Originally an independent film project developed in 1979, in unprecedented fashion Friday the 13th became a Horror movie empire that dominated the early ‘80s. Starting with a bidding war between three major film distributors (Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and United Artists), fortunately, Paramount Pictures Executive Frank Mancuso Sr. had enough foresight to know the original 1980 now-classic film was going to be a huge success. Not hard to see, with the decade’s boom of Slasher-type Horror films thanks to the success of 1978’s Halloween, Friday the 13th in a way mimicked the concept of a faceless, emotionless killer stalking people without discrimination. However, what made Friday the 13th a bit different is it had a connective story that did not start with just one killer.
In short, it is known that in the original film, Jason Voorhees was not the killer, but instead his vengeful mother, Pamela Voorhees (portrayed by the late Betsy Palmer). Giving a motive, and showing a nightmare sequence of a deformed Jason Voorhees popping out of the lake to avenge his mother’s slaying, it seemed to be a perfect segue into a bigger plot. Striking the market while it was hot, a year later in 1981 Friday the 13th Part 2 came out and was the true development of Jason Voorhees. This time placing him in the thick of the action, the film may have not been as financially successful as the original, but was honestly the birth of a modern Horror monster. Naturally, Paramount Pictures wanted to keep the wheels greased and quickly followed up with the third sequel in 1982 called Friday the 13th Part III. Released in theaters in 3D format, the plan was to close out Friday the 13th as a trilogy, but the returns were so good, how could they do that?
Granted the writing was on the wall that the Slasher sub-genre of Horror had become oversaturated, and the popularity of this style of Horror was dying down, Paramount could not resist going to the well one last time with Friday the 13th with one final entry… or was it? At the time planned to indeed be the end of the series, Paramount Pictures brought in Joseph Zito to direct the fourth Friday the 13th picture; and it was a good selection considering he had done a fine job with the 1981 Slasher, The Prowler. With Zito on board, you had Frank Mancuso Jr. back handling production, but after working on both Friday the 13th Part II and III, he felt it was time to wrap up the saga and finally put Jason to bed. With this intent, original iconic Make-up Artist Tom Savini came back with a desire to find the best way possible to end Jason Voorhees; because after all, he was vital in his visual creation in the original.
With these key elements in place, for the first time to that point, Paramount Pictures skipped a movie-going year and returned in 1984 with Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. A bold statement, it had to be a drawing card for fans to see the theatrical posters emerge of the Jason hockey mask solely up against a black setting, knife lodged into the right eye socket, sitting in a pool of deep red blood. At this point perhaps one of the most recognized images associated with Friday the 13th, forty years later ‘The Final Chapter’ finds itself to be one of the strongest entries into the franchise.
Originally planned for release in October of 1984 (which made perfect sense being Halloween season), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter oddly was pushed up to an April 13th release date. More than likely does so to capitalize on having it debut in theaters on Friday the 13th, you still have to scratch your head about the decision; because Easter was only nine days later, and how many people want to see a Slasher at this time of year? Regardless, the film arrived in theaters (probably with Easter Bunny decorations in the surroundings), and the time was received rather negatively by critics. Granted no one should ever listen to a film critic when it comes to Horror, but as stated, the years have been kind to The Final Chapter, with many now regarding it as one of the best sequels in the series.
Following a relatively simple story, it picks up directly after the events of Part III, with a presumed dead Jason Voorhees finding his way back to Camp Crystal Lake. Here he finds a new group of careless coeds skinny dipping, drinking, and fornicating… so naturally he is not too happy. However, the difference this time is there is also a family in another house by the lake, and this changes everything. In the Jarvis Family, you have the mom (Joan Freeman), a teenage daughter (Kimberly Beck), and a young son, Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) in play here. With this, the narrative is changed quite a bit, and while Jason Voorhees still manages to accomplish many brutal kills in The Final Chapter, he is ironically done in by the very young Tommy Jarvis.
So, was Friday the 13th Part IV really the final chapter as billed? Of course not. In fact, it was not even close… because it was followed by six more sequels! Not even letting Jason Voorhees’ corpse lay very long, Paramount Pictures returned less than twelve months later in 1985 with Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, and then again in 1986 with Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Arguably becoming a bit much, during the era you had to look at it as a competition between Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street to see who could win the race of rapidly pushing out the most sequels.
Regardless of the money-making implications, as mentioned, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is not a throwaway sequel in the history of the franchise. To many, it is probably the last film in the franchise to still have that gritty, creepy Slasher ascetic that made the late ‘70s and early ‘80s films of this type stand out.
Beyond this, it featured a pretty solid cast of talented up-and-coming actors/actresses, like Peter Barton (who would go on to major success in Day Time Soap Operas), Crispin Glover (who would star in the huge 1985 hit Back to the Future as George McFly), Judie Aronson (who would go on to roles in films like 1985’s Weird Science), Lawrence Monoson (who is forever beloved for his role in 1982’s The Last American Virgin), and of course, Corey Feldman (who would go on to become one of the biggest young stars in Hollywood during the ‘80s era). A cast that works very well together, you also have to consider that Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter created the character of Tommy Jarvis; who would be a focal point in not one, but two sequels (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives).
Any way you look at it, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a bold moment in the film’s franchise. In its opening weekend, it was ranked number one at the box office, before going on to becoming one of the top box office sellers in 1984; behind a long list of big ones such as Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, plus many more. Quite interestingly, it was also the lowest-grossing Friday the 13th film at that time, but it would go on to become the series’ fourth highest-grossing overall, ahead of eight other films. A tale of how history can be kind to Horror films that may have been marginalized at the time, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter remains one of the last true Slashers of the genre’s golden era.
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