One of the most influential modern horror films, 1980’s surprise hit from producer/director Sean S. Cunningham, Friday the 13th, spurred a spate of sequels and imitators, launching an entirely new genre: the American slasher film. Unlike its most immediate influence, Halloween, where emphasis was placed on spine-tingling suspense punctuated by scenes of violence, here the body count was everything and audiences flocked to witness the mayhem.
Director Joseph Zito takes the helm delivering exactly what devotees of the series craved: an attractive cast, ample nudity, decent acting, adequate storyline, hockey masks, and most importantly, lots and lots of brilliantly bloody deaths, brought to sanguinary life by makeup wizard Tom Savini, displaying some of his finest work outside of George Romero’s Dead series.
While admittedly low on realism, The Final Chapter That Wasn’t is high on shock value and good jumpy scares. Screenwriter Barney Cohen’s able script provides the characters with less-than-painful dialogue, and the unsuspecting hedonists are up to the task. Among the showcased carnage are impalings by corkscrew, victims thrown from windows, heads crushed in showers, and a nauseatingly vivid machete-to-the-head in the final reel. All goofy, gory stuff, done with a sense of style and skill.
Tonight, AC and his awesome panel of guests (Jessalyn Abbott, Fraser Coffeen, Dave Kosanke, Lawrence P. Raffel, Larry Sternshein) celebrate Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter: 40 Years Later. A fitting send-off that could have been a satisfying omega to the series... if it hadn’t ended up making oodles of money, leading Paramount to revive the series the very next year. But, again, that’s another story.
**If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to SUBSCRIBE and click the NOTIFICATION BELL for the H101wDrAC channel - you won't want to miss what we have coming up next!**
Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most importantly, Keep Sharing the Scare!
No comments:
Post a Comment