Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

***Another entertaining sequel, better than Part III*** The first two films are serious in nature with the expected antics of youths at camp, but the franchise introduced a campy element with Part III, which pretty much plagued the rest of the series until the reboot in 2009. Released in 1984, "Part IV: The Final Chapter" is an exception as it thankfully omits the cartoonish elements of "Part III" and serves up another take on the same basic story. This time several youths go out to their parents' vacation home on Crystal Lake to party where they meet the sister & brother from a nearby house, Trish & Tommy Jarvis (Kimberly Beck and Corey Feldman). Then Jason attacks! There’s also someone at the lake hunting Jason for vengeance. Like Part III, this film was shot on the West Coast instead of the East Coast, specifically Santa Clarita, CA, and nearby Topanga Canyon, which is 30 minutes south of Santa Clarita, as well as Zaca lake, about 150 miles northwest. The geography is obviously dryer and an all-around contrast to the first two films, but this won’t matter to most viewers. As usual, the film features a nice assortment of females. This time out, there are no "minorities" like the previous movie; the ladies consist of five white girls and a winsome petite mother. Trish is my favorite, the best heroine yet (until the next film that is), followed by Samantha; but they all have their points of interest. BOTTOM LINE: Despite its title, Part IV is far from the "Final Chapter." There would be four more sequels before the 80s even ran out! In any case, this is another entertaining segment in the series with a fresh assortment of characters and a new female protagonist. This sequel is notable for introducing the character of Tommy Jarvis and hinting at the lingering diabolic Voorhees spirit. Like its predecessor, Part IV was shot in dry Southern Cal and Jason, with his iconic mask, is bigger and more imposing than in Part II. While the movie is a step up from Part III it's not as effective as the first two films, largely because of the uneventful mid-section and the rather lame portrayal of Jason in the last act, although his unmasked face is great. The film runs 9l minutes and the uncut version 97 minutes. GRADE: B-

Liked this one a bit more than the last time I saw it, a bit slow at times but, at least compared with Part III, better characters, but has some good and gnarly kills (one in particular when Jason comes out of the water). The biggest knock is the bad editing (one scene has Jason killing Crispin Glover in the kitchen and later the girl Glover slept with in the bedroom before a shot back in the kitchen) and poor continuity (the appearance of the family's dog was most noticeable). However, still found this entry entertaining enough. **3.25/5**