Okay, so... last time, we got an epic conclusion to the story of Tommy Jarvis and his trauma regarding one Jason Voorhees of Crystal Lake. This trauma, of course, was dealt with in the very best way - chaining a man to the bottom of a lake based on some New Age magic stuff you read in the book once after you accidentally resurrected him with magic lightning.
Oh, c'mon! It's how all the cool kids are doing it!
Honestly, were it not for the bit of Jason under the lake pretty much guaranteeing a sequel after that, it would have been a good place to end the series. As of the time of this writing, it's still my favorite film in the franchise and with good reason - Jason Lives is fan-friggin-tastic!
But hey, it made almost twenty million dollars on a budget of only three million, so Paramount was inevitably going to ride that gravy train on yet again. Hence, we got this movie - The New Blood. However, in a neat case of behind the scenes kerfuffle, the story behind how this movie came to be is actually way more interesting than the movie itself. The original idea was to be a crossover between the Friday the 13th and the Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, where Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger would go head to head. Kind of an amusing idea now but back in the late 80s, when the two were on the top of the slasher film world, such a thing would have blown the minds of millions across America and the world.
It also, much like any film starring both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone at that time, was doomed to never happen. As New Line and Paramount could not agree on a script, the idea was nixed and we got The New Blood... which started out as what is basically a rip-off of the first Superman film and Jaws before it became the film we're going to be looking over here today.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this was the first film that Kane Hodder plays Jason in. I know it's a fact known to most, but someone would get pissy if I didn't and I am not above acknowledging a living legend in the horror genre.
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| Jason legitimately looks like a swamp monster and the effect is great. |
The film proper begins with a montage of some of Jason's greatest hits from various films, mostly Part 6, talking up the legend of Jason Voorhees and how Crystal Lake forgets... which is fitting, considering that we find out that the town has actually changed its name back to Crystal Lake after all the big deal made about the name being changed to Forest Green. Apparently wanting to forget the serial killer past of your town is strong but, like family, the need for tourism dollars is much, much stronger.
We are introduced to our main character Tina Shephard (Lar Park Lincoln), a girl with telekinetic powers that accidentally killed her father. According to the official series timeline, the death took place in 1990 - the same year as Jason Lives supposedly did. The meat of this film takes place seven years later, putting us firmly in 1997... and you'll forgive me if I don't feel like we're in the 90's given that this film was made in 1988.
Tina and her mother (Susan Blu) have returned to Crystal Lake at the behest of a Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser), who is seeking to exploit her psychic abilities for personal gain under the guise of giving her psychiatric treatment in the very house that her father died on the lakefront of. Naturally, in true The Final Chapter style, there's a bunch of teenagers not far off because Jason has to have some bodies to add to his already ridiculously high body count. But, yes, Tina has psychokinetic abilities that activates at heightened emotional states, shown when she moves and then sets a matchbook on fire.
So, we have what some fans have affectionately called Carrie Goes Camping as it is Tina who ends up (albeit, like her father's death, unintentionally) dredging Jason back up from the depths where Tommy banished him at the end of the last movie. A whispered apology and a prayer to father accidentally brings back one Hell of an evil force... and the best-looking Jason in the franchise in my opinion.
No, really, it's worth noting. I love how absolutely destroyed Jason's mask, outfit, and even body look from the water damage of seven years. Jason Lives made him a zombie, but The New Blood owns it. Jason Voorhees is no longer just a mute giant in a suit and hockey mask, he has been shaked, rattled, rolled, and more. Instead of just the axe mark from Part 3 being joined by all the rest of the damage and degradation is body has suffered over the years of his killings. It was my favorite suit to use in Friday the 13th: The Game, because it just looks that damn awesome.
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| The look she gives you when you let the flesh pollute the corn... |
Despite what you may think of the buckets of blood and gore... you aren't going to find a lot or indeed very much at all in this movie. Several of the scenes of the deaths were trimmed excessively to avoid an X rating... and considering that things were even gorier in previous films, it's kind of surprising that they went so far. The original cuts do exist as deleted scenes and the like, but aren't present in either the theatrical or home releases of the film. Personally, I don't really care for gore and so this isn't a massive loss for me. However, I do get why people would be upset by it and the editing on some of the kills goes by a little too quickly for you to be able to enjoy any of it, which honestly does take away some of the point.
The film does a little bit to give some investment in our characters before they get into peril, though nearly all of it goes to Tina for reasons of main character status. She begins having vivid hallucinations and visions of Jason's killings while her mother and Dr. Crews don't believe her in a staggering use of the "Not now, kiddo!" trope that is pretty damn insufferable and ends up clinging to Nick (Kevin Blair) and his little friend group (to varying degrees of friend) for support. They get varying degrees of development but, as I've mentioned in previous reviews, this is one of the points where the franchise started to boil characters down to walking tropes and stereotypes.
There are a few characters that stand out in this one, such as the dorky writer that wants to hook up with the blonde bitch character who ends up manipulating him, but uh...
...look, okay, this is entrapment, alrig-ANYWAY, the film is fairly solid for a later day Friday the 13th entry. Definitely not bad, though there's a few wrinkles there. This was, at least, an attempt at an original idea that - even if it ultimately went nowhere - was clearly something the filmmakers had a lot of fun doing. The effects of Tina's psychic powers are a little wonky, but aren't too ridiculous to watch in action. The final fight between her and Jason left me with quite the sinking feeling, though. Top it off with an awesome Harry Manfredini score (the last one he would do until Jason Goes to Hell two films from now) and you have a pretty altogether decent 88 minutes. There are certainly better films in the franchise, but there are worse ones, too. One of those, we'll be getting into next year that was only made because this one was somehow a success.
A movie that I am not looking forward to reviewing again... a film that wants you to believe that Jason Takes Manhattan, but it is a filthy, filthy lie.
As for what we'll be tackling next week, well... IT'S MORBIN' TIME!
See you then!
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| The sudden crossover with Aquaman 30 years before his own solo film was a choice. Not saying it was a good choice, but it was a choice. |
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is brought to us by Paramount Pictures.
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