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FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER – Midnights This Weekend at The Moolah

By Tom Stockman | May 8, 2016

“Jason’s body has disappeared from the morgue!”

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER screens Midnights this weekend (May 13th and 14th) at The Moolah Theater and Lounge (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108) as part of Destroy the Brain’s monthly Late Night Grindhousefilm series.

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984), the fourth film in the venerable franchise, is considered by hard-core fans of the series to be the best, although it was hardly the “final Chapter” (there were at least 10 more). Directed by Joseph Zito (THE PROWLER) directed, which is indeed far above average by slasher standards and features a good cast of recognizable 80’s brat pack wannabes, including Crispin Glover (BACK TO THE FUTURE), Corey Feldman (THE GOONIES), Lawrence Monoson (LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN) and Judie Aronson (WEIRD SCIENCE). It also ranks as one of the goriest in the series, thanks to the return of makeup effects legend Tom Savini, who provided the effects for the first film.

The story doesn’t deviate at all from the F13 formula: a group of horny teens travel to Crystal Lake for a vacation, not knowing of course that Jason has awakened and escaped from the morgue. Little Tommy Jarvis (Feldman), a special effects nut, and his older sister (Kimberly Beck) are intrigued by the newcomers, and get to watch as they go skinny dipping (no shortage of sex and in this one). Meanwhile, the brother of one of Jason’s former victims is out looking to put Jason in the grave once and for all, wandering around in the woods armed with a machete and a shotgun. Jason proceeds to mutilate the bunch in some pretty brutal ways (a boy’s head is crushed against a wall, another gets a corkscrew in the hand and a meat cleaver in the face, a girl is thrown out a window and smashes onto the roof of a car, a guy gets harpooned in the crotch–ouch!), until his final showdown with Tommy, who dresses up like Jason as a kid and confuses him long enough for sis to whack his mask off, revealing his grotesque face. When he goes after her, little Tommy grabs a machete and slams it into Jason’s head, nearly decapitating him when he falls causing the blade to slide further in. Quite an impressive and disgusting special effects feat.

Later, at the hospital, Tommy has a demented look in his eye–leaving the door open for yet another entry despite the title. Enjoyable performances, competent direction, squishy gore effects, and a fast pace make FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER a must see .And you’ll have the opportunity this weekend, which is of course Friday the 13^th of May (and Saturday the 14^th – Hey! Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to show SATURDAY THE 14^th with Richard Benjamin on Saturday?) It’s this month’s Late Night Grindhouse midnight show presented by the madmen at Destroy The Brain! All the gory fun takes place at The Moolah Theater and Lounge (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108) this weekend. See ya there……unless you’re chicken!