Harefooted Halloween: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

What I Liked: Having the opening credits EXPLODE in some fashion is a silly tradition that I’m into.

The opening shot showing the aftermath of Part 3 is really well done.  We wander through the crime scene showing cops all over the place carrying body bags, paramedics investigating any possible survivors, a helicopter shining down a spotlight and Jason still lying there with an ax in his head.  It’s madness and sorta makes you realize how devastating an attack like this would be.

The gore gets turned up a touch with perhaps the nastiest death being the first (aside from Jason’s demise).  A morgue technician gets his throat sliced with a hack saw and then his head twisted a hundred and eighty degrees around (don’t worry, he’s setup to be a horny pervert so it’s ok that he got horrifically murdered).

Tom Savini’s (From Dusk Till Dawn) makeup job on Jason is excellent.  I particularly like how the fingernails on his hands are dark and long and chipped.  Gross.  But of course the real prize is when the hockey mask is finally removed at the end to reveal how grotesque Jason has gotten.  He looks partially melted even.  And the final blow he receives is an absolutely astounding gruesome effect that’s a standout moment in any horror film.

*Spoiler on this last item* Having a twelve year old be the one to take down Jason and in such a frenzied way is a ballsy move.  I mean when Tommy (Corey Feldman (Gremlins)) wails on the guy with his own machete hitting him over and over it kinda feels like it comes out of nowhere because they don’t have a history or anything.  But that catharsis for the audience’s sake works well enough I suppose.

What I Didn’t Like: Once again like Part 3 there isn’t a plot really.  It’s your standard teens show up to party at a secluded house and get killed routine.  We get introduced to nerdy Tommy who’s into making elaborate professional level monster masks and was clearly supposed to take over for Jason after this film but there wasn’t any follow through on that.

The teens are annoyingly horny.  All they do is talk about sex, have sex, make out, flirt and skinny dip.  There’s even a long stretch where they watch like 1920’s porn.  They’re all so one dimensional that I didn’t give a shit when any of them died.

Overall Impressions: This entry is worse than I remember.  There isn’t some overarching story that runs through the sequels so it’s essentially another stand alone film.  And neither the lore nor the universe is expanded upon here in any meaningful way.  The filmmakers flirted with the idea of Tommy Jarvis picking up the mantle but they must’ve realized what’s the point?  If you’re gonna eventually put the hockey mask on him and turn him into a silent unstoppable brute anyway then it boils down to just changing the name of the character.  Their backstories would be slightly different but that’s about it. 

Part 4 The Final Chapter on its own isn’t the greatest.  However, introducing Tommy here and having him take center stage in a good sequel later on (Part 6 Jason Lives) makes both films stronger.  So thankfully this wasn’t truly the last one because I think I would like it even less.

My worries about the Friday sequels are coming true.  They’re not all that interesting or different from each other (well, until we get to Jason Goes to Hell) so I don’t have a ton to break down for you guys.  Alright, enough of that.  Next!