10/8/17 – day eight of thirty-one days of horror!
Ask a Friday the 13th fan what their favorite
Jason Voorhees slashfest is and 9 times out of 10 the answer will be Friday the
13th: The Final Chapter. The reasoning here is simple: Joseph Zito’s
1984 fourquel has the franchises’ most crucial elements: Jason, in the hockey
mask, killing teens, with Tom Savini back to handle the gore. It also has one
of the series’ best casts; young Corey Feldman is here as Jason’s greatest
nemesis Tommy Jarvis, and a pre-Back to the Future Crispin Glover flails his
way through one of the greatest dance sequences ever committed to film. You see
that there’s a little more money being spent this time around – the cinematography
is a step up from the grindhouse grit of the first three films and there are
legit, Hollywood-trained stunt people on set. Zito’s direction is workman and
assured; while that might not seem like a ringing endorsement, he balances the
teen comedy elements effortlessly with the stalk-n’-slash mayhem, delivering a
striking finale that while not the true end of the franchise is nonetheless a
great wrap-up to the first leg of Jason’s gore-soaked journey into legend. If
you watch only one Friday the 13th this Halloween, make it The Final
Chapter.
