#FreeWillyFriday: Willy Goes to SeaWorld - The Final Freedom

 Don't worry. This isn't the end.

This was based on the poster for “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday,” the ninth installment of the “Friday the 13th” series. As I've said before, I've only seen portions of a couple of those movies, and I certainly didn't watch this one when it came out in 1993.

But the appearance of that poster, with “hell” in the title and some sort of demon-snake-thing crawling/oozing out of the iconic mask, on the movie ad in The Bluefield Daily Telegraph back in the day shocked me and stuck in my brain.

It may also have caught my attention because it promised an ending to the sprawling franchise. I'm a big fan of continuity, though whether that comes from my love of comics or if I love comics because of their continuity, I'm not sure. So it seemed odd to me that the seemingly endless supply of sequels I hadn't watched would be halting.

Of course, it didn't.

I don't think I realized it at the time, but this wasn't even the first “Friday the 13th” installment with “Final” in the title.

That was part four, subtitled “The Final Chapter.” Released in 1984, it was followed in 1985 by “New Beginning,” plus three more sequels over the next four years.

The second “final” lasted a little longer, with nine years between it and “Jason X,” which found the masked marauder in space, if I remember my trailers correctly. The next year brought “Freddy vs. Jason,” which I believe was his final go-round until a remake in 2009.

His supernatural sparring partner, Freddy Krueger, starred in 1991's “Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.” That series did more or less end – as 1994's”New Nightmare” take place in the “real” world – until “Freddy vs. Jason.”

I haven't watched any of these, but I'm relying on Internet research and knowledgeable friends to make sure I'm getting things right. Maybe going through these films would make for an interesting blog series down the line, but I'm not sure how open-minded I'd be. It wasn't just parental guidance that steered me away from these movies. I tend to presume a lot of horror is about showcasing gore and violence. I know that's not always the case, but if I don't think there's much more to it, I'm not inclined to watch.

All that to say, my Willy sequels aren't ending here. After all, they made a "Last Exorcism Part II."

(I didn't see it either.)