ movies in the franchise. The Horror Guru thinks these people donât quite understand where the franchise heads after this. Itâs something which Iâll discuss more extensively later, but basically Jason truly dies in this film. The entire franchise can be split into two periods. The first (Part 1 through TFC) all have killers that are human (Pamela and Jason). The second period begins after Part V, where Jason is an undead zombie, commonly referred to as zombie-Jason. However, since the films never actually explain this theory, itâs more speculation than anything. What about Part V? For reasons that will be discussed next week, I donât include it in my theory.
On a negative note, TFC does seem to be the beginning of a shift in the basic premise of the films. In the first three, the films are more psychological horrors than pure slasher. Here, we lose the scenes of Jason stalking his victims. In its place, we see more Jason popping out of nowhere and slaughtering the hapless teens. This is the point in the series where youâre watching a slasher film through and through. Just wait until the next one to see what I mean!
Hey⦠weâre halfway through the box-set! Canât stop now!
