Like the previous installment, The Final Chapter picks up precisely where its predecessor left off. After being axed and left for dead, Jason is taken to the county morgue where he awakens, slashes his way through a couple of employees, and escapes. He returns to Camp Crystal Lake to continue his reign of terror on a group of vacantioners who have gathered in a rented getaway retreat deep in the woods.

Meanwhile, Rob (Erich Anderson), a backwoods hunter, is seeking revenge. Years before, Jason murdered his sister (Sandra in Part 2). But it isn't Rob who strikes the supposed final blow. After learning of Jason's blood-laced legend through a series of gruesome news articles and witnessing the carnage that he has left behind first hand, Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman), a young FX wiz, alters his appearence to look like Jason and confronts the masked killer face-to-face. A rabid, super-gory climax follows with Tommy slamming a machete into Jason's unmasked face and slashing him to a bloody pulp.

The film ends on a cliffhanger which suggests that Tommy's murderous rage is uncontrollable and that he may pick up where Jason left. Will he?

Released on April 13, 1984, The Final Chapter was shot in Lake Minnewashta, Chanhassen, Minnesota, on a budget of $4 million. The film would eventually go to gross $32.6 million. Joseph Zito, who directed the criminally underrated and rarely seen The Prowler, took over the directing chores this time out and did an amazing job, emphasising gore and splatter effects as well as fast-paced action sequences.

All of this caused quite a stir in certain parts of the globe. The gory final "death" scene was banned in several countries overseas and has only recently been reinstated in the video release. Also, an extra dialogue scene between Sara (Barbara Howard) and her boyfriend Paul (Alan Hayes), edited from the North American theatrical cut, is often included in the television version to prolongue the running time.