Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Note: The link to the 'Friday the 13th' timeline is coming soon!

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Friday the 13th Reviews

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Although this is a somewhat misleading title, at the time, they were prepared to follow through on the idea of this being "The Final Chapter" as suggested. But the way the film ends left things a little too open-ended, and the series ended up the way it is. However, in my mind, I still consider the title apt. Merely a fan theory, but I feel that this is where Jason Voorhees, the violent hobo, actually died, and from here, he becomes a true supernatural force. For more info on this, see my fan-theorized 'Friday the 13th' Timeline!

Diving right in, Jason's (Ted White) killing spree seemingly came to a close with the last film finishing him off enough to have his body hauled off to the local morgue. Here's where the not-quite-dead Jason kicks things off with a couple of what I call "launch victims" (the first victim or victims of any slasher movie, setting the tone for things to come). Anyway, he escapes the morgue and heads back home where, unbeknownst to him, a few more intruders are about to show up, and the hormones on these kids are potent! I never thought about it before, but as far as these films go, this is probably the most sex-starved group of Jason Bait to be brought to the franchise.

The two most memorable are Jim (Crispin Glover) and his cocky friend, Ted (Lawrence Monoson), who are simply looking to get laid on this friendly vacation. Otherwise, the rest of them are relatively forgettable and it seems apparent they're there to become Jason's playthings. Just to rattle them off as is tradition, a couple awaiting their first time, Sara (Barbara Howard) and Doug (Peter Barton), as well as the well-established Paul (Alan Hayes) and Sam (Judie Aronson). Eventually, the group is joined by a couple of local twins, Tina and Terry (Camilla and Carey More, respectively), who are there to enhance the dramatic factor.

This new crop of hormone-driven teens moves in for their vacation next door to a friendly, average family - Tracy Jarvis (Joan Freeman) and her two children, Trish (Kimberly Beck) and *drum roll please* Tommy (Corey Feldman), who pretty much ended up being the main protagonist for the series after they realized they couldn't possibly end the series on the note that they did here. Once they finally meet, the story sort of splits in two. On one hand, the standard group of horny teenagers is ready to become meat. On the other hand, we follow Trish and Tommy as they meet and befriend Rob Dier, who is supposedly Sandra's older brother (Sandra being from 'Part 2').

Rob's character is an intriguing addition to the whole thing. He enters the scene as someone who seems to be just backpacking through the woods, meeting Trish and Tommy while they have car trouble. One could just as quickly suspect him of being some kind of killer, especially with how he talks about "hunting". But one way or another, we understand he's there to be a good guy. There to avenge his sister. I believe he's there to be a source of misdirection. Tommy would become what we were supposed to think Rob was, only to have the rug pulled out from under us. I'd call that a spoiler, but we've got two more movies featuring different actors portraying Tommy each time.

To give Tommy a bit of a better background intro, however, he's about 12 years old, loves video games, and has a hobby of making Hollywood-level monster masks. Tommy's also a bit of an early-age mechanic, as we see him tackling their car's engine when they break down (and somehow don't get attacked by Jason, as one would imagine). He's also pretty clever and studious, as we see him quickly pour over articles about Jason, only to develop a plan to trick him. He's also why things don't end with this particular title, and the series is made to move on with no less than eight more Jason-related titles... and that's just the movies.

Regarding acting, Feldman's and Glover's collective appearances give this chapter a little bump. Crispin Glover is just plain hilarious to watch, especially when dancing. But regarding Feldman, it is interesting to note that it felt like 'Friday the 13th' got to understand how young some of its fans were then. Part of the intrigue behind 80s slasher horror now is noting how young people were when watching these movies, despite their R-ratings. 'The Final Chapter' seemed to understand this and use it to its advantage, allowing who is ultimately a child to be able to fight and eventually... kind of... defeat the heavyweight champion of the 80s slasher world, Jason Voorhees himself.

4/5

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