It’s a shame that there’s so much nothing going on for the majority of “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” because there are enough moments here and there filled with genuine suspense and the right amount of terror that it definitely could have been a much better movie than what came out in the end. Unfortunately, though, the flick stumbles more often than not, making for a plodding adventure even at its short 91-minute running time. It’s no wonder that the films that followed this entry tried a little bit of everything to keep audiences coming back given that most avenues for the Jason Voorhees killing machine were exhausted here.
This time around, Jason is transported to a local morgue after he takes an axe to the skull. While in the morgue, he comes to life once again, hell-bent on wreaking some more havoc in Crystal Lake. Luckily for him, a group of sex-crazed teenagers have decided to spend a little time in a remote home deep in the woods. This home also happens to sit right next to the house where Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) resides. Jarvis loves video games and to makes Hollywood-quality rubber masks. Ho hum.
At any rate, the band of wacky teens decide to have a sex, drugs, and rock and roll evening filled with skinny dipping, hitting on local girls, and slow dancing. Jesus, did I mention the slow dancing scenes? Why the hell these bits were written into the story is anyone’s guess, and not even Crispin Glover’s spastic dancing routine can save the day. But there it is, right in the middle of the movie. One huge sequence to get the hot chicks nude and the audience bored to tears as quickly as possible. Thrill to the pair of twin hotties shotgunning cans of Coor’s while a loser who keeps calling himself Teddy Bear tries in vain to hit on them. Hell, even sharing his doobage doesn’t score him a twin. Yawn.
Somewhere in this mix, Tommy and his sister meet up with the brother of one of Jason’s victims. He claims he’s out hunting bears, but his real intentions to slay Jason are soon revealed. Of course, by the time Tommy and his sister figure this out, Voorhees has already carved up the entire group of teens next door. Still, points must be given for the number of actual creative kills Jason devises this time around. These aren’t just the expected garden variety slash-murders going on here. We have a nice impalement through the groin, a groovy skull crush with a single hand, and a nasty demise met with a corkscrew to name a few.
Apart from these scant scenes, the tension doesn’t really ramp up until the end when Jason is going after Tommy and his sister. The fear the characters are experiencing is palpable, and surprisingly not cheesy in the least. Seeing Jason as not a complete zombie as we have been accustomed to for so many years now adds a lot of real suspense to the proceedings as well. Of course, the fix to kill Jason – namely Corey Feldman chopping off all his hair to make himself resemble Voorhees when he was 12 years old – is a bit of a stretch, but we can’t expect too much here. Still, the last 15 minutes or so is a very satisfying bit of horror cinema.
3 / 5 Stars
Starring: Corey Feldman, Kimberly Beck, Erich Anderson, Crispin Glover
Director: Joseph Zito
Deluxe Edition DVD Review:
Once again we have a director and writer commentary included, as well as a fan’s commentary courtesy of Adam Green and Joe Lynch. There are also deleted scenes, a forgotten “lost ending,” a featurette on Crispin Glover’s wacky dance moves, and a bit entitled “Jason’s Unlucky Day: 25 Years After Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” amongst other goodies.
