So after long deliberation on Tuesday night, we settled on Friday the 13th part 4: The Final Chapter because it is the most cherished installment next to the first one. It also features a very young Corey Feldmen, awesome Tom Savini gore FX and a teen Crispen Glover doing one of the coolest boogies in cinema history. Oh, and the kid from "The Last American Virgin" plays a seemingly cool ladykiller who ends up, yet again, without a sex partner by the end of the party. Anyways, on to my positive review for this film.
Directed by Joesph "Invasion U.S.A." Zito, The Final Chapter is of course not the last episode of the Jason Voorhees saga by a longshot. It comes off the tails of Friday the 13th part 3-D which had the novelty of neato pop-out 3-D effects and the first appearance of the notorious hockey mask in the series. Having said all that, Part 4 does really deliver the goods in many departments. It's easy to see why this sequel is still a fan favorite after all these years. The Good: the script, while not Shakesperean, has more developed characterizations than any of the other films. The Feldmen character, with his horror-show obsessions and sexual curiosity, actually has a fully formed dramatic catharsis by the movie's end. This scene has become legend among horror fans ("Die Jason! Die!) and is the most psychologically disturbing of any Friday the 13th ending. Ok, on to the fun stuff. The body count is high in this one and Zito doesn't shy away from killer gore and shameless nudity. The double murder in the hospital is stolen from Halloween II but Savini's effects are so ingeniously designed that you won't notice. The scares are pretty spot-on in this film as well, getting me and my better half more than once during the 91 minute run time. All of these factors contribute my high rating and to it's immense popularity among fans. This movie has scares, laughs, gore, skin and psychological depth scarcely seen in slasher flicks. Although I would rate installments 1-9 all pretty high for their immense entertainment value, this one does indeed have the dramatic flair to inch it out above the competition for best Jason sequel. I mean, who can ever forget a pubescent Corey Feldmen, head shaved and in a Le Tigre shirt weilding a machete? Good work Zito and Co. I'm off to the store to pick up "Invasion U.S.A".
8.5/10
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