El infierno de Jason

Okay, okay - its not the greatest of the series (I personally like Part 5 and Jason X for its pure unadulterated hamminess), but I think the problem with the film is more than just being bad but it was bizarre - it was so totally off the charts, I enjoyed it more looking at it from the perspective of a stand-alone film rather than part of the series. As part of the series, well, lets just say there is a lot to complain about, but on its own - its not bad. Certainly has a bit more personality than the other films. It felt a bit like Freddy Part 6 but made less sense! Its not that bad - worth a look if you like the series.

'Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday' is far from picture, but when I compare it to the ones I have seen (2, 3, 4, parts of 5 and 6, 8) it isn't that awful.

The film is far from scary. I saw the unrated version and only jumped when someone knocked on my window. So if you are in for something to keep you out of your seat rent 'Scream.'

But I liked it because I enjoy gore. It makes the first fifteen minutes of 'Scream' become tame. This movie is hardcore, especially the director's cut (which is available.) It is not for a weak stomach.

So you might as well try it out. I think you will enjoy it.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

1/2 (out of 4)

For this ninth entry in the long-running series we saw studios changed hands as New Line took over after Paramount had grown tired with the series. New Line's attempt was to bring some new blood into the series but what they ended up doing was delivering the worst film. This time out we start off with Jason (Kane Hodder) chasing a victim through the woods when a SWAT team jumps out and blows him to pieces. The only problem is that his heart is still alive and after a doctor bites into it the soul of Jason enters him. Turns out Jason had a sister so the spirit, jumping from body to body, now tries going after her and her daughter. As you can tell by not having Jason in the movie except for the start and finish, the studio certainly tried doing something new and I can still remember my father taking me to see this with a sold out crowd on opening night. The crowd was certainly pumped up and ready to go but by the twenty-minute mark people were bored out of their minds. At the end of the film people were throwing popcorn at the screen, cussing and everyone walks out mad and cheated. So has time helped this film? Certainly not as it's clearly the worst in the series just because of how stupid the spirit jumping in. Not only does the film have logical plot holes it also has some really bad direction, bad dialogue and, as I said, a really bad story. The only thing that really saves this turkey are some rather good kill scenes as well as the now well-known cameo at the end, which gave fans something to look forward to (even though it didn't happen for over a decade). With this film the characters are all poorly written and for the first time in the series there wasn't a single one I cared for. I found all of them to be very annoying with a leading man who couldn't carry a grocery sack let alone an entire film. The female heroin isn't any more interesting and Hodder really doesn't get to do much with Jason since you see him and then he's gone. Even the ending manages to be the worst in the series. All in all this is just a very bad movie from start to finish.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is (supposedly) the last Friday the 13th chapter... FBI agents hunt down and destroy Jason at Crystal Lake - but Jason has the ability to possess other people's bodies and continues his bloodbath.

I don't think this would be a favourite of the fans - it is quite corny, Jason doesn't feature a lot in the movie... but I think the movie half-way through takes a turn for the better. Instead of being another mindless slasher - the movie goes all John Woo with some cool gun fights and slow motion camera. It was like the director had watched a couple of John Woo films for the first time half-way through shooting the movie and decides... "it would be cool to use this stuff in this movie"!

The "Invasion of the Body Snatcher" plot doesn't work - but I think the stylish gun battles redeem this film somewhat. Sort of recommended!

If there's one thing that can and should be said in defense of "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday", it's this...

...this is one bold, gutsy move for the franchise! Completely subversive and joyously disparate when placed in comparison to the previous eight films. A bizarre, red-headed-stepchild with a strange and sharp leaning towards the overly fantastical and blatantly magical. Taking what had been to that point an increasingly repetitious series, and attempting to inject some fresh blood for what was at the time considered to be the one... last... film to cap it all off.

Is is a success? Well, I'd say for the most part, fans do consider it a failure because it strayed so much from the formula in trying to establish a grandiose finale. And I think I would probably consider it to be a bit of a failure for that very same reason. But it's definitely a fascinating and daring failure. One that I can get behind. Especially after the increasing monotony of the previous two films.

Sue me, but I'll take an interesting failure that attempts to shake up the formula over a bland retread any day of the week!

Jason Voorhees has finally been killed. After an FBI Sting Operation blows his body to smithereens, the town of Crystal Lake is finally able to settle down, knowing the figment that has haunted them for so many years is finally gone.

Or is he?

Nope! As it turns out, Jason has become something more than human, and his evil has given him the ability to possess others through some sort of relatively-unexplained magical means. Now, Jason is coming back to seek vengeance, taking the forms of various characters through body-swapping, intent on locating surviving members of the family, so that he may be reborn again through them in his original form. Now, his only living relative (Kari Keegan), her ex (John D. LeMay) and a bounty hunter who knows the truth about Jason (Steven Williams) must team up to stop him once and for all!

Look, this movie's ridiculous. It's completely out of left-field. It doesn't really connect properly with the previous films. Its storyline is just bizarre. And it's a completely different beast tonally from any of the other flicks...

...but it's a lot of fun!

Director Adam Marcus and writers Jay Huguely and Dean Lorey seem to have a ton of ideas on how to exploit this ridiculous concept, and are given free reign to just go crazy. There's a little something for everyone here. From a touch of the self-aware laughs that made "Jason Lives" so enjoyable, to some wild and whacked-out imagery (you won't look at a straight-razor the same way again!) to some good old-fashioned kills that harken back to the first couple of movies, this film aims to deliver a roller-coaster ride from Hell... and it does deliver on that promise.

Add to that some likable performances, fun and inventive kinetic camera-work that knows how to make the best of it's lowish budget, weirdly entertaining humor and plenty of gore to go around... and it produces a film that I find to be a decent bit of dumb-fun.

This movie is stupid. Beyond belief. And it doesn't feel anything like the previous eight outtings. But I'm OK with that. It's got a lot of insane-o concepts and ideas to play with, it knows exactly what it wants to be, and it's got some fiendishly creative minds at it's helm.

It's a failure... but an entertaining and wildly ambitious failure that I can't help but root for.

So I'm giving it a middle of the road 5 out of 10. If you're a fan of the franchise and are open minded, give it a shot. You might be one of the proud few who really enjoys this off-the-rails nutcase- of-a- flick.