FRIDAY NIGHT FRIGHTS: Friday the 13th The Final Chapter (1984) “Hey Nerd, Where the Hell is the Corkscrew?”
While it may still be September for the average citizen, around the Dorkside here there have been signs of Halloween creeping in since mid-August. And now that we have arrived at the last Friday the 13th before the big day, I’d say it’s time to watch Jason Voorhees get his spooky groove on. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the fan favorite 3rd sequel subtitled The Final Chapter, so that’s as good a choice to throw on as any. You remember, it’s the one that slammed a corkscrew into the franchise and ended it forever.
Oh wait nevermind, they made like 8 more after this. Hey where the Hell is that corkscrew anyway?
“Thank you!”
You really can’t go wrong throwing on any entry in the series tonight (mmm, maybe not that 2009 remake) but this 4th chapter gets a lot of love and for very good reason. It features arguably the best practical makeup of any Friday courtesy of the GOAT Tom Savini, and the kills are across the board jarring and spectacular.
It’s also the first time where a great balance is struck between the horror and comedy aspects which hadn’t quite gelled in the previous films. A big part of this is due to some eclectic casting, the best example being Crispin Glover’s memorable performance as Jimmy Mortimer. I mean, that’s the character’s name but you can easily just watch this movie and pretend it’s George McFly existing in the same world as the Voorhees family. Now that’s what I call fun and if nothing else, this movie birthed the iconic scene below where the dude cuts some serious rug.
This is how my sister dances.
This one also features the introduction of Tommy Jarvis, a character who would go on to become Jason’s primary adversary for the next couple of sequels. He was never played by the same actor twice but his debut sees none other than Corey Feldman in the role. It’s a solid turn seeing this monster and makeup obsessed kid getting a taste of the real thing and the finale lays down some excellent track for a direction that the movies never took. There’s a world where they could totally do that trendy legacy thing and bring Feldman back, making a direct sequel to this one ignoring everything that actually came after.
So turn off all the lights, dust off that fancy box set, order a pizza then lock all the doors and pop this one in!
As of tonight we are officially in October town.
