Where to watch Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
1 Star
After promising audiences nine years earlier that installment IV was The Final Chapter, New Line Cinema continued to milk the Friday the 13th franchise for all it was worth, with a final-final entry that ultimately wouldn’t be the last. This particular film is reviled by long-time fans of the series for its Invasion of the Body Snatchers theme and the lack of Jason for the majority of the running-time. The saving grace for this sub-par sequel is superb creature effects from the vastly talented Robert Kurtzman.
After being gunned down by a highly weaponized SWAT team, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) soul jumps from body-to-body in an effort to stay alive. Voorhees’ spirit must find the last remaining decent of the family clan in order to have his physical body re-born. A nerdy college-kid (John D. LeMay), who happens to be the father of the toddler that Jason seeks, attempts to thwart Voorhees’s attacks on his descendant (Kari Keegan). Lurking around the muddled story is a mean-spirited bounty hunter (Steven Williams) who discovers the only way to kill Jason.
The best moment of the movie comes in the closing seconds; a half buried hockey mask is pulled into the dirt by the claw of Freddy Kruger. This teaser provoked interest in a cross-over project and stoked word-of-mouth, powering this terrible production into a profitable money-maker for its studio while alienating its core fan base. The fallout would result in audiences ignoring the costly follow-up Jason X.
Director: Adam Marcus
Stars: Kane Hodder, John D. LeMay, Steven Williams