Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter (Movie Review)

This is the fourth installment of our head-to-head review between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises. Check out what Sophie had to say about the corresponding Freddy pic here! 

1984 is a year that is not only famous for its namesake to the George Orwell novel and the iconic Apple commercial, it's also the year that Freddy was born and Jason seemingly died. The first installment of the A Nightmare on Elm Street films crept into theaters and unknowingly became a sleeper hit that would go on to spawn an entire franchise. The reigning slasher champ, Jason Voorhees, had just slashed his way through another set of teens two years prior in glorious 3D fashion with Friday the 13th Part 3. When 1984 hit, Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter also teased the end of the newly hockey masked killers life on screen. Of course, as with any profitable franchise, this fourth installment raked in boo koo bucks for Paramount which essentially gave the green light for Jason to live again. Stay tuned for his resurrection. Thankfully the marketing ploy of labeling this installment the final chapter wasn't the only reason that money flowed through Camp Crystal Lake that year; it's also an overall good time. While the same slasher tropes are ever present within Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter, the introduction of an adversary to Jason, interesting casting choices, and unintentional comedy make this a franchise darling for any slasher fan. 

Previously on Friday the 13th, Jason had suffered many deep wounds from the last final girl, but he was still ready to take on whomever came his way. Being taken to a nearby hospital morgue, Jason awakens to find a sexually deviant corpse watcher named Axel and promptly saws into his neck. Before leaving his new whereabouts, Jason also takes care of Nurse Morgan because she too enjoyed expressing her sexuality near dead bodies. While he heads back to camp, a new group of friends is driving to spend some time in the nearby Crystal Lake woods. Jimmy (Crispin Glover), Teddy (Lawrence Monoson), Paul (Alan Hayes), Sara (Barbara Howard), Doug (Peter Barton), and Samantha (Judie Aranson) hole up in a wonderful cabin not far from the Jarvis home. Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) and her younger brother Tommy (Corey Feldman) live in their woodsy home with their mother and are actively jogging each day as well as making new masks. As Jason stalks the new victims, another hunter emerges by the name of Rob (Erich Anderson) who is looking for the man that killed his sister Sandra during Part 2. Even the twins from The Shining show up ready for a weekend of partying and avoiding Jason like their lives depend on it. Eventually Jason sets his sights on the youngest participant in Part 4 due to their apparent uncanny resemblence once shaved. 

The most interesting aspect to this iteration is the inclusion of a child into the story. The premise of the entire Friday the 13th franchise had always hinted at children becoming involved at some point since it revolved around an impending summer camp. This was the first time a child was brought in to actually be in danger of Jason's machete, and moreover, to be the main adversary to the slasher icon. Jason had always referenced the Halloween blue print for how to set up his stories, but this was a more concrete decision to make a Laurie Strode appear in the form of Tommy Jarvis. Despite the meta knowledge that comes with Corey Feldman, he delivers a great performance as Tommy, especially for his age. His love for mask making, video games, and oggling nearby teens makes him a relatable and seemingly average kid that will have to go up against a fearsome slasher icon. This creates a good tension and finally gives the audience a real person to root for against Jason. Another fantastic casting choice goes to Crispin Glover in the Jimmy role. His insane dancing scene makes the entire movie worth watching, as well as his unconventional and awkward line deliveries. The unintentional humor began with Crispin's boogie nights, reared its head with the artist sketch of dead boy Jason, and moved all the way through the film to Rob's death as he yells "He's killing me! He's killing me!" to no one in particular. Apart from the laughs, the deaths themselves are all fairly interesting and vaired enough to keep a viewers attention. Jason has his MO down as he kills another teen in the shower, one in the lake, and even one holding a banana. The final fight between Jason and Tommy has enough cheese in it to satisfy any nacho fan as Tommy shaves his head to look just like young Jason. The set up that Tommy would take the killer torch, or machete, from Jason was an interesting one that would later be used in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers for the same effect. 

While modern knowledge would dissuade any viewer from taking the title of Final Chapter seriously, looking at the film through the lens of 1984 shows a picture that succeeded in its attempt to end Jason and pass the baton. Living in a world now with constant remakes, reboots, and sequels upon sequels, Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter is an interesting glimpse into a simpler time when studios were still unsure of a franchises slaying power. 

Kills

Body Count: 14

Most Creative Kill: The best kill has to go to someone other than Jason, and that's Tommy Jarvis. When Tommy dons his drowned boy Jason look and starts wailing on the killer with the machete, it goes to show how quickly this pension for killing takes over Tommy. Not to mention right before this brutal attack, Jasons head is impaled on the machete and slowly falls down his own blade almost cutting his entire face in half. Bravo Tommy, bravo.