“He thinks that’s funny. He thinks that’s a funny thing he’s doing.” – Crispen Glover cracks wise in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter as one of the teens in peril as Jason slaughters his way through the night. Meanwhile, Corey Feldman shaves his head and sharpens his machette to give Mrs. Voorhees’ favorite son a deep cut. Let the fun begin! Thomas Mariani, Doc Rotten and Christopher G. Moore tackle another gruesome horror film from the 1980s.
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 99 — Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Despite being followed by eight more films (and counting, supposedly), the fourth installment subtitles itself, the Final Chapter. The Godfather of Gore, Tom Savini, returns to do special effects and does his best to bury Jason forever. Paramount’s Frank Mancuso, Jr. strives hard to end Jason’s reign as well. But, money is money. Savini crafts a barrage of deadly and crimson deaths but saves the best – and most graphic – demise for Jason himself. Writers Barry Cohen and Bruce Hidemi Sakow, along with director Jospeh Zito, provide the series with its hero in Tommy Jarvis (played by a young Corey Feldman) who would appear in the next two films as well.
Christopher G. Moore, Doc Rotten and Thomas Mariani revisit the franchise classic, discussing what makes it stand out among the others. While Roger Ebert described the film as “an immoral and reprehensible piece of trash” in his 1982 review of the film, the Grue-Crew strongly disagree, suggesting it is one of the best slasher films. The film has a distinct pace, creative use of lighting and a gruesome reveal of Jason Voorhees in an ending that rivals the original 1980 classic. And, where else do you get such wonderful Crispen Glover Eighties dance moves? Ch Ch Ch Ah Ah Ah!
We want to hear from you – the coolest, most gruesome fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at thomasmariani@decadesofhorror.com or docrotten@decadesofhorror.com. We also want to be sure to thank Neon Devils for their killer track “Bone Chillin'” which we use for the intro and outro of this show.
Doc a lifelong fan of horror films, sci-fi flicks and monster movies first discovering Universal Monsters and Planet of the Apes as a young child in the 1970's searching out every issue of Famous Monster of Filmland (and, later, Fangoria). Favorite films include Jaws, The Car, The Birds, The Tingler, Vampire Circus and The Exorcist. Still a huge fan of horror films from the 70s, Doc continues consuming horror films to this day for the site, for the podcasts and for the fun of it all.
