Showing posts with label Friday the 13th. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday the 13th. Show all posts

Friday, December 13, 2024

Review: "FRIDAY THE 13TH: The Final Chapter" Now Seems Quaint

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 of 2024 (No. 2000) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Running time:  91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR:  Joseph Zito
WRITERS:  Barney Cohen; from a story by Bruce Hidemi Sakow (based on characters created by Victor Miller and Ron Kurz & Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson)
PRODUCER: Frank Mancuso, Jr.
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  João Fernandez (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Joel Goodman with Daniel Loewenthal
COMPOSER:  Harry Manfredini

HORROR

Starring:  Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, Peter Barton, Kimberly Beck, Corey Feldman, Joan Freeman, Crispin Glover, Lawrence Monoson, Alan Hayes, Barbara Howard, Camilla More, Carey More, Bruce Mahler, Lisa Freeman, Bonnie Hellman and Frankie Hill with Ted White

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a 1984 slasher horror film directed by Joseph Zito.  It is a direct sequel to the 1982 film, Friday the 13th Part III, and is the fourth movie in the Friday the 13th movie franchise.  The Final Chapter finds Jason Voorhees revived after being declared dead and then, returning to Crystal Lake where he stalks a group of friends renting a nearby house.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter opens in the aftermath of the massacre at “Higgins Haven,” the old home near Crystal Lake (as seen in Friday the 13th Part III).  The police clean up the scene, picking up the bodies of ten victims.  They were all killed by Jason Voorhees (Ted White), the killer of Crystal Lake.  This time, however, Jason has also been pronounced dead, and his body is picked up and sent to the Wessex County Medical Center Morgue (apparently somewhere in southern New Jersey).  Somehow, Jason spontaneously revives and kills a morgue attendant and a nurse on his way out the door and back to Crystal Lake.

Meanwhile, a group of six teenage friends:  Paul (Alan Hayes), Sam (Judie Aronson), Doug (Peter Barton), Sara (Barbara Howard), Ted (Lawrence Monoson), and Jimmy (Crispin Glover), have arrived at the house in the countryside near Crystal Lake that they are renting.  Right across from that house is another home where Mrs. Jarvis (Joan Freeman) lives with her two children:  her teen teenage daughter, Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) and her twelve-year-old son, Tommy (Corey Feldman), along with their dog, Gordon.  The visiting group of teens also meets and befriends a pair of twin sisters, Tina (Camilla More) and Terri (Carey More).

Later, Trish and Tommy meet Rob Dier (Erich Anderson), a strapping young man who claims that he is visiting the area to hunt bear, but who is really hunting Jason for killing his sister, Sandra Dier.  What they don't know is that Jason is already hunting them all.

[NOTE: Rob's sister, Sandra, and her boyfriend, Jeff, were killed together by Jason in  Friday the 13th Part II.]

The first few minutes of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter are a sequence of highlights from the first three films:  Friday the 13th (1980), Friday the 13th Part II (1981), and Friday the 13th Part III.  The third film was originally going to be the end of the series, just as this fourth film was going to conclude the series, so the beginning of this fourth film summarizes for the audience what has been going on at and around Crystal Lake.  Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was the first film in the series that I saw, and is one of only two in the series that I have actually watched in a movie theater (the other being 1989's Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan).

So forty years later, what do I think of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter?  I remember that I kinda liked it the first time I saw it, although I was shocked by the number of people Jason killed – thirteen by my count, although fourteen is possible.  Originally, I was surprised by how fast the narrative had Jason dispatching his victims, and forty years later, I still think that.

Like the third film, I think The Final Chapter actually presents several good characters.  In fact, the six teens, the Jarvis family members, and Rob Dier all have personalities and potential that would make for decent character drama or melodrama, as it may be.  In the end, however, they are merely meat for this franchise's beast, Jason Voorhees.  Also, I think Corey Feldman's Tommy is the only character that really gets a chance at a showcase of character and emotion.

In the final analysis, The Final Chapter is better than most of the films in the series that followed it, but it isn't as good or as classic as the films that preceded.  If you want to know which is my favorite, dear readers, it is the second film, although I think the original is still the series' best film.  Still, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a nice way to make a tetralogy out of a trilogy.

5 of 10
B-
★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, December 12, 2024


The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Friday, May 13, 2022

Review: "FRIDAY THE 13TH Part III" Has Flat Plot, But Lively Characters

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2022 (No. 1842) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Running time:  95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR:  Steve Miner
WRITERS:  Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson (based on characters created by Victor Miller and Ron Kurz)
PRODUCER: Frank Mancuso, Jr.
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Gerald Feil (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  George Hively
COMPOSER:  Harry Manfredini

HORROR

Starring:  Dana Kimmell, Tracie Savage, Richard Brooker, Gloria Charles, Rachel Howard, David Katims, Paul Kratka, Cheri Maugans, Steve Susskind, Kevin O'Brien, Catherine Parks, Jeffrey Rogers, Nick Savage, and Larry Zerner

Friday the 13th Part III is a 1982 slasher horror film directed by Steve Miner.  It is a direct sequel to the 1981 film, Friday the 13th Part 2, and is the third movie in the Friday the 13th movie franchise.  This film also marked the first time Jason Voorhees put on a hockey mask, which became both the character and the franchise's trademark.

Friday the 13th Part III is set immediately after the events of Part 2.  A young woman, Chris Higgins (Dana Kimmell), and her friends travel to Higgins Haven, her old family home on Crystal Lake, to spend the weekend.  The group includes pregnant Debbie (Tracie Savage); her boyfriend, Andy (Jeffrey Rogers), Shelly (Larry Zerner), a young man who is an incessant prankster; Vera (Catherine Parks), who is supposed to be Shelly's blind date; and finally, stoner couple, Chuck (David Katims) and Chili (Rachel Howard).  Rick (Paul Kratka), Chris' boyfriend, is waiting for them at Higgins Haven.  The group has also attracted the attention of a trio of reprobate punk bikers:  Ali (Nick Savage), Fox (Gloria Charles), and Loco (Kevin O'Brien).

Meanwhile, Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) was left injured after his recent murder spree at a nearby counselor training camp.  He has arrived at Higgins Haven, after killing local store owner, Harold (Steve Susskind), and his wife, Edna (Cheri Maugans).  And he is ready to begin a new killing spree.

Between 1981 and 1983, some segments of the American film industry embraced 3D films again.  One of the resulting films was Friday the 13th Part III, which was originally released to theaters as a 3D film ("Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D") almost forty years ago (August 1982).  I doubt anyone younger than 50-years-old ever saw it as a 3D film inside a movie theater.  I didn't, so there is no point in me trying to talk about that aspect of the film.  I can't remember when I first saw Part III, but I think I was well into middle age by the time I did.

Contemporary reviews of Friday the 13th Part III were savage, and in a way, those critics were right.  Part III isn't imaginative in terms of plot.  The film exists to make money because movie audiences enjoyed seeing 20-somethings get killed in the two earlier installments, especially seeing Jason kill in Part 2.  So Part III was inevitable, although at the time, it was apparently meant to be the series finale.

Part III does have one thing going for it.  Most of the characters are interesting.  No two characters are alike, even when they look alike.  In fact, whenever I watch this movie, I find myself sometimes confused by Chris, Debbie, and Vera – especially Chris and Debbie who look, at least, like fraternal twins.  The characters are unique and even quirky, but the narrative really and obviously does not dwell on personality, not when there is killing to be depicted.  Besides, maybe there is no point to really getting to know characters that are going to be dead soon, although Jason does not start killing Chris' friends until after the fifty-minute mark of the film.

Because I like these characters:  Chris and her friends, especially her hunky boyfriend, Rick, I like Friday the 13th Part III … a lot.  I watch it anytime it is shown on some cable network, so I probably see it at least two or three times a year.  Still, I have to admit that there is a dry formality to the killings, and the filmmakers act as if they are making nothing more than the cinematic equivalent of one more fast food toad burger.  And that's a shame, because, in some areas, Friday the 13th Part III had the potential to be better – much better.  My grade and ratings for this film reflect my good feelings towards this classic 1980s slasher film.

5 of 10
B-
★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, May 11, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Friday, December 13, 2013

Review: Notable "Friday the 13th Part 2" is Not Really That Good or Bad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 81 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Running time:  87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – R
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Steve Miner
WRITER:  Ron Kurz (based on characters created by Victor Miller)
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Stein (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Susan E. Cunningham
COMPOSER:  Harry Manfredini

HORROR

Starring:  Amy Steel, John Furey, Kirsten Baker, Stu Charno, Marta Kober, Tom McBride, Bill Randolph, Lauren-Marie Taylor, Russell Todd, Jack Marks, Warrington Gillette, Steve Daskawisz, Walt Gorney, and Adrienne King with Betsy Palmer

Friday the 13th Part 2 is a 1981 slasher horror film from producer-director, Steve Miner.  It is a sequel to the 1980 film, Friday the 13th, and the second movie in the Friday the 13th movie franchise.  It is also the first movie in the franchise to feature Jason Voorhees as the villain.  Friday the 13th Part 2 finds a group of camp counselors being stalked by an unknown assailant.

The main story of Friday the 13th Part 2 takes place five years after the events of the first film.  Paul Holt (John Furey) has established a “Counselor Training” center on Crystal Lake, near the infamous Camp Crystal Lake AKA “Camp Blood.”  Paul ignores the fact that locals are not happy about him locating his training center so close to the site of several murders, and instead, he focuses on getting his large group of counselors together.  Only Paul’s assistant and sort of girlfriend, Ginny Field (Amy Steel), takes rumors about Jason Voorhees stalking the grounds of Crystal Lake.  One rainy night, however, a killer makes a move against the unwary camp counselors.

Recently, I watched Friday the 13th Part 2 in its entirety for the first time.  I have previously watched the movie in parts countless times, and I usually liked what I saw.  Strangely, I always found this movie to be a bit scary whenever I watched it in parts, but after watching the entire movie, I don’t find it particularly scary.  I wonder what the 15-year-old me would have thought of this film.

Friday the 13th Part 2 is a strange movie.  It opens with a 12-minute prologue (of sorts) that is set two months after the events of the first film, before returning to Crystal Lake.  Jason does not start killing campers until 50 minutes into the movie.  There is also a dream sequence that muddles the ending of the movie, but that dream sequence contains what may be one of the most famous moments in American horror cinema history.  Also, this film’s heroine does not really stand out as the hero until the last half-hour of the movie.  At this point in the franchise, Jason Voorhees is not the supernatural killer he would become.  Here, he seems like nothing more than a deranged killer.

I have to admit that Friday the 13th Part 2 is yet another of those movies that I like, but cannot really explain why I like it.  I will recommend it to fans of horror movies.  After all, Friday the 13th Part 2 was the first time Jason Voorhees took the spotlight, on his way to becoming a legendary horror movie monster.

5 of 10
B-

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Friday, September 13, 2013

Review: Original "Friday the 13th" Movie is Surprisingly Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friday the 13th (1980)
Running time:  95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – X
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Sean S. Cunningham
WRITERS:  Victor Miller; from a story by Sean S. Cunningham and Victor Miller
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Abrams (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Bill Freda
COMPOSER:  Harry Manfredini

HORROR

Starring:  Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Peter Bouwer, Rex Everhart, Ronn Carroll, Ron Millkie, Walt Gorney, and Betsy Palmer

Friday the 13th is a 1980 slasher horror film from producer-director, Sean S. Cunningham.  It was the first movie in what is, as of this writing, a 12-film franchise, which includes a 2009 reboot of the franchise and a crossover film with another horror franchise, 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason.  The first Friday the 13th focuses on young camp counselors that are being stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant, as they try to reopen a summer camp with a troubled history.

Friday the 13th opens one night in 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, where two young camp counselors are savagely murdered.  The story jumps to Friday, June 13, 1979.  Steve Christy (Peter Bouwer), son of the camp’s original owners, is trying to reopen Camp Crystal Lake.  Seven young camp counselors are arriving early to help Steve repair the camp site before it reopens.

Annie (Robbi Morgan), one of the early arrivals, finds that the town is not exactly happy about the idea of Steve reopening the camp, which has been the site of murders, fires, and water poisonings.  In fact, some of the locals specifically try to warn Annie to leave.  As this Friday the 13th turns to evening, the counselors are not aware that someone is watching and waiting and also preparing to kill them one by one.

Recently, I watched, for the first time, Friday the 13th in its entirety, and I liked it more than I ever thought I would.  It was clearly influenced by John Carpenter’s classic, 1978 slasher film, Halloween, but it is different.  I find Friday the 13th to be both moody and matter-of-fact about the murders committed in the film.  It is almost as if the filmmakers and storytellers (which include screenwriter Ron Kurz, who did not receive an onscreen credit) are saying to us that while sad, the death in this movie has to be.  This movie is less about pandering to the audience than about depicting a tragedy that has to be.

The film score for Friday the 13th, composed by Harry Manfredini, is probably the most important creative element in making this movie a chiller and thriller.  Manfredini seems to use elements from John Williams’ musical score for Jaws (1975) and Bernard Herrmann’s for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).  If talent borrows and genius steals, it was a genius move on Manfredini’s part to emulate the best musical cues from Jaws and Psycho, strains of music that are perfect for creating an atmosphere of fear and impending doom in Friday the 13th.

After 33 years, anyone familiar with the Friday the 13th franchise knows the identity of the killer in the original movie, but I still will not reveal the identity.  I think one of the things that make the original movie stand out from both its sequels and other horror films is who and what the killer is.  Of note, acclaimed actor Kevin Bacon has one of his earliest screen roles in Friday the 13th, and that includes a rather explicit sex scene, in which his sex partner claws his buttocks.  Including the fact that this is a horror movie classic, bare Bacon is as good a reason as any to see Friday the 13th.

Seriously, I like this movie’s scrappy nature.  There is something about its awkward, not-well made spirit that actually makes the movie seem... well, well-made.  Friday the 13th has a low-budget aesthetic that surprisingly appeals to me, and in terms of photography, there are a few moments that are captivating.  In fact, some of this movie’s scenes and best moments are as effective as the best moments found in film thrillers that are much more admired.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1981 Razzie Awards:  2 nominations: “Worst Picture” (Sean S. Cunningham) and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Betsy Palmer)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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