Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Ok, I wasn't gonna do another Friday movie so close to the last one, but I'm gonna be on a boat with all my coworkers for a large chunk of today so part VIII seemed like the right choice since so many people accuse it (erroneously) of almost entirely taking place on a boat. Yes, a decent amount of time is devoted to the trip to Manhattan, but it spends more time in the Big Bloody Apple than it gets credit for. Also, the time on the boat is pretty fun, so I'm glad I chose it to prepare for my trip.
I had a little more time than usual today, so as one of only two fans of part VII worldwide (hi Mike!) I decided to make it a double-feature. Yes, I recognize these are both demonstrably terrible movies that even fans of the series dismiss. Let every word Jason says throughout the series represent the number of fucks I give about the terrible reputation these have, I love 'em. Let's start with part VII, which is actually my favorite in the series (yeah, I said it).
Jason faces off with Tina (Lar Park Lincoln), a telekinetic teen who recently arrived at Crystal Lake. It's basically Jason vs Carrie, with lots of the bloodshed left on the cutting room floor as the MPAA was cracking down on violence at the time. So why do I dig it so much? Part of it is John Carl Buechler's Jason design, which is easily my favorite look for ol' swampypants. He's a legitimately terrifying hulk here, and the way Kane Hodder plays him in his first time behind the mask makes him seem like a completely unstoppable maniac who enjoys what he's doing. It's the closest Jason has ever come to having a personality and I dig that. The producers of the franchise must have dug it too, as Hodder is the only person in history to play Jason more than once (he hangs on through four movies, finishing his run with the criminally underrated Jason X). He made the part his own so thoroughly that there was even fan outrage when he was replaced by Ken Kirzinger (who incidentally is murdered by Jason in part VIII) for Freddy vs Jason. I really like the telekinesis angle too, because at least they were trying to make it stand out and give Jason someone worth facing off against. Also, Terry Kiser (Bernie!) appears as an unscrupulous psychiatrist out to exploit Tina and he makes everything better.
There are lots of little touches I enjoy, from the infamous whacking-the-sleeping-bag-against-the-tree kill (Hodder's oft-cited favorite moment from all four of his movies) to the little *honk* when he shoves a party horn into a character's eye. There's enough quirkiness on display to keep it fun, though it's not as overtly comedic as part VI (which is lots of fun in its own right).
Part VIII stays silly as a group of mostly doomed kids set sail for Manhattan without realizing everyone's favorite hockey-masked murder enthusiast is stowing away on their ship. The promise of Jason in Manhattan isn't realized until later in the movie than the filmmakers intended due to the budget being slashed like a promiscuous camper, but they make the most of his travel itinerary. It was less expensive to film outside of Manhattan so the section on the boat was expanded in order to allow costlier NY setpieces to be dropped. Still, once they get to Manhattan there's some terrific footage of Jason in Times Square and director Rob Hedden really makes pre-Giuliani New York seem like a place so horrific it would have given Golan & Globus night sweats. Those midnight toxic waste dumps in the sewer must really raise hell with the property value around there.
The pace is a little slow and the cast is weaker than usual (which where these movies are concerned is reeeeeeeeally saying something) but I still can't help but enjoy it. Hodder still gives Jason more personality than we're used to, and he gets to punch a dude's head clean off his body so it can't be all bad. There are a few fun kills, with electric guitars and hot sauna rocks being my favorite of Jason's newly-discovered murder weapons. Also, it's a kick to see Kelly Hu (X-Men 2's Lady Deathstrike) and her giant 80's hair get chased around the ship. All things considered, there's fun to be had with both of these and if you're inclined to enjoy goofy slashers you could certainly do a lot worse.
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