13 reasons why Friday the 13th The Final Chapter rocks!!!

 13 reasons why Friday the 13th The Final Chapter rocks!!!

Artwork by London 1888

After coming down with what I believe is the worst head cold known to man, I sadly wasn't able to truly celebrate Friday the 13th last week. Sure I watched 2,3, and 4 as well as a few of my favorite episodes from the TV series. But between blowing my nose every single second AND running a very high fever, I really wasn't able to capture the spirit I feel whenever it's a Friday the 13th. So tonight I'll be celebrating a little late, and make the best of it until this year's October where we actually get a Friday the 13th that month! How awesome is that? So to pay tribute to the killer holiday that just passed, I'm listing 13 reasons on why Friday the 13th The Final Chapter rocks!!!

1) The Opening

-"Yeah he got seven kids and three bikers...this time they got him." Hands down one of my all time favorite lines in the Friday the 13th films. I adore part 3, and why I love 2-4 is the fact they all take place within a few days of each other. Part 4 picks up RIGHT after part 3 left off at Higgins Haven. Here it shows the following night where police, a chopper, ambulances, the whole lot are buzzing about. Jason's body is loaded up as well as the other victims. I love seeing all of the aftermath, and how creepy and dark the camp looks after the last ambulance leaves. 

2) A nod to the original killer.

- So many people forget that in the original Friday the 13th that Jason's mother Pamela Voorhees was the original killer. A deeply disturbed woman who caused the first true massacre at Camp Crystal Lake, turning it into Camp Blood. The scene I'm speaking about is brief, but enough to make you remember the first film. It's right when we meet the new cast of teens, driving to the cottage they rented for the weekend. There in a small road side cemetery is the headstone and final resting place of Pamela's body.

3) A brand new cast of likable teens.

- It's very rare when a horror movie, let alone a slasher movie, let alone a slasher sequel actually has a decent cast of talented attractive young adults who you find likable and relateable. For the most part I have always liked the casts from the Friday the 13th movies. Part 3 was a hard act to follow with it's cast, but in The Final Chapter they are able to find a whole new crew of teens ready to die in terrible ways. The cast here was really solid, and whenever the teens are partying you can't help but crack a smile. You got Ted and Jim who in my eyes could of had their own spin off. The attractive horny couple, the two gorgeous shy couple, just dying to jump each other's bones and pair of twins who would hump every tree around Crystal Lake given the chance.

4) Corey Feldman as the original Tommy Jarvis.

- I always loved one simple sentence on the back of Friday the 13th part 6 Jason Lives. "As a child Tommy Jarvis did something others died trying to do...he killed Jason Voorhees. How true it is. Long before Corey Feldman was a Goonie, killing vampires, and even a teen heartthrob, he played the adorable glasses wearing mask making, young boy who actually became Jason's match. After battling it up with three very strong willed and beautiful girls, he finally decided to bite the dust when he came head to head with a 12 year old boy. This boy, brilliantly played by Feldman, was a geeky yet adorable little kid who like most horror fans was obsessed with anything gross and strange. Right off the bat we see he's a young all American boy who is a little odd. Instead of playing outdoors he stays inside playing video games. He doesn't seem to have many friends besides his dog, and has an amazing talent for making monster masks. Here Tommy, along side his sister Trish are pushed to the breaking point when Jason attacks, murdering their mother, as well as a good handful of kids next door. Physically he was no match for Jason, but much like Ginny from part 2, he found Jason's weakness by playing with him mentally. Tommy also was one of the few smarter characters in these movies by slicing away at Jason until there was seriously nothing left. I mean who could blame the kid?! Tommy is able to have the honor of being the first official person to have actually truly killed Jason long enough that he wasn't even in part 5. Whoa!

5) A motive for revenge.

- It seemed like a dumb little add-on but I liked it. Rob, the handsome hunter from the area who wins Trish's affection is actually the older brother to Sandra, the girl who gets inpailed underneath her boyfriend during sex in part 2. (What a way to go!) Clearly it's no surprise that it's only a matter of time before someone besides a Voorhees family member would come around seeking revenge for all the bloodshed that's been happening in the area. Timeline wise a lot of people don't like this plot since it doesn't make much sense since part 2 and part 4 only take 2 or so days apart from each other. Still, it's interesting to see this connection showing that these films do in fact take place right after each other. Rob, who you truly believe is going to be the hero to come save the day is driven by revenge over the sudden and very violent death of his younger sister. Makes you take a deeper look at all of these characters who are really written pretty well for a 4th entry in a slasher series. 

6) A stunning final girl.

-Trish hands down has to be my favorite final Friday girl. First off she's beautiful, and I have always loved the image of her in her blue dress running away from Jason. It truly is beauty and the beast as the gorgeous blond, blue eyed maiden runs from the lurking terrifying monster. Trish is another smarty written character. She's staying with her mother and brother up at the lake. Her parents have gotten a divorce and it's clear she's holding onto hope that someday they will land up back together. Here Trish seems lonely. Stuck to run errands for her brother, and her only company being her over protective mother, she's instantly interested when she learns about the group of teens renting the house from across the street. I love how she was in such a hurry after driving Tommy to town to return home so she could go to the party being thrown. (Bet she's real glad she was late for that!) Here you can't help but like her. How she develops a crush on Rob, how it's clear how much she craves to get away from her mother and brother and hang with kids her own age, and how brave she is once shit truly starts to hit the fan. She isn't scared marching into a dark house alone. Her horsed scream, how bad ass she is fighting back. I love how much of a beating she gives Jason and doesn't let up. Her iconic line "I'm going to give you something to remember me by. How smart she is when she's backed into an upstairs hallway to just say screw it and throw herself out the second story window. Sure not all her moves were the best (Like going back into the basement after Rob begged for her to run.) But it's clear she's a fighter and right up until the end she doesn't let up for a second. I for one feel there should be more Friday the 13th part work featuring the Trish character. Such a shame she never came back for any more films! 

7) Crispin's epic dance moves.

- I adore Mr. Crispin Glover.  Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love this very strange and unusual human being. It's such a gas to see such a great cast in this kind of movie. Right before playing George McFly, Crispin was playing Jimmy, the down on his luck horny teenager who's constantly being teased by his asshole of a friend Ted. Proving he isn't in fact a dead fuck, I love how he is in fact the one that ends up with the very forward twin, and even breaks the bed! Between his adorable nervous laughter, his boy next door good looks, his nervous stutter, his brutal corkscrew death, or his EPIC dance movies, Crispin is a huge reason for The Final Chapter is a classic. In the party scene when Crispin offers for to dance, I always end up finding it a complete riot. I'm sorry but my heart would be completely won over if I ever saw that.

8) The brutal kills.

-Mr. Savini returned to end what he started. This as at the height of his effects work in the 1980's and I truly have to hand it to the man that after a few years working on such films like Creepshow and The Burning, he truly seemed to be the king of splatter. His effects work on the adult Jason is legit the scariest version of Jason I've ever seen. What I love about this movie is how brutal and crazy all of the murders are. Savini was on his A game when it came to this movie, and every single death has it's own memorable moment. We got hacksaws, knifes through throats, face crushing, axes thrown, hammers to the back of heads, cleavers, and much, much more. 

9) Ted White's performance as Jason.

- I've been lucky enough to meet Ted White and he's in my top three favorite actors who played Jason. He not only looked terrifying in the makeup at the end, but brought sorta this lurking, quickly walking, larger than life monster to the screen. I adore that Savini basically made what the poor small deformed boy from part 1 would look like as a grown man. This Jason is not only terrifying, but any shots of him quickly stalking Trish in the rainstorm still gives me chills.

10) Slow motion shots.

- We got a total of two of these shots in the film. One is when one of the twins get slowly thrown from out the second story window and onto the station wagon below, the second is the epic scene when Trish is trapped at the end of the dark hallway at the cottage and actually does the smart thing in throwing herself out the window like a complete bad ass. Between watching her go ass over tea kettle onto the mud below, and the booming soundtrack, this is one HELL of a way that makes this movie wonderfully filmed.

11) How this was supposed to be the "last one"

- Sure, sure, sure, we've all heard it before. What makes this laughable is the fact Paramount acted embarrassed over this highly successful slasher series that brought the studio so much money. Wanting to kill the monster known as Friday the 13th once and for all, they decided to make the forth installment the "final" chapter. I do love the marketing behind the release of this movie. How in so many newspapers they showed the bloody hockey mask and announced that the release date April 13th would be Jason's unlucky day. Well, we all know this wasn't the case since  six more sequels followed, along with a TV series, and a remake. In fact Jason Goes To Hell was another supposed final Friday. I love whenever horror series try to do this, just another way to rope in the audience. I believe it or not really like the direction they took this movie since Jason pretty much became this supernatural zombie in the movies that followed. As far fetched as it seemed, he really could have lived at the end of the other past films. This in my eyes was the final chapter in the original first half of the decade Friday films and man oh man, what a final chapter it was!

12) Leads that actually fight back.

- The Friday the 13th movies have never really lacked strong willed final girls. Sure Alice made plenty of dumb mistakes and acted like a frightened little puppy in the original, but when it finally counted, she fought like a bad ass. Ginny used her brains in part 2 to try and outsmart Jason. In part three Chris gave Jason a mark on his mask he carried on for the rest of the movies. In this entry we're led to believe that Sara might be the final girl, or that Rob will end up saving the day. Nope! We got Trish who kicks so much ass it isn't even funny, as well as Tommy who takes the Ginny route with fucking with Jason's head, and then completely losing it on him, making sure he stays dead for the next movie. This brother and sister pair team up perfectly and truly makes me wish they would have returned for another installment.

13) Jason's death. 

- The big showdown is what makes this sequel one of the best out of the entire series. Jason takes a fucking beating. His own weapon is used on him while he's distracted and legit goes through his eye, as he slowly slips down on it. When you think that's the end of him, Tommy basically hacks him into little pieces when his fingers make the fatal mistake of twitching. Jason gets his ass handed to him in these movies. One of my favorite moments is when Trish hacks between his fingers and the look of puzzlement on his face as he holds up his mangled hand. Beyond awesome.

 See you all in October!!!!