Friday the 13th The Series: The Final Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

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I’m baaaacccccckkkk with the final season of Friday The 13th: The Series after giving favorable reviews to both the first season and the second as well. The third and final season of the series still does not include Jason Voorhees so fans of the films need not get their hopes up of seeing the hockey mask and machete. Everything continues to be over the top as the cursed antique store still has items that are haunting people’s lives, but it sure is a lot of fun to watch. It’s no wonder that I loved this show as a kid because it is so absolutely absurd at times that all children should enjoy it if they aren’t worried about small amounts of fear here and there. But adults should get a kick out the series just as much because there’s nothing better then mindless fun.

Micki Foster and her distant cousin Ryan Dallion have inherited an antique shop that was owned by their late uncle Lewis Vendredi. They believe they’ve simply got a business to run or one to sell off once everything is settled, but there’s something they don’t know. Uncle Lewis made a deal with the devil long ago to gain the ultimate fortune he has long wished for. The deal though is that Vendredi must sell cursed objects in his store that will do the devil’s bidding. For a while all was running smoothly, but when Vendredi broke the deal; his death occurred and his soul belonged to the devil. The antique shop still has cursed objects that Micki and Ryan unknowingly sell to happy buyers.

Along the way of making their business work, an old friend of their uncle named Jack Marshak approached them and advised them of the awful things they were selling. The group now is determined to get the items back and store them safely in a vault underneath the shop that will keep the evil powers at bay. Their only hope is to track down all those who purchased items from the shop, buy them back, and put them in the vault before anything too horrible happens. The only problem is that there are only three of them and way too many items to get back quickly so some evil and awful things are already going on.

Let me warn you again that fans of the films hoping they’ll get random appearances by Jason or maybe even hoping he’s going to kill countless people each episode, are setting themselves up for disappointment. He’s not going to show up. People aren’t going to go camping at Crystal Lake. And it was way too early for Jason to appear in space after being cryogenically frozen for years. In fact, there isn’t even a real reason for the series to have the title it does, but true horror fans will understand why. If you take the original owner of the antique shop and translate his last name, Vendredi, into English then you have “Friday.” TA-DA! Kind of neat huh? Hold on everyone and don’t get your panties in a bunch because it has nothing to do with the film franchise. Believe you’ll be missing out on some good stuff if you give up on it before even checking it out. Yes, it’s nutty at times but you need to just let go and give in to the craziness and just enjoy. There are far too many television shows today making you do nothing but think. Not a single thought process is needed while watching Friday the 13th: The Series so consider that a blessing.

The final season of the series really should have been just the third with many more to come because it just started getting REALLY good at this point. Incorporated in were all the antiques, curses, and fun from the first two seasons but there was a bit of “crossing the line” thrown in here as well. There is some gore here, blatant racism, over the top demonic possessions, and even a bit of the occult battling it out with religion making this series step right in line with some of the best horror films from the past four decades. Check out episodes like “Hate On Your Dial,” “The Charnel Pit,” and even the two-hour long season premier entitled “The Prophecies” to see exactly how they upped the bar here as opposed to the first two seasons. I loved this series beforehand but this season made me fall in love with it and then it was stripped right from my life. Sadly another great series taken far too early.

Episodes

Disc One:

The Prophecies (Parts 1 & 2)
Demon Hunter
Crippled Inside

Disc Two:

Stick It In Your Ear
Bad Penny
Hate On Your Dial
Night Prey

Disc Three:

Femme Fatale
Mightier Than The Sword
Year Of The Monkey
Epitaph For A Lonely Soul

Disc Four:

Midnight Riders
Repetition
The Long Road Home
My Wife As A Dog

Disc Five:

Spirit Of Television
Jack-In-The-Box
The Tree Of Life
The Charnel Pit

The episodes are shown in 4:3 Anamorphic Widescreen format and they really show their age a lot in this set. Not much has been done to fix them up obviously, and it is evident that they’re twenty years old. Still, they get the job done and are adequate enough for the material presented.

The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital Mono Sound and it also isn’t much to get excited about. Sadly these aren’t in surround sound to get the full effect of some spooky music and sound effects all around the room which is what horror truly is all about.

Original Network Launch Promos – A handful of the original TV spots that aired to promote the series. Nothing much.

Except for the severe lack of special features again, this is a great set to pick up to finish off the collection. If you haven’t grabbed seasons one and two yet then what are you waiting for? Once you get over the fact that Jason is not associated with everything with the title of Friday The 13th attached to it, then you’ll find yourself face to face with a fantastic horror series. It aggravates me to no end that this series got the plug pulled on it after a mere three seasons because it seems to me that it could have lasted probably another five or maybe six. Well, it’s over now and there is nothing I can do about it now but relive the greatness of this series through the magic of DVD. Makes me so angry sometime that I just feel like walking overly slow, brooding over people, and carrying a huge machete.

I won’t do it though. Nope, just won’t. You can’t make me do it. Awww what the hell…Chh-Chh-Chh Ahh-Ahh-Ahh (Kill-Kill-Kill Ma-Ma-Ma)!


Paramount Home Entertainment presents Friday the 13th The Series: The Final Season. Created by: Frank Mancuso Jr. & Larry B. Williams. Starring: Louise Robey, Chris Wiggins, John D. LeMay, and more. Running time: 914 minutes on 5 discs. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: September 22, 2009. Available at Amazon.com