Sunday, October 08, 2023

My Review of Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

 


Written by Bruce Hidemi Sakow And Barney Cohen
Directed by Joseph Zito

Trish (to Jason): "You son of a bitch. I'll give you something to remember us by."

It's funny. Had things gone as intended, the subtitle of this movie would have been true. This really could've been the final chapter for this particular franchise. Had it been true, it would've ended on a strong note because this film was an improvement on the previous two.

Which is also funny as it's borrowing elements from all the movies so far and picking up where the last one left. However while this again picked up from where the last left off, yet again it's a new bunch of kids/young adults that Jason Voorhees (Ted White) to play around with this time.

Like with the previous movie, there's an attempt to give a character a past connection with Jason. This time it's a man named Rob (Erich Anderson), the brother of one of Jason's previous victims and like his sister, Rob's own encounter with Jason doesn't end well for him.

While the previous movies have had their fair share of deaths, it felt like this one really went to town with the body count. Several characters who were either hooking up, getting stone or watching old pornographic movies were taken out by Jason in some of the most inventive and outright gruesome of ways.

With Rob being more of a false protagonist, we did get a decent pair of protagonists with Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) and her younger brother, Tommy (Corey Feldman). Easily two of the best characters in the franchise and let's just say that Tommy made quite a foil for Jason.

Having Tommy making himself look like Jason as a child was not a plot twist, not the rather overzealous way in which Tommy actually took Jason out. Still though the final scene with Tommy and Trish at the hospital did end this one on a rather creepy note.

- By far (or at least so far), this film not only upped the violence, blood and gore but also the nudity and sexual references.
- This movie was actually released on Friday the 13th. 
- The original idea for this movie was going to be a prequel but luckily we got this instead.
- Chronology: From where the previous movie left off.

Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter really could've been a strong ending for the franchise but if anything, it served as the opening part in a trilogy of movies for Tommy Jarvis. This movie alone cemented him as a rival for Jason Voorhees.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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