Review of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) by Ian B — 12 Jun 2014

Okay, so obviously we all know this isn't the final chapter. But even with a title no one would believe for a second, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is, hands down, one of the best in the series. The makers of the film smartly looked to the previous sequels and took the best bits from each and combined them all for this entry. Tom Savini's amazing makeup effects from Part 1, the likable characters from Part 2 and the hockey mask-clad Jason from Part 3. Add them all together and you have one of the best and bloodiest trips to Crystal Lake.

Picking up immediately after Part 3, Jason is taken to the local morgue after a killing spree spanning two films. Naturally he wakes up, kills a few people and makes his way back to Crystal Lake. At the same time the Jarvis family and a fresh batch of teens are heading to the lake for a weekend of fun. Apparently the fact that 30+ people have been brutally slaughtered in the area over the past few days doesn't seem to bother them much. Add to the mix a man seeking revenge against Jason for murdering his sister, and you have yourself a nice new batch of victims. Okay, so you can't use the word "logic" too much when watching this series. It's just a fast-paced, bloody piece of fun that delivers everything your looking for in a Friday the 13th flick.

Apparently at the time the studio was planning on this being the final chapter, so it definitely looks like a little more money was spent on the production. The acting is better, the film looks slicker, the kills are more brutal and the climax really delivers. You'll notice Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover in some of their earliest roles, and the overall cast is very likable. Plus, I dare you not to pee your pants just a little watching Crispin Glover do the craziest 80's dance you'll ever see on film! Of course, the real highlight is having makeup effects master Tom Savini return to kill everyone off in ingeniously gory ways. These are easily some of the best and most brutal kills you'll see in the series (with Jason's "death" being the best of the bunch).

If you liked the first three, you'll find lots to love in The Final Chapter. Like I said, it basically takes the best elements of the first three and combines them all into one gory, fast-paced, fun little ride. Seeing as Jason actually does die at the end of the film, this would mark the end of the classic Friday the 13th films...and the first four make a nice little story contained within this massive series that just got sillier and sillier as it went on.