Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Director: Adam Marcus
Starring: John D LeMay, Kari Keegan, Erin Gray

Synopsis:
Jason is destroyed in an ambush by the FBI, only for his malevolent spirit to travel from host to host in a bid to achieve reincarnation.

Impressions:
If I wasn't doing these films for review purposes, I can't imagine slogging through three terrible sequels and still coming back for more. However, if there are any true believers out there, you might just be in for a surprise. Maybe my perspective has been warped by everything I've been through, but I honestly found myself liking this one. We have something resembling decent characters, which not even the first film did that great of a job with. I particularly liked the character of Creighton Duke, a much better execution of the concept of a Jason hunter than what we saw in 4 (and played with style by Steven Williams, who you may know as Mr. X from The X-Files). The character of Jessica was a bit underdeveloped, which was a missed opportunity as she's supposed to be the lead female, but the way she was brought into the story, it was difficult to capitalize on her screentime. I bring this up because Steven is easily the best protagonist in the series and was hoping for a solid power duo (for obvious plot reasons). Now, I'm lavishing a fair bit of praise here, but you need to remember that this is by the standard of the Friday the 13th franchise, so while it's good for a Friday the 13th film, it's not exceptional compared to movies in general. If you're somehow invested in the franchise, you should find this one to be a treat. Also, there's a nice little tease at the end (due to New Line having bought the rights to the franchise), but we won't get the payoff for another ten years. In honor of the Duke (no, not that one or that other one either), I'll tip my hat to this. Give it a watch.

Rating:
Watch It