Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) Review: Slightly Better
“Jason Meets His Match”Synopsis: After being mortally wounded and taken to the morgue, murderer Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives and embarks on a killing spree as he makes his way back to his home at Camp Crystal Lake. | Watch now on Amazon |
Calamity Brains:
By the fourth installment, the Friday the 13th franchise is slowly picking up steam. Though still nowhere near the top of my “favorite slashers” list, the inaccurately-named The Final Chapter at least has a little more in the way of characterization and plot points – which is helpful, since the early Friday movies tend to be slow.
Just as Part III picked up after Part 2, The Final Chapter picks up after Part III (which means this movie technically begins on Sunday the 15th). The police clean up coeds from Part III and Jason (Ted White) is among the bodies brought to the morgue. There he naturally wakes up, breaks out, and goes on another killing spree. Yet again, the filmmakers skip the camp motif, though these coeds are certainly as dumb and flighty as the previously-murdered counselors. Adding in an extra dimension is the next door neighbor family: a mother, teen daughter, and young son.
The coeds of course are only focused on sex, which gives us the most boobs of the franchise and some head-shaking situations. While they separate to fight and shag, Jason picks them off one by one. Then of course, daughter Trish (Kimberly Beck) and son Tommy (Corey Feldman) suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives. Fortunately, Tommy has a few tricks up his sleeve that just might make the difference.
Despite the additional storylines and fun moments (including vintage porn), this is still fairly slow. But it’s much more watchable than the first three Friday the 13th movies. If you liked those, be aware that the premise here is a little different. If you didn’t, this one might finally be worth your time.
Calamity Brains’ Rating: B-
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