Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today, we venture into the movie that NAMED horror fest this year, and one of the most iconic horror franchises to ever be made. It’s bloody, it’s SO 80s, and it’s a name that you all know. Get ready readers, it’s time for the final chapter. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Our movie begins with a recap of the first three in the series, with some of the best scenes from each movie playing! (Oh, and just to say it now, NO characters, including both final girls, from the previous movies, appear in this one. Yes, I was waiting for Chris to appear, but NOPE!)

We finally begin our tale as police SWARM Camp Crystal Lake. The cops take away all the dead bodies from the carnage inflicted in Part 3, before they come across the man himself. Jason Voorhees is still laid in the barn, his bloodied axe sitting right next to him. Jason is packed up into a body bag and is sent on his way, NOT before his lifeless hand falls out of the bag and TERRIFIES the police. Jason is loaded into an ambulance and taken away, as we cut to the Crystal Lake hospital. Jason is rushed in, still in a bodybag, as we meet with the coroner. He is a drunk who never takes his job seriously, and this ENTIRE opening scene in Crystal Lake hospital gives me MASSIVE Halloween II vibes. The coroner tries to hit on his nurse, as our camera lingers on Jason’s body bag. In the next scene, the coroner is watching some interesting (shall we say) material on the T.V., as the nurse comes in to find him. The two begin to watch the news, as they discuss Jason’s continuing rampage. However, this is a Friday the 13th movie, so these two lovebirds immediately start getting to it right in the office surrounded by dead bodies. As it starts, Jason’s hand falls AGAIN out of his bag, terrifying the nurse. The coroner stands up and spews the funniest line of curses I think I’ve ever heard, as she walks away. The coroner puts Jason into the icebox, but it doesn’t last long. SUDDENDLY, our boy JUMPS out of the icebox, taking a hacksaw and slicing the coroner’s face, TURNING HIS HEAD 180 DEGREES AROUND with blood spewing everywhere. Jason immediately runs to the nurse, pinning her to the wall and slicing her open. (Halloween II vibes I’m telling you!)

We cut to the Jarvis household, a quaint family that lives in the woods semi-surrounding Crystal Lake. (I’m just going to get my gripes with the film out here. It’s a Friday, so I love it, but still. It feels VERY weird bringing Jason out of Crystal Lake (technically it’s still in Crystal Lake but we don’t see the camp, even though it will continue like this for the rest of the seemingly infinite sequels. As well as this, even though it IS a Friday and this is the norm, there are SO many teens It’s hard to keep track of them. Sometimes it feels like we don’t get much space for these characters to breathe!) We meet Trish (our main girl kinda), her little Brother Tommy (who becomes one of THE MOST important characters in the entire Friday the 13th mythos), and their mother. Oh, and we can’t forget their dog Gordon! Tommy loves to make masks, and is very creative, while Trish and her mother are very calm and nice people.

We then cut to our main group of teens driving into the forest for a nice trip away. They rent the house right next to the Jarvis Family Home, so I’ll just get their names out now. Paul, his girlfriend Sam, Sara, who is Sam’s friend and is also importantly a virgin (It’s a Friday the 13th film), Sara’s boyfriend Doug, Jimmy (PLAYED BY CRISPIN GLOVER, AKA GEORGE MCFLY. You guys have NO idea how weird it is for me to see George McFly doing everything he does in this film), and Ted. While driving, the group actually stop in front of Pamela Voorhees’ grave, and see a hitchhiker not too far up the road. They don’t pick her up, but Jason’s signature “ki,ki,ki ma,ma,ma” begins to play as he KNIFES the hitchhiker just seconds after the group sped away. Jason kill count: 3 (so far)

Lots of teenage Friday the 13th shenanigans occur for the next several minutes, which give us time to build some character. Jimmy is self-conscious, Sara is ALSO self-conscious, Sam is actually very kind, and Tommy is somewhat of a peeping tom (yup). The group of teens begins to swim in the lake (of course), as Tommy and Trish (and Gordon) go for a drive nearby, saying hi to the group of teens. Eventually, Trish’s car stops, and Tommy tries his best to fix it, although unsuccessfully. In a FAKEOUT Jason attack, a nice man named Rob Dier appears out of the brush with a machete, and helps fix the car for the two. Wait, DIER? Yes my friends, Rob Dier is the brother of SANDRA DIER from Part Two! WOAH! Sandra was one of the victims of Part Two, who was stabbed THROUGH THE BED in one of the most famous kills in the franchise. Rob begins asking if any teens are in the area, showing that our boy may want to avenge his sister by protecting anyone in the area, and taking down Jason. Eventually, after getting a ride, Rob meets Mrs. Jarvis. Tommy shows him some of his (I’ll admit it) pretty sick handmade monster masks, as Rob eventually heads out of the house at night (and of course it’s raining). We see Trish start to get a little bit of a crush, as Rob kisses her on the cheek, and heads out to camp in the woods for the night.

Over with the teens (oh I forgot to mention, earlier in the day the teens picked up two girls on bikes named Tina and Terri (twin sisters), who join the group), the classic Friday the 13th party begins! The teens are all dancing around the house, having fun with one another, and their dynamics are actually showcased pretty well. Tina begins to flirt with Paul, as the two kiss and dance. Sam, being VERY unhappy about this, decides to head out of the house for a “swim”. And guys, I just knew. My horror senses started TINGLING with this one. Sam heads out into the night, calling for Paul as she hears twigs snap around her. (I wish we could tell poor Sam that we all know what is about to happen). In one of the most Friday the 13th things ever, Sam decides to strip right there in the forest, just waiting for Paul. She then heads out into the lake, swimming into it. (Admittedly, the lake looks awesome, almost looking like it’s in a swamp with the amount of dense trees and fog). Sam decides to swim to a raft in the lake, trying to relax. HOWEVER, IN A MOMENT THAT LITERALLY GOT ME, JASON jumps out of the water like some sort of murderous merman, pinning Sam with his hand while impaling her through the stomach. RIP SAM 🙁

Inside, in a very surprising moment of teenage self-realization, Paul stops his flirting with Tina and heads out into the forest to find Sam. Wasting absolutely no time, Tina heads over to our boy Jimmy (who I really am rooting for because he is SO awkward and he is also George McFly soooo), and decides to dance with him, even putting Paul’s hat on his head. The two embrace, and Tina immediately asks Jimmy why they aren’t already upstairs. Jimmy isn’t hesitating either, and our two lovebirds head up the steps. In the meantime, let me put an exact quote from my article on Part two in here really quickly. “Always remember the #1 rule of Horror Fest, dear readers. Like Randy from Scream and I always say, in an 80s horror movie, and any horror movie in general, if you decide to do the act, you aren’t making it out alive.” Downstairs, Jealous Ted tries to flirt with Terri (very unsuccessfully), as we cut back to Paul on the lake. He begins to swim towards “Sam”, hoping to make amends. However, our boy looks into the raft, and BOLTS. Screaming, he swims and swims towards the dock, but Jason is waiting for him. In a moment which had myself and I think every single other man who saw this film absolutely horrified, Jason’s hand pops out of the water, HARPOONING PAUL THROUGH THE CROTCH. GOD.

Hearing the screams, we see Rob in the forest, trying his best to patrol his campsite, eventually coming across the Jarvis tent in the forest. Back with the teens, we see Jimmy and Tina upstairs, the two of them actually falling through a broken bed while making out, which they both obviously began to laugh at, before getting right back to it on the broken bed. Downstairs, Ted discovers a very inappropriate movie from the 1920s-1930s on a roll of film, and begins to play it for himself, Doug, and Sara. Terri eventually leaves, after unsuccessfully trying to get her sister out of the room with Jimmy and leave with her. However, it’s pouring rain. And if you are a teenage girl in the world of Friday the 13th, you do NOT want to be outside in the pouring rain at night. In one of the COOLEST shots I’ve seen out of this franchise, the camera moves steadily towards the house, as we see the silhouette of Jason stabbing Terri through the stomach in a flash of lightning, eventually pinning her dead body to the wall next to the downstairs window. Back with the oblivious teens (THANK YOU JASON FOR CUTTING OUR GIANT CAST DOWN A BIT), Sara makes the big leap and decides to do it with Doug in just a few minutes (insert quote from Randy here).

Let’s keep up with the Jarvises, shall we? Next door, Mrs. Jarvis walks around the house, which is pitch black due to a power outage. Since the kids and Gordon are all out driving at this time, Mrs. Jarvis is very concerned and tries to find them. However, although she is the oldest, she seems to be one of the least wise characters in this universe. In the AMAZING decision to run outside IN THE RAIN AT NIGHT, she walks, and eventually, screams. Mrs. Jarvis has become a victim to an offscreen death. The Jarvis kids finally arrive back at the pitch black house, and as Trish goes to find their mom, she tells Tommy to stay where she is. She eventually makes it to her tent in the forest, as “ki ki ki, ma ma ma” can be heard. Look out Trish! A shadow appears… It is NOT Jason! It’s Rob, in a very interesting decision to slice the tent open with his Machete. We cut from Teen Group A to Teen Group B, as we see Jimmy and Tina after the deed was done. Jimmy’s self consciousness gets to him, but in ONE actual sweet moment, Tina says that he was incredible. Tina gets up to shower (I think, she kinda just disappears for a bit), as Jimmy heads downstairs, even though TIna told him to stay put. Ted is still cracking up at the film he’s watching, as Jimmy heads into the kitchen to look for a corkscrew. However, in an actual sad scene (Poor George McFly), Jason appears and STABS his hand into the counter with a can opener. In a GNARLY kill, Jason hacks into Jimmy’s face with his knife. We cut upstairs to Tina, and in ANOTHER gnarly (but honestly hilarious kill), Jason appears and RIPS Tina through the window, sending her spiraling to the ground (and car) below.

Back with Trish and Rob, Rob reveals to her that Jason killed his sister, and that he is here to avenge her death. Rob then talks about his conspiracy theories, showing all the evidence and newspapers he collected over the years. He truly believes that Jason is alive (he’s right), and that he is right here waiting for them (also right). The pair bolts back to the house to check on Tommy!

In the meantime, we see Ted STILL watching the film downstairs, as we see Jason pick up his bloody knife. We also see Doug and Sara getting to it in the shower (once again, Randy Rule #1). In an actually awesome scene, the film projector begins to glitch, showing that the film has been CUT. Ted walks up to the screen, and in ANOTHER gnarly kill, Jason’s knife POPS through the screen, stabbing Ted’s head and killing him. Upstairs, Doug and Sara finish in the shower. Sara steps out of the room for a little bit, as Doug continues to shower. In a VERY famous quote in this movie, Doug says he thinks he’s in heaven, and Sara responds by saying “I think I’m in love”. Sara IS very sweet, so it’s nice to see her get a win for once in this movie. However, we know what’s about to happen as we cut back to the bathroom, and the lights cut out. Doug jokes in the shower, thinking Paul (long dead) is pranking him. However, his thoughts are very rudely interrupted as Jason’s hand CRASHES through the glass door, CRUSHING DOUG’S FACE AND CAVING IN HIS SKULL. Yeah, EASILY one of the best kills in this movie. Immediately after, my heart dropped, as poor Sara headed back to the bathroom. (Even though Trish is our “main” girl, Sara was #2 in this movie). She sees the dead body of Doug, and begins hysterically screaming for Sam (also long dead). She runs downstairs and tries to get out of the locked front door, before in a sad (and awesome) kill, an axe comes flying through the door, hitting her right in the chest. (HERE’SSS JASON!!!)

Now that all of Teen Group B has been eliminated, we focus solely on Trish, Tommy, and Rob. We see Jason tear the phone box off the side of the house as Trish tries to make a call. Seeing no other option, Rob and Trish decide to make their way over to the teen’s house to try and find survivors. Tommy stays at the house, holding down the fort. (Oh, and Gordon tags along with them!) The two teens decide to head into the basement (genius idea), as upstairs, we see Gordon JUMP OUT OF A WINDOW out of fear, escaping the house. (Yes, I looked it up. Although the fate of Gordon is left up to speculation in the movie, in the Friday the 13th game (non-canon but still provides strong pieces of evidence and lore) an audio log from Tommy Jarvis reveals that Gordon is safe and was returned to the family.) Back with Tommy, we see him view Rob’s newspapers, eventually finding the one with a sketch of the zombie boy Jason.

Upstairs, Trish finally finds the remnants of Jason’s rampage, as our boy Jason pulls a Michael Myers and strings the bodies all throughout the house. She runs into the basement to get Rob, but Trish gets stuck. Rob goes down into the basement and encounters Jason. In a scene of pure rage and hatred from both Rob and Jason, Jason uses his brute force to pin Rob and repeatedly hit him in the chest with a sharp tool. With his final breaths, Rob tells Trish to run. With one more scare of Jason grabbing her foot through the steps, Trish books it back to her house. In a very funny scene, we see Jimmy’s body almost crucified with nails on the door. Trish gets back home, as Jason HILAROUSLY moves Jimmy’s body out of the way to get out the door. Trish begins boarding the door to stop Jason. However, this is Jason, and he immediately throws Rob’s body through the window, and climbs in himself. He grabs Tommy, as Trish stabs him with her hammer. Jason starts breaking through walls and all the good stuff (still pretty funny), as the pair gets into Tommy’s room. Jason breaks in with ANOTHER perfect Shining door break (HERE’SSS JASON, AGAIN!) Jason gets knocked out because of Trish dropping an entire T.V. on his head, and she tells Tommy to run out of the house. Jason runs after Trish, as she lures him away.

Trish goes back to the other house and performs ANOTHER epic window jump, and I honestly thought she died from this one. However, she gets up, and with sheer willpower (she IS a good final girl, but she isn’t joining the Ginny and Chris hall of fame), runs back to her house. In the house, we see Tommy SHAVING HIS HEAD, trying to look just like the illustration of the dead child Jason. Jason shows back up to the house, (she senses him behind her its pretty cool), and fights him with the machete, eventually splitting his hand open. However, it isn’t enough, and he begins to pin her. However, Tommy BOLTS downstairs, calling Jason’s name. He tells him to “remember”, as Jason is immediately transfixed onto Tommy. With enough time to distract our boy, Trish hits him with the machete, but is ONLY ABLE to knock off his mask, showing our boy’s true deformed face. Trish begins to go into shock, being absolutely horrified at Jason’s face. However, OUR BOY FUTURE MAIN CHARACTER TOMMY JARVIS (basically a main character at this point but he is for the next two movies) HITS JASON IN THE FACE WITH HIS OWN MACHETE. Jason falls onto it, the machete going even further through his face. The two siblings embrace, but during the hug, Tommy sees Jason’s fingers twitching. In one of the most chilling and famous endings in horror history, ESPECIALLY out of this franchise, Tommy takes the machete and MERCILESSLY hacks it into Jason’s body, screaming at him. Trish screams in horror and shock, as he continues to cut Jason up…

We fade to white, and fade back in at the hospital. Trish is safe, and just needs surgery. However, we hear from the doctors that Tommy is struggling mentally after the attack, a huge part of his character for the next two movies. Tommy walks into the room with Trish, still looking like the child Jason. He’s VERY disturbed, but he bolts into the room and tightly hugs his sister. His eyes are tightly closed, BUT, in the very last shot of the movie, he opens them. Tommy Jarvis’ disturbed eyes gaze into the camera, ominously staring right at the viewer…

THERE WE HAVE IT! Guys, this is probably my least favorite out of the Fridays so far. Honestly, It’s REALLY hard for me to tell, because I still enjoyed this one so much. It was SO fun and I’m so glad to have watched it and shared it with you guys! It was SUCH an honor to finally watch the movie that The Final Chapter of Horror Fest carries the namesake of. Thank you everyone, and happy first week of Horror Fest! Before you go, always remember, HE is alive…