review for Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter on AllMovie

With the exception of Kevin Bacon, Corey Feldman is probably the most famous actor ever to grace a Friday the 13th flick, and his precocious performance in Friday the 13th -- The Final Chapter is one of the elements that elevates the film above most of the other installments. The lurid imagery of special-effects artists Tom Savini and Martin Becker don't hurt, nor does Barney Cohen's relatively well-oiled script. Teen comedy antics from Crispin Glover and Lawrence Monoson and the good girl/bad girl combo of Barbara Howard and Judie Aronson give the typically sex-crazed shenanigans of the cast of victims a bit more pull than normal, although Kimberly Beck is just as generic a putative heroine as those found in the earlier installments. Joseph Zito isn't exactly a cinematic stylist, but the director does manage to inject a bit of freshness into the inevitable climactic hunt. The scene in which Feldman's character figuratively "becomes" Jason is among the queasiest moments in the entire series; the killing that occurs immediately afterward is definitely the most enjoyable, as far as such things go. Alas, this wasn't truly "the final chapter" in the saga.