Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

"Three times before you have felt the terror, known the madness, lived the horror. But this is the one you've been screaming for."

1984 1h 31m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🥫

25%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 1,575🥫25%Rotten Tomatoes●33Metacritic★6IMDB · 65,127

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After his revival in a hospital morgue, Jason fixes his vengeful attention on the Jarvis family and a group of hitherto carefree teenagers.

“Three times before you have felt the terror, known the madness, lived the horror. But this is the one you've been screaming for.”

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Cast

Judie Aronson
Samantha
Kimberly Beck
Trish Jarvis
Joan Freeman
Mrs. Jarvis
Barbara Howard
Sara
Corey Feldman
Tommy Jarvis
Erich Anderson
Rob Dier
Peter Barton
Doug
Crispin Glover
Jimmy Mortimer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joseph Zito
Writers: Bruce Hidemi Sakow, Barney Cohen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $33M — a 12.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Friday the 13th Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joseph Zito, shot by João Fernandes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Harry Manfredini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Goodman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Judie Aronson and Kimberly Beck and Joan Freeman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joseph Zito directs. João Fernandes behind the camera. Harry Manfredini scores. Joel Goodman cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $33M — a 12.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
342 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "Friday the 13th Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Joseph Zito, shot by João Fernandes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Harry Manfredini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Joel Goodman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Judie Aronson and Kimberly Beck and Joan Freeman carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Three times before you have felt the terror, known the madness, lived the horror. But this is the one you've been screaming for.".
10IMDB entry: tt0087298 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 19 themes, including "lake", "new jersey", "sadism", "psychopath".
12Released under 54 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: João Fernandes
Original score: Harry Manfredini
Editing: Joel Goodman
Production design: Shelton H. Bishop III
Makeup / hair: Tom Savini
Sound: Joseph D. Citarella
Stunt coordinator: John Sherrod
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,600,000
Box office: $32,984,636
Return: 1269% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes: 25% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 33/100
IMDB rating: 6/10 · 65,127 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

3 nominations total

Part of

Friday the 13th Collection

An American slasher series set largely around the fictional town of Crystal Lake, New Jersey, which tells the story of serial murderer Jason Voorhees, and others who would kill on his behalf and in his name.

Also by

Joseph Zito

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-08-24
★ 4/10
You got the curse? Well we all thought Jason was dead, as he is here taken to the morgue after being mortally killed... But of course he revives and sets about establishing that he is in fact an indestructible killing machine. I wouldn't want to be living near Camp Crystal Lake right now... In truth it's a good old 1980s slasher pic, but that doesn't necessarily make it worthy to anyone outside of the hardiest of hardest Friday13th franchise fans. The kills and gore quotient are high, bloody and gooey, with the kills not lacking for invention, but plot formula is tired and weary. Crispin Glover makes for something of a curio appearance in the piece, whilst a young Corey Feldman rocks up for a bit of Damien Thorn channelling. Some series fans love it whilst others abhor it. Question is? We know it wasn't to be the final chapter after all, so how does it hold up against the others that would follow it down the bloody intestine strewn path?
Gimly2018-09-13
★ 6/10
Doesn't divert much from the formula of the first three films, but does add two new elements which I actually enjoyed. I am curious though, when they made this one, did they actually think that this was going to be the final chapter, or where they fully aware they were gonna keep beating that horse for decades to come? Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.
Wuchak2019-07-13
★ 6/10
Another entertaining sequel, better than Part III The first two films are serious in nature with the expected antics of youths at camp, but the franchise introduced a campy element with Part III, which pretty much plagued the rest of the series until the reboot in 2009. Released in 1984, "Part IV: The Final Chapter" is an exception as it thankfully omits the cartoonish elements of "Part III" and serves up another take on the same basic story. This time several youths go out to their parents' vacation home on Crystal Lake to party where they meet the sister & brother from a nearby house, Trish & Tommy Jarvis (Kimberly Beck and Corey Feldman). Then Jason attacks! There’s also someone at the lake hunting Jason for vengeance. Like Part III, this film was shot on the West Coast instead of the East Coast, specifically Santa Clarita, CA, and nearby Topanga Canyon, which is 30 minutes south of Santa Clarita, as well as Zaca lake, about 150 miles northwest. The geography is obviously dryer and an all-around contrast to the first two films, but this won’t matter to most viewers. As usual, the film features a nice assortment of females. This time out, there are no "minorities" like the previous movie; the ladies consist of five white girls and a winsome petite mother. Trish is my favorite, the best heroine yet (until the next film that is), followed by Samantha; but they all have their points of interest. BOTTOM LINE: Despite its title, Part IV is far from the "Final Chapter." There would be four more sequels before the 80s even ran out! In any case, this is another entertaining segment in the series with a fresh assortment of characters and a new female protagonist. This sequel is notable for introducing the character of Tommy Jarvis and hinting at the lingering diabolic Voorhees spirit. Like its predecessor, Part IV was shot in dry Southern Cal and Jason, with his iconic mask, is bigger and more imposing than in Part II. While the movie is a step up from Part III it's not as effective as the first two films, largely because of the uneventful mid-section and the rather lame portrayal of Jason in the last act, although his unmasked face is great. The film runs 9l minutes and the uncut version 97 minutes. GRADE: B-