6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Hockey-masked Jason Voorhees is back, with a vengeance. Picking up directly where 'Part 3' left off, Jason leaves the hospital morgue and sets his sights on yet another group of young people near Crystal Lake.
Starring: Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton, Corey Feldman, Erich Anderson, Crispin GloverHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy (as download)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Friday the 13th IV: The Final Chapter is being released as part of Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection. Director Joseph Zito has frankly admitted that he didn't have too many new ideas for the fourth installment in the Friday the 13th series, which he fully expected to be the last outing for Jason Voorhees. But one of those ideas was truly ingenious: adding a precocious kid to the usual mix of teens in jeopardy. The result was the casting of Corey Feldman, who, whatever the vagaries of his adult career, turned in a memorable performance and became the signature presence in The Final Chapter (next to Jason himself). Feldman's incarnation of the terrorized Tommy Jarvis not only established a continuing character, but it also helped introduce the franchise to a new generation of horror fans who were thrilled to find someone their own age. If they couldn't sneak into an R-rated theatrical showing, they saw the film at home on the newfangled format of VHS tape. For proof of The Final Chapter's influence on the young, look no further than the "fan" commentary track by genre fanatics, horror directors and, currently, Holliston stars Adam Green and Joe Lynch. Makeup artist Tom Savini returned for the first time since the original film, because he believed he would be killing off the franchise and character he had created. In a sense he did, even if the producers deemed his notion of a microwave ray gun too expensive and also inconsistent with the series' usual motif of cutting and bludgeoning. But Savini adapted one of his Day of the Dead designs to provide an operatic end for Jason, and as he himself points out, it gained in impact, because Jason's is the only death in the film on which the camera lingers. Zito and editor Joel Goodman cut away quickly from all the others, which has the interesting effect of making them seem more graphic in memory than they actually are.
It may not be relevant, but it's certainly entertaining, to consider that The Final Chapter was photographed by Joćo Fernandes, the same cinematographer who, under a pseudonym, shot the porno classics Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones. Fernandes also shot the original adaptation of Children of the Corn. In the early Eighties, when the Friday the 13th franchise began, splatter films were still considered one rung above pornography, so that professionals easily circulated between the two worlds. Today, of course, graphic horror films have gone mainstream (and, arguably, so has porn). Warner/Paramount's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray of The Final Chapter represents a high-quality presentation of the film's low-budget aesthetic. Colors are strong but not overly assertive. Grain is natural but well controlled for much of the film, although it becomes heavy in some shots. The good news is that the grain is consistently natural in appearance, neither artificially smoothed nor frozen in place. Detail is relatively good, although the image reflects the softer look of an Eighties film production and sometimes disappears in the shadows (which, as far as I can tell, is by design). The black levels look right, and so does the contrast. I wouldn't say that the image has "depth", but then again depth is not a quality I associate with the photography of the Friday the 13th series. Probably because it has so many extras, The Final Chapter resides on its own BD-50, whereas a number of films in The Complete Collection are double features. The average bitrate is a healthy 25.95 Mbps, and compression artifacts were not an issue.
The Final Chapter's original mono soundtrack has been remixed for 5.1 and is presented in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1, but it's a conservative remix that remains front-oriented. The dialogue is clear, and the essential thwacks, crunches and other assorted sounds of lethal injury that accompany Jason's handiwork register with sufficient impact to make their point. Harry Manfredini's signature score plays with decent stereo separation and good dynamic range, although the top end can get a bit shrill. That may be by design, though, since those Psycho-style violin strokes aren't there to make anyone comfortable.
The original Friday the 13th remains my favorite in the series. I remember when it first came out, and I rank it with Halloween among modern horror classics. But The Final Chapter ranks a close second. It has a style and a sense of invention that one rarely finds in sequels. People often do their best work when they think they're winding up a long-running story, and Zito and his team were clearly inspired after being told that The Final Chapter would be the end of Jason. They were so inspired that, for better or worse, they reinvigorated the franchise. Highly recommended.
Remastered
1984
Friday The 13th Collection Deluxe Edition Version
1984
Friday the 13th: Part IV - The Final Chapter
1984
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1981
Limited Edition
2009
1993
Limited Edition
1980
2001
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2018
1998
Collector's Edition
1981
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2014
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Collector's Edition
1988