Jason Goes to Hell : The Final Friday

Jason Goes to Hell : The Final Friday title

AKA Friday the 13th Part 9 : Jason Goes to Hell

Tag Line : Evil has finally found a home.

Jason Goes to Hell : The Final Friday The Final Friday the 13th is here! (don't you believe it, that's what they said in part 4). Jason is tracked down by the FBI and ambushed by a police SWAT unit next to Crystal Lake, where he is literally blown to pieces in the ensuing gunfire.

With Jason apparently gone for good the local townsfolk start to relax and a few people begin returning to the Crystal Lake area. But with Jason's body lying in pieces in their morgue, the police are then baffled by the disappearance of one of the morticians and another spate of mysterious killings taking place soon after.

Bounty Hunter Creighton Duke (played by a pre-X-files Steven Williams) knows what is happening and also knows the only way that Jason can be truly stopped forever (until the next film that is), but fans of the series will be in for a big disappointment as despite the return of Kane Hodder as Jason, the actual character only appears in the film briefly in a farcical plot, that's ripped directly off "The Hidden" and owes more to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" than Friday the 13th.

Also starring John D LeMay, who appearing in the TV series, and US TV actress Erin Grey, I had expected much better than this dismal effort, and in many ways is a bigger turkey than part 8. Since when did Jason's "spirit" go leaping from person to person and taking over their bodies? The ending is also exceptionally corny, which features another popular horror character. I won't say who but he's pitched up against Jason in a future film (there's a clue for you).

Overall marks 5/10.

Other Information.

Alternate tag lines "The creator of the first returns to bring you the last", "Horror, has many faces... death, wears many different masks... but pure evil, wears only one... and this is your final chance, to see it.", "Jason goes to hell, and he's NOT coming back!" (oh yes he does).
This film was by New Line Pictures, who also own the rights to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the "Nightmare on Elm Street" Saga. The franchise was quickly snapped up by New Line, after Paramount Pictures decided that Friday the 13th had exhausted its financial appeal.
Director Adam Marcus also worked on the first film, and Sean Cunnigham, who was the director of the first movie, returned to produce.
Harry Manfredini, who scored arts 1-7, returned to provide the music (Hoooray!).
A flashback scene was originally scripted featuring Jason Mother, Pamela Voorhees. Original actress Betsy Palmer was asked to reprise her role, but declined and the scene was eventually dropped.
Kane Hodder also starred as one of the guards at the morgue that gets killed by Jason.
The crate in the basement of the Voorhees house is the same as the crate that contained the monster in the Steven King, George Romero collaboration "Creepshow".
The book in the old Voorhees house was the Necronomicon from the Evil Dead trilogy. The knife used to kill Jason at the end was the same dagger used in The Evil Dead.
Although the area is still called Crystal Lake, it appears that the county name has changed once again. This time to Cunningham County (a tip of the hat to Sean Cunningham who produced this film and directed the original).
The film was heavily cut in the US to achieve an "R" rating (meaning minors can see the film if accompanied by an adult) for it's theatrical release. The original UK video was the same as the cut "R" rated version. However, the uncut directors edition was released onto UK DVD. The directors cut can also be found on US DVD and video and on Japanese DVD.
Two scenes filmed but not used in either version, the first showing the undercover cop at the beginning pulling a gun from her bath towel and shooting Jason in the head (when she gets out of the shower you see her stuff something into the bath towel, but Jason's first headshot was changed to being fired from one of the swat officers) and one of the diner employee's getting roasted on the hotplate (curiously, stills of these 2 scenes are shown on the reverse of the unrated video, despite the fact they were not included in the actual film).
There were several scenes filmed that were only shown in the US TV version. These can be found as extras on the US DVD and include Steven making a prank phone call at the diner, extended dialogue when Robert interviews Duke on TV and when Steven fights with Officer Randy on the roadside, along with several extended scenes in the diner and police station. There was also an additional scene where the chief, Ed, warns Robert not to exploit the fact that Jessica is Jason's sister in the media.