Friday the 13th-The Final Chapter (1984) Review

 

Friday the 13th-The Final Chapter (1984)

Alright, alright, this is the last one for a little bit with the Friday movies, but I needed to at least get to the last section in this chapter of the films.

Friday the 13th-The Final Chapter, taking place right after 3, follows two groups simultaneously, a family, and a group of teens who moved in next door, as they try to survive after Jason escapes the morgue.

This was the biggest departure for the franchise so far and frankly, I loved it. It was such a fresh take and I’ll admit, my expectations were low after the letdown of 3. But 4 gives us, of course, the rowdy group of hormone driven teens, but also a family dynamic to counter that lack of innocence, as well as the introduction to series favorite Tommy freakin Jarvis!!

The story is the most original yet, really putting all of it’s cards out on the table for what was supposed to be the end of the line for the series, and it works magnificently. They brought back an omniscience to Jason, having him lurk in the shadows, and having us not even really see him much until the final act, which was wickedly exciting. Using the two sides to enhance, yet contrast one another was such a unique idea and it worked very well.

We also get our first big name actors in Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover, with other great performances by Lawrence Monoson and Kimberley Beck. Obviously though, Corey Feldman’s Tommy Jarvis is the star here, putting forth such a giddy immaturity, then changing to a boy beyond his years, who has seen so much pain and suffering, with all the death all around him. We see the loss of innocence in him, a theme in these movies, but this standing out so much as he’s only a kid, who is shielded the whole film from what could ruin that.

His effort to understand Jason harkens back to Part 2’s ending, but the shift is so drastic, with Tommy being the first and only person to actually kill our titular villain. It’s powerful stuff. A great film though, that breathed life into a withering franchise with it’s originality, gore, and story, that if it really was the end, went out with a fitting conclusion and quite the bang.

8.5/10