5¼ Pies

Reviewed by Yankee

Plot Summary

It’s the day after the slaughter at the counselor training center from the last movie and Jason is on roll. Let’s see… Camp Crystal lake is clear and closed…the camp counselor training center is now clear… there is still that annoying mom & pop store by the lake that doesn’t sell good chewing tobacco…should be able to handle that in about ten minutes…how about…ah yes, that house on the lake called Higgins Haven! There’s that little bitch that he couldn’t kill two years ago coming to visit with a bunch of horny druggie friends. Why not have a party of his own?

Review

This is actually one of my favorite Friday the 13th movies AND one of my favorite all time slasher films, period! This was the very first movie I saw with Jason in it and I’ve been axed …err… hooked … ever since. This was the movie that really propelled me from a casual timid watcher of horror to a full-blown fan.

This movie is considered to be a bit of a milestone for a number of reasons. For one thing, the initial revenge drive is basically over. At least, that’s the way I like to look at it. When the main character of a movie is mute, you have to interpret him by his actions. When I watch this movie and the ones that follow I don’t see the same kind of rage and drive for revenge witnessed in part 2. No, from this point it seems that Jason enjoys what he does and wants to pursue his calling.

And a calling it is as Jason truly steps up his game. The level of skill and style shown here could only be that of someone who has made killing his art and passion rather than a short -lived revenge quest. Jason had his revenge in the beginning of part 2. He mourned and recovered with the massacre in the last movie and now it’s time to “carve out” his niche as a true serial killer. Man, there’s nothing like watching a master work his craft.

Another reason for the milestone status is that this is where Jason first donned the infamous hockey mask. It’s just too bad that it wasn’t revealed why he chose to do this, that we don’t actually see it happen or why he continued to wear it for the rest of his career.

Quotes:

Chili: Give me something to scream about.

Shelly: Is that all you're gonna do this weekend? Smoke dope?

Vera Sanchez: Hey cut that out, that's not funny!

Chris Higgins: No! You CAN'T be alive!

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

Some people watch this and actually think it’s pretty scary. I watched it while extremely under aged and still found it to be mild. It was a cool kill fest but I wasn’t even concerned about nightmares. I loved the hockey mask, but to me it lessened the spookiness. Jason was scariest during the dream sequence without his mask. The rest of the movie was more of the kind that made you jump rather than scare you.

Antagonist: ½ Pie

It would be really easy to give Jason a higher ranking here. He’s calm and more calculated in his killing. He takes pride in playing with his victims’ heads (literally and figuratively) and he’ll even accessorize in between kills. So why the lack of pie, you ask? Watch the part where he is subdued by library books. I could have walked away from that easier! Knowledge is power but a man who is literally wearing protective head gear should be able to handle some falling books.

Story: ½ Pie

For a movie intended to be the final chapter of the series, there sure wasn’t much effort put into the story. We get a lazy recap of the previous movie, no on screen reason for bringing the mayhem to these new people (my explanation is nice, but it’s mine) and the little bit of back story we get on Chris’ connection to Jason is half assed and boring.

Acting: ½ Pie

Not that it’s saying much but the acting here is a little better than the last movie. The dialogue is more consistent with the time the story takes place, but inconsistent with the fact that it is a day after the last movie; however, I cannot blame the cast for the crappy dialogue that the old cast had to deal with. The lead girl was able to show some range and shined in her performance of someone who had lost their sanity due to the tragedy.

Directing: ½ Pie

Most of the action scenes play out kind of weird because of the extra effort put into giving us one “cool” 3-D gag after another. When the emphasis was more on the movie itself, the directing was decent but sadly that was few and far in between. When watching this as a 2-D version, a lot of the shots do not make sense.

Soundtrack: ½ Pie

What a mixed bag of music we have for this film! When the scenes have the stylistic orchestrated music we heard in the first two films, it works pretty good but other times it sounds like a really bad 80s disco. The only time the modern music was kind of cool (in a novelty sense) was during the opening credits. I almost expected to discover that I had popped in the wrong DVD and was actually watching Blackula!

Special Effects: ½ Pie

If you were to remove the fact that we were being “treated” to a 3-D movie then this would have been a superior entry. However, that not being the case, we instead got a movie with loads of potential but lesser quality in its execution. I know that’s a bit harsh for a movie that came out in 1982, but think of the reputation this series and the fact that this was supposed to be the end.

Gore: ¾ Pie

Here is where the movie shined. For all the cool kills they put in this movie, it would have sucked had the gore been lacking. It’s not over the top either. We get an ample amount yet still reasonable for what was going on.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: ¾ Pie

Despite the numerous flaws I have pointed out this is quite a watchable movie. In fact, I couldn’t even tell you how many times I have seen it because it has been so many. And it’s been a pleasure to watch it each time. It even rocked the time I watched it on a major cable station that cut a lot out to make it “more TV friendly.” Dude, why would you air a Jason movie if you’re worried about being “friendly?”

Pros

Great new look, feel and take on the killing machine known as Jason. A hot lead actress (for once) and never a happy ending.

Cons

Over emphasis on 3-D effects made the other elements suffer.

Final Word

As I prepare for a weekend that includes seeing a reboot of this franchise, I look back favorably at the first three films upon which the reboot is based on. This being my favorite of the three, it will be interesting to see if they’ll take the best elements from it and move it forward or just make a bigger mess then what was already there.

Where is this coming from?