Friday the 13th Part 4 ★★★
DEVOTING the first three minutes of a 90-minute film to recapping the previous three instalments might suggest a franchise was in trouble.
But that’s the kind of weird decisions that were made by producers and studios back in the 1980s and ‘90s when they were working out what to do with the myriad of horror franchises.
Audiences just couldn’t seem to get enough of the Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare on Elm Street films.
Halloween is arguably the most successful, but Friday the 13th has managed to deliver a dozen instalments with one of the best being Friday the 13th Part 4.
Released in 1984, it was part of an initial rapid progression since the original in 1980. It was also advertised as The Final Chapter which we know is never that.
Parts 2 and 4 are generally considered the best of the sequels and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment.
The main aspects of Part 4 which make it stand out are the high body count, inventive deaths by hacksaw, harpoon, corkscrew, axe, machete etc, exploitative nudity which, combined, resulted in the film initially being banned from Australian screens until cuts were made.
It also includes young Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover in the cast, giving performances that clearly suggests they have futures in movies.