The final chapter? Yeah, right. As long as old hockey face keeps raking in the dough we’re stuck with him. The production thought it was Jason’s last stand so Tom Savini was brought back in to do the old boy in. You can’t keep a cash cow down though.
After the massacre in part 3D, Jason Voorhees’ (an uncredited Ted White) body is taken to the morgue. However, there’s some life left in the old boy and he rises from the slab and kills the morgue attendant (Bruce Mahler) and a nurse (Lisa Freeman) before making his way back to Crystal Lake. Paul (Alan Hayes), Sam (Judie Aronson), Sara (Barbara Howard), Doug (Peter Barton), Ted (Lawrence Monoson), and Jimmy (Crispin Glover) have rented a house on the lake and plan on partying all weekend.
Trish (Kimberly Beck) and Tommy (Corey Feldman) Jarvis are renting the house next to the group of friends along with their mother (Joan Freeman). Trish and Tommy meet Rob (Erich Anderson), a hitchhiker with his own reasons for visiting the woods of Crystal Lake.
However, it’s Jason who steps into the picture and starts to kill everyone in his path at the vacation spot, but the greatest foe the unstoppable killing machine might have is the young Tommy.
This supposed final adventure of the maniacal Jason Voorhees was made for just over 2 million dollars and produced 32 million at the box office. Stop making them? [30 million dollar expletive here] no! So much for everyone thinking this was the end of Jason Voorhees. He did technically take a breather in part five, but he was there in spirit. He does go out in a blaze of glory as the young Corey Feldman, using a returning Tom Savini’s gruesome makeup effects, gives him a headache he won’t soon forget.
It was decided that this fourth sequel would be the end of him and since Savini gave birth to him it would only be fitting that he return to the series and give the old boy the sendoff he deserved. The kills in the show seem somewhat quicker as the big show is saved for Jason’s slow slide down the machete.
Corey Feldman makes a more talked about debut, but Final Chapter also features Crispin Glover, who would become more famous for Back to the Future, doing a spastic dance. The film may fall into the familiar plot of the preceding films but Jason was still a human force and not a supernatural one.
Savini’s memorable death scene meant that he’d have to come back from the grave to make some more cash, especially after the next entry.
The Final Chapter is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include two commentaries. One from director Joseph Zito, screenwriter Barney Cohen, and editor Joel Goodman.
The next is a fan commentary from Adam Green and Joe Lynch, the directors of horror films Hatchet and Wrong Turn 2. The 6 minute “Lost Tales from Camp Blood Part 4” continues the short film inspired by the series. Next are 15 minutes of “slashed scenes” introduced and narrated by Zito since the audio was lost. The 11 minute “Jason’s Unlucky Day” details the making of the film.
The 3 minute “Lost Ending” has Zito narrating an alternate “dream” ending for the film. The 18 minute “Crystal Lake Massacre Revisited Part 1” is a mock documentary returning to the scene of the crime. The 2 minute “Jimmy’s Dead Fuck Dance Moves” looks at Glover’s wacky dance with Zito. Finally you get the 2 minute theatrical trailer.
The Final Chapter turned out to be a bit of false advertizing since you can’t keep a moneymaker down. It does bring makeup maestro Tom Savini back into the fold to provide a fitting end to the silent stalker of Camp Blood.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (Deluxe Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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