Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday

Starring: John D. LeMary, Kari Keegan, Kane Hodder, Steven Williams, Steven Culp, Erin Gray
Directed by: Adam Marcus
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller
1993

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Jason (Kane Hodder) is resurrected once again, but this time, he has the ability to transfer his spirit to a series of different bodies.

Review:

Tim: After complaining for a what seems like an endless stream of inferior sequels that every Friday the 13th film is basically interchangeable with all the others, finally- finally- I got my wish. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is by far the most different film in the franchise. First off, this is the first film not to go by the Friday the 13th name. Secondly, this represents the largest gap between films (4 years), which also brought this franchise into its second decade, the 90s. This film looks, feels, and sounds very different from all the other movies.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. We have some absurd, nonsensical story about how after a decade and eight films, all of a sudden, Jason can transfer his soul or his evil or something from body to body. That's right- in this film, we hardly get Jason at all. Instead we have to watch as a series of nobodies walks around with Jason's spirit inside of them. Are you kidding me? Never mind the Invasion of the Body Snatchers or similar alien movie rip offs, this is a terrible idea. The only thing good about the Friday the 13th movies is Jason Voorhees, and in this, his 9th film, he's barely in it. How moronic is that?

The movie also happens to be a complete and utter mess. I could always follow the other Friday the 13th movies because they were so blatantly simple. This one jerks you around with a series of stupid events, introducing a number of new elements to the franchise, none of which are very good. I was a bit excited when I heard Paramount sold the franchise to New Line, but I can say that New Line did nothing to turn this series around. I am not surprised that this film started a 9 year gap between the next Jason film.

Now, there are some good aspects to this film. There are some legitimately scary moments, before Jason gets blown to pieces. I also liked how the film looked better, even though the budget wasn't much bigger than previous films. There were some pretty cool deaths, and I have to admit that the final scene was surprisingly cool.

Sadly, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday doesn't achieve any kind of success. It certainly changed things up, but I was hoping for change for the better, not for the worse. Director Adam Marcus certainly shook things up with this film, but he lost too many of the best elements of the film. This is a franchise that badly needed a new injection of energy, but not like this. This movie uses cliches and rip-offs from other movies to make this one seem different, which is a stupid plan. I don't think this is the worst Friday the 13th film, but it is certainly close.


Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th: Part II, Friday the 13th: Part III, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Friday the 13th: A New Chapter, Friday the 13th: Part VI- Jason Lives, Friday the 13th: Part VII- The New Blood, Friday the 13th: Part VIII- Jason Takes Manhattan