Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday DVD Review

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

By: J.R. McNamara on October 31, 2005

Comments (4)

Roadshow (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 4:3. English DD 2.0. English (FHI) Subtitles. 84 minutes

The Movie

Cover Art

Credits

Director: Adam Marcus
Starring: Kane Hodder, John D. LeMay, Kari Keegan, Steven Williams
Screenplay: Dean Lorey, Jay Huguely
Country: USA

You just got to love Jason Voorhees ability to adapt! Throughout the Friday the 13th series, he has been a hillbilly slasher, zombie, cyborg and here in Friday the 13th Part 9 or Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, he is a transient metaphysical force looking for a new body to occupy. Taking elements from such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Hidden and The Borrower, Jason found new life with his first film from a new production company New Line Cinema, after his many years at Paramount.

After having his body completely destroyed by the FBI, Jason Voorhees' (Kane Hodder) remains are transferred to the Cunningham County Morgue. There, the town coroner (Richard Gant), while under Jason's influence, consumes his heart and starts his rampage anew, completely taking on his persona. This time though, with a purpose. Jason needs a new body and needs to be reborn through a relative Voorhees: his sister, Diana Kimble (Erin Grey) or her daughter, now a mother herself, Jessica (Kari Keegan). The only people who can help them are estranged father of Jessica's baby, Steven (John D. LeMay) and the mysterious bounty hunter, Creighton Duke (Steven Williams), who knows the secret to Jason's ultimate destruction…

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday is full of tongue in cheek humour and homage's (lying around the Voorhees house are the Necronomicon from the Evil Dead films, the jungle gym from The Birds and the Crate from Creepshow), but still has enough gore and goo to satisfy your average horror fan. New Line Cinema should be given a warm handshake for having the fortitude to take a much loved series into a completely different direction even though the experiment didn't completely pay off. Keep your eye out for Jason himself, Kane Hodder, as a security guard in the hospital.

Video

Unfortunately, this is only a 4:3 aspect ratio transfer, but it is at least a clean one.

Audio

It is clear and crisp, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 option is all we get.

Extra Features

None.

The Verdict

I don't mind this entry into the Jason saga, but whether you like this film or not, the fact that it is given nothing, not even a chapter selection on the menu, is reason enough to avoid this like the plague. The only reason a region 4 buyer would get this is to fill the unfortunate hole in their Friday collection. Shame on you Roadshow for treating the horror fan with such contempt!