Friday The 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter

10/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will start this review, just by saying that this is the BEST FILM OF THE ENTIRE SERIES.  It may also be one of the best horror films I have ever seen.  This film is the darkest, goriest, and most suspenseful movie of the entire "Friday the 13th" series.  It has a great storyline, great characters, amazing performances by all of the cast members, and some really awesome kills.  This movie beats the original by so much, and it really took the series to a completely different level in my opinion.  There are funny moments in the film, but then there are scenes that fans abroad have found to be some of the most terrifying ever.  While I don't find them scary, I've watched the reactions of my friends while viewing this installment, and they were shocked on so many levels.  This film is absolutely perfect in the eyes of a horror fan. I literally would not change one thing the film at all.  It just gives so much to you, even more than you would expect.  While critics don't agree with me on this, I definitely think this was the best quality film of the whole series. 

Alright so this film once again starts with flashbacks, but this time, they do scenes from 1, 2, and 3.  This was a cool touch, because at the time this was supposed to be the final film, so they really summed up the series in five minutes.  I think it was a very clever idea, and it worked great.  The film then goes in to the lives of the teenagers, and then of the Jarvis family. 

One of my favorite things abut this the cast.  It was really the perfect chemistry between the characters to work in a film.  The teenagers are especially likable.  My favorite of all of them was definitely Crispin Glover.  He totally stole the show with his perfect awkwardness and nice guy qualities. He was definitely one of the best young actors of the 80's.  Corey Feldman was also awesome, being his performance started off as a sweet little kid, and completely changing by the end.  Kimberly Beck was also great in the lead. She had the perfect horror girl qualities, with even a little more to offer.  Ted White was also great in doing a horrifying performance as Jason.  He really was intense as can be. 

Another amazing part of this film is the brutality and darkness of it.  This film is definitely the goriest of the series, and it also has one of the highest body counts too. Many fans will agree to name this film as one of the most terrifying ever.  It has some of the craziest kills in horror. Corkscrews, axes, knives, anything you can name is used in this film. I definitely find it to be the craziest of the whole series. This makes the movie awesome, because there are many more moments where one will jump and be disgusted.  It is also very well done, to the point where it isn't stylized, and isn't fake. The violence in this film is super realistic, and it is definitely awesome.  Outside of just the killings, the suspense itself is truly amazing. There are so many moments that you're on the edge of your seat, especially the last quarter of the film.

I think something great that was unlike any of the previous films was that they brought a family into the film. In the previous installments, the victims of the killers were always just groups of punky teenagers. I think the family element gives a lot more sympathy, and a hope that none of them die.  This is different from previous films, because a lot of the time you're looking forward to the teenagers dying, because it's almost laughable.  Now you feel a lot of pressure that Tommy, Trish, and Mrs Jarvis end up safe.  You especially feel sympathy for Tommy, because he is portrayed as an adorable kid.  So this brings a whole new set of emotions to the movie, and I think it was a great move. 

As mentioned before I loved Jason in this film. Ted White was great in the role, just like many other actors that portrayed the character. What was great in this film was the fact that Jason had a whole new spectrum of terror that came about him. I feel like this was one of his darkest moments. There was something even more threatening about him than in any of the films before. His look was great too, because the mask was great, and basically the whole body structure of him in this movie was awesome. 

The film was called the "Final Chapter," but as you know, this wasn't true at all.  I think that this name must've especially confused fans at the end of the film, because of the humongous cliffhanger. I think what the name truly meant was moreso that this was the last chapter in the way that the films were currently being made, because as seen in the future installments, the stories changed quite a bit.  I like this title though, because even though it's mildly deceptive, it really gives the proper dark feeling to it, doing justice to the film's atmosphere as a whole. 

Overall, this is defintiely the best "Friday the 13th" film ever. I really feel that this was the closest to a masterpiece of 80's horror flicks. It was dark, well made, gorier than ever, funny, and just a high quality slasher flick that I will never forget. I honestly have no idea of why the critics were so hard on this film, because it was definitely far superior in quality compared to the first.  My guess is that by the time that this film was released, the press was starting to get tired of the series, so they just passed it off as rubbish. I really recommend giving this film a chance though, because it really gives everything a fan or slashers wants, and it just a fun fun movie that will keep you right on the edge of your seat.