Tags:
Film: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Year: 1993
Director: Adam Marcus
Writer: Dean Lorey and Jay Huguely
Starring: John D. LeMay, Kari Keegan and Kane Hodder
Review:
Now I do have to admit, this film I saw a lot growing up. This one came out at the time when I was going to the video stores to rent. This is one that would come home regularly, so I’ll admit I have quite a bit of nostalgia for it. This is one that I watched for the Podcast Under the Stairs twice with a critical eye, once for a movie club challenge, the other for the Summer Series. This time for my Traverse through the Threes rewatch.
Synopsis: serial killer Jason Voorhees’ (Kane Hodder) supernatural origins are revealed.
This film starts with Elizabeth Marcus (Julie Michaels) driving up to a cabin in the woods. She flips a switch and the bulb bursts, causing her to go to the shed for a replacement. She is spooked though when that light goes out as well. She then goes back and upstairs to take a shower. The power then goes out again. When she goes to see what the cause was, she’s attacked by Jason. He manages to flee into the woods.
She comes to a clearing and stops. When Jason appears, lights come on and a bunch of federal agents open fire. He is blown up as it turns out that Elizabeth is an FBI agent and that this was a set up. Jason is now thought to be dead. His remains are taken to Youngstown, Ohio for an autopsy. The coroner in charge is Phil (Richard Gant). He begins, but when he is checking out the heart, it starts beating. The sounds and movements hypnotize him until the point that he devours it. We then see lights entering his body. His assistant comes back and Phil murders him. He also kills the two security guards before vanishing into the night.
We then get a news report to fill in the backstory through a show like American’s Most Wanted. It is hosted by Robert Campbell (Steven Culp). The question is posed, is Jason dead? Robert interviews a bounty hunter, Creighton Duke (Steven Williams), who thinks that Jason is still alive and he is asking for a reward to kill him.
The film shifts to the town that Jason plagued for years. The local diner is owned by Joey B. (Rusty Schwimmer). The guy she is seeing, Shelby (Leslie Jordan), works there along with Vicki (Allison Smith) and Diana Kimble (Erin Gray) who are waitresses there. They think it is in bad taste to exploit what has happened for profit. Joey won’t hear any of it. Duke is at the diner and tells Diana he knows her secret and asks for her help. She tells him that Jason is dead and wants to be left alone. She is dating Sheriff Ed Landis (Billy Green Bush), who gets upset with him. He arrests him in the process. Diana then talks to a guy sitting at the counter, Steven Freeman (John D. LeMay). He has a child with her daughter and tells him to come over that night. She has a secret to tell him about the family.
When Diana gets home, she gets a call from Jessica (Kari Keegan), her daughter. She’s planning to come out next weekend so she can meet her new boyfriend. Diana informs her about Steven coming over and Jessica wants him to see their child. The problem is that the call ends short. Jason is on a rampage and he’s able to jump bodies, making it even more deadly. Steven shows up to help, but he’s too late. This also gets him arrested, as he’s the only one there when the police show up. All the while, Jason continues to kill and jump bodies, but he specific ones in mind.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. As most will know about me, the story is what really draws me into a movie. I can overlook things if this aspect is well done. This film has problems that it ignores the previous film where Jason was killed in Manhattan, how did he end back up by Crystal Lake? I read that there is a comic book that explains he went on a murder spree back hence why the FBI is on to him. That is plausible, but I would have liked that there to be something.
Now with that out of the way, I’ll bring back up this was one of my favorites growing up. It is still up there as one of my most seen from the franchise. As an adult, I see its flaws. I do like that this one tried to do something different with making Jason able to take over other bodies. My issue is that the rules aren’t consistent. There is this creature that I think we needed to see from the morgue scene. Phil biting into the heart is a good way to start it, but I think we need to see that monster there. If we get that then I can roll with the concept.
Sticking with the idea of body jumping, I don’t hate it. It also doesn’t necessarily fit with the endings of other films in the series. It feels like it is there for the cheap trick near the end where Jessica doesn’t know who is possessed. There is a cheat that both talk normally. None of the previous had this ability. This one also adds other Voorhees family members we never heard of and a new mythology to Jason. I don’t have an issue with this since no one knew they’d continue with sequels on a franchise that was never intended to run this long. It does help make sense of things. I just needed a bit more care.
That should be enough for the story so I’ll go over to the acting performances. LeMay doesn’t have the look of a hero, but I like that. He overacts at times and has bad lines. That’s more of an issue with writing. I do like the growth of his character though. Keegan was nice to look at and was probably one of the better points. Hodder is my favorite actor to play Jason, since I grew up with his films. His size is what I envision for the character. Williams is a good concept, but way too outrageous for me. It doesn’t make sense that he knows so much though. He’s just here to give information dumps as an ‘expert’. This is a character I wish would be used or introduced prior. The side characters are fun though. Schwimmer and Jordan cracked me up. There were quite a few good-looking women that do nudity, so that doesn’t hurt either for a slasher like this. In general, I’d say it is fine for a slasher to create unique characters.
Let’s end with the filmmaking aspects. The pacing is good. It gets right into it with what happens at the cabin and we never go too long without a death. It’s also entertaining for a slasher. What is interesting is that this time I watched my Blu-ray from the box set and it was unrated cute. This is the version I’ve always watched, or if I didn’t, there wasn’t things missing. The practical effects look good. There are computer effects, but they’re fine. No issues there. I do think that the cinematography and framing were good. I also don’t mind the ending and I do find it intriguing the Easter Eggs in this film from Evil Dead and Creepshow. Lastly is the soundtrack that was done by Harry Manfredini. This one takes some of the iconic songs and updates them for this film. I’m a big fan of theme of this one and I think the songs he produced fit the scenes. They helped to build the tension and atmosphere as well in my opinion.
In conclusion, this is a film that I loved growing up and then soured on as an adult. What I’ll say is watching a few times with a critical eye, there are good and bad parts. I like trying something new with this franchise. There are story elements missing for that to come together. We get interesting kills. The practical effects, cinematography and framing were good there. I also like the soundtrack, even though it falls short of others in the series. The acting is lacking, but that’s also on the writing. For how far we are into this franchise, I’ve seen worse. I only recommend it to fans of this era of horror or just love these movies.
My Rating: 6 out of 10