Friday the 13th: Part 4 ~ Film Review
Four films into a franchise, the audience just waits for the ship to sink. Maintaining a franchise, especially one in horror, is difficult because the jig is up after the first film. It's tricky to engage an audience with a story when they know the ending and the villain. Four films in, I expected my beloved Jason Voorhees's ship to sink… but it didn't. Two years after part three, Friday the 13th: Part 4: The Final Chapter was released; those Voorhees movies came out rapid-fire during the 80s. This film has everything fans love about the franchise: kids going bad, Jason instilling order, original death sequences, and an overly-diverse cast. And the cast is likable and entertaining, which is a refreshing change from most horror films. All of that, plus a well-paced movie with the perfect amount of thrills, equals a fantastic addition to the franchise and great campy horror.
Part four begins by recapping the first three films, which is always a nice way to start in case the audience doesn't remember or hasn't seen them. The film centers around two houses on Crystal Lake. The Jarvis family rents one and the other for six kids visiting the lake to party. Sound like your typical Jason film? Good. This film keeps it simple but still manages to breathe new life into the franchise.
