"Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter"

Well, anyone who knows anything about horror movie franchises (and this one in particular!) knows that there is never truly a "final chapter." There were, however, some very fine (eighties) moments in this flick. First off, you have a spastic, pre-"Back to the Future" Crispin Glover playing a clueless, heartbroken teenager who gets some ass in spite of his best efforts at remaining sexless. His dancing scene alone is worth watching this flick as it is on-par with Farmer Ted's performance in "Sixteen Candles." In addition, he actually makes it past the one hour mark in the film, albeit barely.

Secondly, Lawrence Monoson seems to be reprising his titular role from "The Last American Virgin." This guy hits on everything that walks and still comes away without dipping his wick. On top of this, he insists on referring to Crispin Glover as a "dead fuck" and he refers all of his life problems to an imaginary computer. In short, he is begging to have an axe buried in his chest!

Thirdly, this movie stars a bowl-cut sporting, pre-"Stand By Me" Corey Feldman as the hero. We all know that this half of "The Coreys" is capable of carrying a film, and carry he does. Of course, in the "Friday the 13th" tradition, this amounts to little more than five minutes of plot work when naked teenagers aren't being splattered across the screen. Corey's creepy hobby of making monster masks (his initial alien mask is the shit!!) and psycho turn at the end cemented his place in the canon of great horror performances. Little did we know that he would add to those credentials with 1987's "The Lost Boys". The look he gives the camera at the end is absolutely priceless. We now know that something in that noggin has snapped for good.

Otherwise this is another standard slasher flick. Nothing terribly inventive as far as the death scenes, although I did particularly like the hitchhiker with the "Fuck You" sign being impaled while she squeezes her banana out of its peel. Kudos for Jason being shown without his mask. He is one ugly motherfucker, so nothing's changed there.

Bottom Line: While not a must-see, this installment gets curiosity points for having two stars early in their respective careers. Not a bad overall flick, and definitely fine entertainment for fans of the slasher genre.

Rating: 2 out of 5 skulls.