13 Things You Didn't Know About Friday 13th: The Final Chapter
7. The Director Was Intense And Unpopular With The Cast
Kimberley Beck, who played Trish, remembers Joseph Zito fondly as an intense but friendly director who helped her feel comfortable running around the woods at night in little else but a man’s shirt. However, not all the cast shared her good opinion.
Judie Aronson's death scene took place in an inflatable raft in the middle of the lake, at night, while completely naked. The lake was freezing, and through set-up after set-up she became so cold that she began to cry, but Zito refused to allow her the time to come out of the lake and warm up between takes.
In his death scene, Jason attacks Doug in the shower, smashing through the shower door and crushing his head against the tilework.
Peter Barton hadn’t wanted to do any more horror movies, having hated shooting 1981’s Hell Night, but he was talked into it by Amy Steel, star of Friday The 13th Part 2, who’d worked with him on his ill-fated alien-superhero-on-earth TV show, The Powers Of Matthew Star.
It was on that show that Barton had suffered an accident with some pyrotechnics, requiring production to be put on hold while he was in hospital: he had serious reservations about stunt work. Despite this, Zito insisted on take after take of a wet, near-naked Barton having his head shoved hard into the unforgiving white tiles.
Corey Feldman also hated working with Zito, who made very few concessions to the age of his young star on set during hectic night shoots of some very disturbing scenes.