By the time that the third "Friday The 13th" film was released, the series was already just going through the motions. The third one added the gimmick of 3D and was certainly over the top in its attack on the slasher formula (much to its benefit). Thusly, this 'final' entry of the series returns to a more serious and less ridiculous tone (not much to its benefit), but remains steadfast in its formulaic style. Creating a film that has some great moments, but fails to match its three predecessors.
The day after the events of "Part III", Jason is proclaimed dead and taken the the morgue...where he promptly isn't dead, slaughters a few medical practitioners and proceeds to head back to Crystal Lake for some reason or another. There Jason finds a family on vacation and a slew of young and immoral teens renting the house next door. Queue killing spree. Will the youth of Jason's final rampage be able to stop this killing monster man...again?
One of "The Final Chapter"'s biggest flaws is that it's afraid to run with its plot. The plot is basic, Jason kills more people as they fight to survive, but there are some smart moments of plot progression that the film fails to grab onto. The brother hunting down Jason for his sister's death (which is used as a main story line in the "Friday The 13th" remake) and even the Tommy Jarvis sub plot are horrendously underused and could have made for some heroic and interesting twists in the tale. As is, most of the major interesting plot points just seem random like Tommy's transformation at the end seems a bit out of the blue. These all take a back seat to boobs and blood though as the series struggles to keep its audience without pushing the limits too far.
That being said, the film seems even slightly more brutal than it's previous entries. Jason does some wicked shit (like corkscrews a guy to a door frame to hang there before ripping him down like a bad birthday party decoration) and gets nailed with some heavy blows. The knife shot that cuts down the middle of his hand is wicked and his eventual "death" at the end is pretty vicious.
"The Final Chapter" succeeds in some snazzy shots (like the death of the first twin done as that moving shot with shadows in the rain) and some brutal deaths, although it gets a bit tiring seeing people and dogs fly through windows in slow motion, but overall fails to captivate and grasp the plot where it could have. Not to mention it has some unfitting ridiculous moments that leave one laughing unintentionally that didn't quite fit the tone of the film. All in all its a standard slasher that succeeds on some levels but fails to go where it could have with its story.
BONUS RANT: I thought the title sequence to the third film was bad, but the fire exploding hockey mask for this one gives it a run for its money. Yipes that was ridiculous and intense!
Written By Matt Reifschneider
Freddy VS Jason is my favorite movie featuring Jason.
ReplyDeleteBut Final Chapter is my favorite of the first 10.
The guy casted to play Jason is the best of the whole series (again excluding FVJ). In an interview he says that it was hard and disturbing for him to act all that cruelty, and somehow taht shows.. is one of the most Frankenstein like Jasons, a helpless retarded guy who isn't evil, is just a force of nature.
I prefer him 1000 times over the bulky Hodder, who is the general favorite.
The cinematography is great in this one, the Jarvis House is looks great and makes for an awesome horror house. But mostly Tom Savini, at his pinnacle in the 80's (his best amazing work being Day of the Dead) gives Jason one of the greatest looks (once he looses the mask) and all the Tommy's masks looks great, that was a great idea. The movie features some of the best death scenes in all the series and the ending is maybe the most serious and dramatic of them all: There is not a big loud scene to give that feeling that Jason is seriously dead, but he is lured into sympathy and killed merciless almost like you would do with a sick animal, and is kind of a sad moment.
Again the best Friday The 13th of the first 10.
Lucas.