Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is a 1993 horror film directed by Adam Marcus. It is the ninth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise and the first film from the series to be produced under the banner of New Line Cinema (the previous films were produced by Paramount Pictures). It is also the first film in the series to not have Friday the 13th as part of its title. Jason Goes to Hell was released theatrically in the United States on Friday, August 13th, 1993. Aside The film is a drastic departure from previous installments of the series, focusing more on the supernatural elements of its eponymous villain Jason Voorhees. This film introduces the idea of a body-hopping Voorhees, whose evil spirit moves from vessel to vessel, looking for the perfect host body from which he can be truly reborn. This alternative concept received mixed reviews from both critics and fans.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday was released to DVD on October 8th, 2002. DVD features include audio commentary by director Adam Marcus and screenwriter Dean Lorey.
The film was adapted into the three-issues Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday comic book series by Topps Comics. Each issue shipped polybagged and included a Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday trading card.
An alternative working title for the film was Friday the 13th Part IX: The Dark Heart of Jason Voorhees.
This is the third film in the series with actor/stuntman Kane Hodder reprising the role of Jason Voorhees. Kane also plays a Security guard at the Ohio morgue who refers to his own character as a "pussy". Hodder is also the hand inside the infamous Freddy Krueger glove seen at the end of the film.
This is the only film in the series where the adult Jason is heard speaking (albeit through the body of Deputy Randy Parker). To confuse Jessica Kimble, he shouts "Freeze! Get the hell away from her, Ed!" Jason's conscious decision to speak verifies that he possesses normal intelligence and is not mentally handicapped as has been implied in other films.
There are several nods to other horror films peppered throughout the movie; the most obvious of which is the distinctive metal claw of Freddy Krueger seen dragging Jason's mask down to Hell at the end of the film. The background laughter is an audio sample of Robert Englund's voice from the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, but the hand itself belongs to stuntman Kane Hodder. Inside the Voorhees house rests the Necronomicon, the fabled "Book of the Dead" from Evil Dead fame. The prop used in this film is the same one used in the first Evil Dead movie. In this same scene, a wooden crate labeled "Antarctica Expedition" can be seen. This crate was originally used in one of the segments from the 1982 film Creepshow, appropriately titled "The Crate". In the scene where Jessica goes to the police station, she tells Sheriff Ed Landis that she saw Robert Campbell out by the "...old Myers place". This is a wink to Michael Myers, another famous serial murderer from the Halloween franchise. Also, the setting of Cunningham County is named for series creator Sean S. Cunningham. The Cunningham name has been used in several places throughout the film series.
Director Adam Marcus makes a cameo appearance as an assistant coroner. His character is killed by Jason Voorhees while possessing the body of the chief coroner, Phil.
