Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1983)

REVIEW

Despite it being the worst in the series so far, Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D (1982) had been another financial success, though its takings were down as the slasher bubble began to deflate. Consequently, Paramount seemed, momentarily at least, to tire of Jason and his nefarious doings, releasing Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter in a premature attempt to tie up the series.

This episode begins with Jason's apparently dead body being carted off to the morgue, whereupon he revives and off we go again. But director Joseph Zito, who had already served up the interesting slasher The Prowler (1981), was a more capable and inventive director than Steve Miner and was able to bring a freshness to the film that was sorely missing elsewhere in the series. Though by no means a genre classic - it adheres too strictly to the formula to be anything more than just interesting - The Final Chapter was a definite step in the right direction.

It at least tries to ring the changes - Barney Cohen's script introduces such unexpected diversions as the Jason-hunting Paul (Alan Hayes), tracking the killer of his little sister, and tries to spice the worn-out slasher clichés with some new twists. It doesn't entirely work - and it's still a very long way from being a good film - but The Final Chapter is at least fun, which is more than can be said for the tedious Part 3. Amongst the strictly formularized chaos, Zito manages to raise some genuine suspense and even a little atmosphere, never more so than in the excellent, powerful scene wherein one of Jason's potential victims is pursued around the house, finding all the exits blocked by the bodies of her friends.

Fans were heartened at the time by the return to the series of Tom Savini, absent from the series since the finest installment, but here returning to kill off one of his most famous creations. Sadly, their hopes were dashed when the film again fell foul of the anti-slasher backlash that was sweeping the States at the time (and contributing to the 'video nasties' debacle in the UK) and the MPAA tried to burden the film with a commercially unviable X rating. Cuts were made, reducing the effectiveness of the set-pieces, particularly in what should have been the film's highlight, the final dispatch of Jason at the blade of one of his own machetes. What's left is among Savini's best work, he and Zito clearly enjoying trying out some inventive and satisfyingly nasty (even in their cut form) killings.

Jason was at his peak here - still human, but only just, he's a potent force of evil (played here by an uncredited Ted White, who didn't like horror films so wanted to remain anonymous) that could still be stopped, but only with a supreme effort by the survivors. In later films, when he's resurrected as a zombie, some of that effectiveness was lost and he simply wasn't as scary as he was in this initial batch of four films.

Joseph Zito is a far better director than either Sean S. Cunningham or Steve Miner and he brings a real polish to The Final Chapter that had been missing from earlier films. Sadly, he didn't work in the genre again, turning his hand instead to those dreadful action movies that Cannon Films were cranking out during the 1980s - Missing in Action (1984), Invasion U.S.A. (1985) and Red Scorpion (1989). There's a real verve to his direction both here and in The Prowler that is conspicuously absent from just about all other 80s slashers and if The Final Chapter isn't particularly good, that's attributable more to the constraints of the genre and the blandness of the script than to Zito who certainly gives it his best shot.

There's nothing terribly new or inventive in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, though it's certainly worth watching - Zito's direction gives it the edge over its competitors, the effects are compromised but powerful and there's always the chance to see Jason finally meet his grisly end. No masterpiece to be sure, but if you want to watch just one of the initial batch of Friday the 13th sequels, this could be a good one to try.
KEVIN LYONS

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009