MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives" (1986)

Okay, now this is actually really good.

No, I mean it. This isn't the set up for a punchline. Jason Lives is just really, really good. Besides the original, it's probably the best of the entire franchise.

So, last time, we got to see what would happen if you did a Friday the 13th movie that didn't have Jason. Y'know, besides the first time. It was a beautiful little dumpster fire that ended on a note that Tommy Jarvis was going to become the new killer for the franchise, something that had been foreshadowed at the end of the fourth movie.

. . .also, while I'm dropping links, I actually fixed the fifth movie into something I thought could work. Please, check it out and tell me how wrong I am!

Regardless, let's get on with Part 6. You remember how I mentioned the fifth movie? Well, forget it, because this movie certain does and that's probably not a bad thing.

I joke, but besides a single throwaway line of dialogue in the very beginning of the film, Part 5 doesn't even get a passing mention. Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) returns to the Crystal Lake area to put the demon of Jason Voorhees to rest once and for all. With a hockey mask that looks suspiciously identical to Jason's original and with Torchy from Snake Eater as his co-pilot, Tommy is wanting to do the most logical thing - dig up Jason and cremate his body.

He's back!
He's pissed!
Cutting off heads he has missed!

. . .of course we remember that the mayor of Crystal Lake insisted in Part 5 that Jason had been cremated, but we're ignoring that one.

I kid, of course. Apparently Part 6 was originally going to follow on from Part 5 even up to the point of scripting. However, when A New Beginning did so poorly, major rewrites were done. However, fro the original only that reference seems to remain, indicating that Part 5 did happen in some shape or form.

I've also read in various places that the truck that Tommy drives is supposed to be Pam's truck from Part 5, but I've not been able to find any official confirmation of that.

Of course, because we need a movie to happen, Tommy's plan does not go off without a hitch. In a fit of rage, he impales Jason with some of the metal fencing and that very metal is struck by lightning, bringing Jason back to life like Frankenstein's Monster. After the rain buckets down and puts out Tommy's match to try and set Jason on fire, it seems Crystal Lake is once more to be menaced by the hockey mask-clad killer...more terrifying than ever before.

The sudden shift into gothic horror makes sense when you realize that writer/director Tom McLoughlin wanted to homage the old Universal Horror Movies of years past. We've actually run into Tom McLoughlin before, he provided the voice of the S.T.A.R. Commander way back in The Black Hole that we reviewed earlier this year. McLoughlin is also responsible for the dark comedic tone that runs through a lot of Jason Lives, as well as the satire.

When given the job by Paramount, he was told he could do whatever he wanted as far as tone so long as Jason himself wasn't comedic. Needless to say, he succeeded.

But Horshack dies after getting his heart literally punched out. Tommy escapes into the welcoming arms of Sheriff Garris (David Kagen) and his deputy Rick (Vincent Guastaferro), who are none too happy to have someone back in Crystal Lake (or, rather, Forest Green) spreading "rumors" about Jason Voorhees. Will the sheriff's daughter Megan (Jennifer Cooke) be able to help Tommy stop Jason and save the day?

After this point be spoilers, so you have been warned.

Camp Crystal Lake will put a smile on your face!

I personally like Thom Mathews as Tommy, and I know I'm not alone in that regard. In my opinion, his portrayal is what we should have seen more of in Part 5 - clearly mentally unstable and battling his demons, but able to function. Jason Lives admittedly doesn't go too far into Tommy's mental state after his initial outburst of violence at Jason's grave, but it's clear that not all the lights are on upstairs and that he's trying his damnedest to put Jason down for good and finally end this nightmare - rather like Doctor Loomis in Part 4, 5, and 6 of the Halloween franchise.

Also, unlike John Shepherd, you could tell that Mathews was actually trying.

This film does sadly serve as the last appearance of Tommy outside of the Friday the 13th game, but I'm okay with that, honestly. His childhood was ruined by Jason, his mind was nearly destroyed by just the phantom of him, and in this film he finally gets to put his demons to rest and live his life.

Megan serves as the Final Girl of the film, cast at the behest of producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. (who had been with the series since Part 2 and this is notably the only film he seemed to be not involved heavily in) as a "beautiful blonde" being the only condition. McLoughlin obliged him. Jennifer Cooke does really well with the material presented, and she and Thom Mathews have pretty good chemistry right from the start.

Again, you can do a lot with a little as far as building relationships onscreen goes. It's not that hard.

Thom Mathews does a fantastic job as Tommy.
There is no joke.

The third person we have to talk about is Jason. For the first time since Part 2, he's portrayed by two different people on-film, though you'd be forgiven for not noticing. Dan Bradley - a stunt coordinator who would go on to work on Spider-Man 2, Quantum of Solace, and other films - was originally cast, but the production team felt he was a poor choice due to not being imposing or powerful enough, so they got C.J. Graham, a night club owner who happened to be 6'3" and built like a linebacker.

They definitely got the imposing figure that they wanted, although Bradley's already shot scene of a paintball gun fight (it makes sense in context) remains in the finished film.

Besides both the homages to horror movie classics and the humor, one notable absence from this entry is the nudity. Jason Lives is, to date, the only film to have no nudity in it whatsoever. Seriously, there is not a single bit of uncovered boob to be found. Tom McLoughlin wanted to set this entry apart from the others and kind of shake off the concept of slasher films as some sort of morality play where people who have sex get massacred. In fact, in the film's sole sex scene, McLoughlin was pressured by the producers to have the actress Darcy Demoss strip for the scene. When he suggested it, she said no, and that seemed to be the end of it as far as I've been able to find out.

Tom McLoughlin wanted to take the Friday the 13th franchise and do something wholly original with it. Honestly, he succeeded. With his blend of good casting, good but not overbearing humor, and a really good atmosphere that hangs over it all, Jason Lives is many things. It's the final story (to date) for Tommy Jarvis in canon. It's a love letter to Universal Classic Monster movies like Frankenstein. It's a movie that isn't afraid to take shots at itself, its fans, and slasher movies in general. It also isn't afraid to take the piss out of itself and poke fun at horror movies in a way that Scream wouldn't pull off for another decade (just in case you thought that was original). It's also immensely quotable. Round it out with several awesome Alice Cooper songs and well...

Why would you like this movie? I dunno. 

Some folks have a strange idea of entertainment.

It's also, if my rambling over the last few paragraphs hasn't convinced you, really good. Like, really good.

It was the breath of fresh air the series needed after the attempted changing of the guard with A New Beginning was done. Tom McLoughlin got the series back on track after that misstep, and it seemed that - much like Jason being alive and lurking at the bottom of the lake waiting for his time to rise - a sequel was inevitable.

In Jason's defense, Tommy did call him chickenshit.
No way he was taking that lying down.

Next year, we'll see how well that didn't go...and, unfortunately, we'll see one of the last two films of the Paramount era.

Next time, however, we'll be going at things a little differently. As is tradition for us by now, the next to last movie review of Horror Month is not a slasher film, but something else entirely.

Prepare yourselves...because next time, we'll give afterlife a try...