Paramount | 1984 | 91 mins. | Rated R
I guess we’ll never really know for certain whether Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was really supposed to be the end of the franchise. The publicity machine suckered fans in with the tagline, “Jason’s unlucky day!” In hindsight, anyone who believed that Jason would actually die was as naïve as those kids at Camp Crystal Lake. No matter, the ploy worked and Paramount had a huge hit. The popularity and financial success of the film, which grossed over $32 million, resulted in the release of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning less than a year later, which was set up as a reboot of the franchise.
Joseph Zito (The Prowler) took over the directing duties for The Final Chapter and the gore is once again supplied by Tom Savini. Taken from a script written by Barney Cohen, the plot is fairly standard Friday the 13th stuff. The Jarvis family lives near the infamous Camp Crystal Lake. For whatever reason, a string of grisly murders hasn’t caused them to move out of the area. (Maybe everyone who lives there is as dumb as a box of rocks.) Anyway, young Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) is a huge horror fan; his bedroom is filled with masks. All the while, another group of amorous teens have rented a house on the lake for a bit of fun and frolic. This time the group consists of Paul (Alan Hayes), Sam (Judie Aronson), Sara (Barbara Howard), Doug (Peter Barton), Ted (Lawrence Monoson) and Jimmy (Crispin Glover).
Jason Voorhees (an uncredited Ted White), had been picked up a couple of nights before from the farmhouse in Part III. Now in the morgue, Jason awakens and kills morgue doctor, Axel (Bruce Mahler), and Nurse Morgan (Lisa Freeman) and then makes his way back to Crystal Lake to continue the slaughter. Who each of the visiting teens are is insignificant, because everyone but Tommy Jarvis and his sister Trisha are killed.
Tommy is an unlikely hero, in what turns out to be a surprisingly bloody standoff with Jason. Tommy hacks at Jason’s face with a machete, who then falls on it, only to have it slice up his face even more. Tommy’s frenzied attack on Jason was definitely the boldest act of defiance against the crazed killer to date.
There is no denying that the script is terrible. However, Joseph Zito’s direction and some nifty camera work help to enliven the story. The acting is also a cut above the previous installment. Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton and Corey Feldman all clearly know how to deliver a line and make it interesting; even if the script is dull. That ability helps the pace of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter immeasurably. Not to mention, the film has some pretty good kills.
However, I’m not naïve. This installment has more nudity than the first three films and I imagine that fact alone brought some people into theaters. In the end, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a continuation of what we’ve come to expect from the franchise; if it’s a favorite of yours, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Paramount’s 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is pretty solid. The film still looks a bit grainy, as it should but several of the darker scenes that were just too murky in earlier releases look much sharper and detailed. Color is more vibrant without appearing oversaturated. Skin tones look lifelike. Black levels are fairly strong, and shadow detail remains quite good. There aren’t any compression issues, nor is there any obvious edge enhancement. This is the best DVD transfer of the film yet.
Audio is supplied by a newly created Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track in English with Dolby Digital Mono options available in English, French, and Spanish. Subtitles are also supplied in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. While purists will be thankful for the Mono track, the 5.1 mix does a nice job of spreading things out, though it’s not what most would call a full surround experience. There is a fair bit of rear channel activity but it’s almost all ambient and background noise rather than distinct effects. Dialogue and sound effects are full and levels remain properly balanced throughout.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter offers a nice slate of special features:
• Commentary Track: Director Joseph Zito, editor Joel Goodman and writer Barney Cohen look back at the making of this picture. They cover a variety of topics – casting, effects work, the film’s sometimes relentless violence, location shooting and editing the picture – and they do it amiably and in very listenable manner.
• Commentary Track: This one is a “fan track” by Adam Green (who directed Hatchet) and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2). The pair were clearly influenced by the series and the pair spend a good deal of time talking about how this film shaped them and their respective projects.
• Last Tales from Camp Blood Part IV (18:00) A fake newscast gathers various participants in front of the camera to talk about their experiences.
• Jason’s Unlucky Day: 25 Years After Friday (11:00) Joseph Zito, Tom Savini, Joel Goodman, Barry Cohen, Kimberly Beck, Bonnie Hellman, Erich Anderson to talk about what it was like working on the picture. They discuss the script, the set and what it was like during the actual filming.
• Deleted Scene (3:20) The Lost Ending. Note that since it does not have audio, director Joe Zito and actress Kimberly Beck talk over the action while remembering anecdotes.
• Jimmy’s Dead F**k Dance Moves (2:07) The back of the keepcase removes the f-bomb word, but not in the DVD’s menu. Anyway, Friday fans know that Crispin Glover added a kind of spastic dance to the film that no one expected, when he was dancing with a girl. It’s crazy and hilarious, and this featurette is simply more of it.
• The films original Theatrical Trailer.
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
