Kids just aren’t as scared of summer camp as they used to be. Maybe it’s because they aren’t even going away to summer camp unless forced to by the state.
Still, the nostalgia of summer camp is enough to help us begin our Summer Camp Slasher Series, a tribute to horror movies featuring campers, camp counselors, and the maniacs who murder them.
We continue this summer horror series than with Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.
Movie: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Plot: Even an axe to the head won’t stop Jason Voorhees’ thirst for killing young co-eds, as the hockey-masked murderer returns, with only young wunderkind, Tommy Jarvis (played by Corey Feldman), standing in his way.
Killer: The unkillable Jason Voorhees that we all know and love.
Critique: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was the second time the producers of the series tried to end the series. We’re sure glad that they didn’t. This film allowed movie monsters to gain the stereotype of unkillable gods of slaughter. Michael Meyers came back, but 4 years after Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. From now on, fans would wonder both:
a) How will the next batch of victims would be decimated?
b) How will Jason be stopped, and how will he be resurrected yet again?
This slasher film formula is still used to this day. Add that to a cast that actually has some recognition, a bump up in body count and special effects, and Corey Feldman losing his mind, and you have arguably the greatest film in the Friday the 13th series.
Scene of Awesomeness: Tommy (played by Corey Feldman) goes ape-shit on Jason with a machete.
Scene of Ridiculousness: The epic ’80s dancing style of (played by Crispin Glover).
Body Count: 13 (+1 Gordon)
1 hacksaw to the neck in order to turn the head 180 degrees
1 amateur vivisection
1 knife through the neck…while eating a banana
1 impaling through an inflatable raft
1 spear-gun to the groin
1 spiked pole to the lower back
1 unknown
1 corkscrew through the hand followed by a meat cleaver to the face (Awesomely Overkill Award)
1 toss out of a second floor window onto the roof of a car
1 butcher knife to the back of the head
1 head crushed into a tiled bathroom wall
1 axe to the chest
1 dog thrown out the window
1 multiple stabbing by hand rake
5 pairs of breasts (+6 pairs of vintage breasts)
Actors/Actresses of Note: The obvious stars of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter are still Crispin Glover in his role as the awkward Jimmy and Corey Feldman as the child-hero, Tommy Jarvis. However, there are others that should… be forgotten. Peter Barton (playing the part of Doug) had a title role in a 1 season TV series about an alien posing as a teenaged boy in The Powers of Matthew Star. He also had a reoccurring role in the soap opera, The Young and the Restless. Judie Aronson (playing Samantha) went on to play a supporting role in Weird Science and a starring role in American Ninja, her character surviving in both movies.
Quote: “Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!“- Tommy Jarvis
Grade: A