#362: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Release Date: April 13th, 1984

Format: DVD

Written by: Barney Cohen

Directed by: Joseph Zito

3.5 Stars

According to director Joseph Zito, Paramount Pictures wanted out of the Friday the 13th business when they approached him to helm what was supposed to be the 4th and final installment in their surprise hit slasher franchise.

‘Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em’ seemed to be the sentiment from the studio. As long as you kill the big bastard off in the end, you can do whatever you want. It’s not like the critics ever liked these movies anyway, and those teenagers at the mall cineplex in 1984 will never complain that there’s too much blood. 

It’s the brutal simplicity of Final Chapter that makes it great. The script from Barney Cohen is nicely calibrated for thrilling violence, and Tom Savini is back for make-up effects, which spurt and gurgle and ooze with style. 

Zito manages to find the creativity and joy in his ultraviolent images. Final Chapter never feels phoned in, never feels obligatory. That directive from the studio, a total green light to do what you want because we’re not making another Jason movie, allows Final Chapter to achieve a level of reckless creative freedom that is missing in the first three Friday flicks.

The irony, of course, is that Paramount would go on to make many more Jason movies. Forget the idea that Final Chapter would mark the end of Jason…it wasn’t even the halfway mark.