Review of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) by Camden N — 21 Dec 2009

I'd rank this one up there with Friday the 13th Part 2 as the best of the series. The only flaw, just as with most of these films, is that the MPAA slashed the murder scenes; it's even more painfully obvious here than in number 2! This is still made up for by great direction by Joseph Zito (clearly the best director in the series besides Steve Miner, who himself took a step down in quality with number 3), some fantastic (though only briefly glimpsed) make-up effects by Tom Savini (my favorite one being at the end - you'll know it when your jaw drops), and some oddball humor courtesy of Crispin Glover and...that other guy, who I at least remember was called Ted in the movie. If you didn't already know it from The Prowler, Joseph Zito knows how to craft a creepy movie, and knows how to use darkness effectively. In fact, the cinematography often makes this look more like The Godfather than the serviceable work in the other entries.

Initially I was underwhelmed by this one simply because I felt it was just a rehash of the same Friday cliches, but listening to the commentary by Adam Green and Joe Lynch on the new DVD gave me a new appreciation of the film, and, as with most great films, it took some retrospective thinking to realize how good the film really was. But as I always say, if you dislike a film at first but find yourself getting the urge to watch it again, it probably was much better than you think.