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yendi(Previous entries can be found here)
Today, we hit the maverick of the series, something that gets points for trying, at least.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Concept: Jason is actually a demon. WHen he gets killed, his ugly-ass heart can be eaten (and might even compel people to eat it), and the new person is possessed by Jason. Only a relative using a magical dagger can stop him.
Primary Killer: Demonic Jason
Kills: Jason, possessing other people, kills 24 people on screen (counting people he possesses), and at least five more offscreen. Two more are accidentally killed by other characters.
Really Bad Kills: None, really.
Really Good Kills: Most of the kills in this movie are pretty run-of-the-mill, but this is the first of three straight Jason movies in which he massacres a large group of people at once, and it's a pretty stylish moment, with poor short-order cook Shelby getting his head dunked in a deep-fryer and another diner patron getting crushed into a counter. And there's something brutally powerful about the casual kill of Officer Ryan --Jason just offhandedly smashes her head into a locker and keeps walking by, showing how much more powerful he is than in past movies. Still, the most impressive kill was probably Deborah, the camper who was riding her boyfriend in a tent when Jason stabs her through the back with a stake and then slices upwards.
Celebrities: This one's chock full of 'em. Michelle Clooney, of Queer as Folk fame, plays the above-mentioned Deborah. Stephen Culp, currently one of the stars of Desperate Housewives (and many a bad horror flick), is one of the people possessed by Jason, and does most of the killing in the second half of the movie. Erin Grey, she of Buck Rogers fame, plays the mom of the lead. And John LeMay, best (only?) known for the Jason-free Friday the 13th TV show, is one of our heroes.
But all of these pale compared to Allison Smith, who was a crush of mine as Jennie on Kate and Allie, and a full-fledged lust object on the short-lived show Spy Game (am I the only one who remembers that show?). She plays the poor friend of the lead character who gets skewered at the end of the diner massacre. Allison makes any movie worth watching.
Denouement: The heroine stabs Jason with the magical knife, causing demons to rise up and drag Jason down to Hell (which, y'know, was technically spoiled by the title). As a bonus teaser, we see Freddy's claw reach up and grab Jason's hockey mask.
Miscellany: Jason's origin/story here counter everything we've learned in other films. The whole notion that he's a demon, can possess people, or (starting with #6) that he could be shot to death in any of his bodies goes against canon. Take this one as an "alternate world" Jason, if you prefer. His style is also different here -- he much more "hands on" with his kills, killing at least six of his victims with his bare hands, and a few more with blunt object trauma (not his usual M.O.). Also, the three campers who get murdered were not in the original script -- the producers felt that the movie needed more "traditional" Jason-style killings, so added this scene, which probably did more to muddle things than anything else. This was also the second movie in the series (after #4) to use "Final" in its title. This time, at least, it stuck for a few years, as the hiatus between this and #10, eight years, was the longest one so far.
Overall: Give 'em points for trying. Jason Takes Manhattan was nearly bad enough to destroy the franchise, so the producers decided to shake things up a bit. But the demonic possession thing, frankly, was just a little too silly. There are some nice moments in the movie, including the opening scene, in which we see police set up an ambush for Jason (something that had to happen at some point), treating him like the serial killer he is. And the acting is amongst the best in the series. But this still felt like the sort of movie you get from a franchise without direction, throwing too much against the wall in hopes that something (other than blood or intestines) sticks. And all too little did.
Today, we hit the maverick of the series, something that gets points for trying, at least.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Concept: Jason is actually a demon. WHen he gets killed, his ugly-ass heart can be eaten (and might even compel people to eat it), and the new person is possessed by Jason. Only a relative using a magical dagger can stop him.
Primary Killer: Demonic Jason
Kills: Jason, possessing other people, kills 24 people on screen (counting people he possesses), and at least five more offscreen. Two more are accidentally killed by other characters.
Really Bad Kills: None, really.
Really Good Kills: Most of the kills in this movie are pretty run-of-the-mill, but this is the first of three straight Jason movies in which he massacres a large group of people at once, and it's a pretty stylish moment, with poor short-order cook Shelby getting his head dunked in a deep-fryer and another diner patron getting crushed into a counter. And there's something brutally powerful about the casual kill of Officer Ryan --Jason just offhandedly smashes her head into a locker and keeps walking by, showing how much more powerful he is than in past movies. Still, the most impressive kill was probably Deborah, the camper who was riding her boyfriend in a tent when Jason stabs her through the back with a stake and then slices upwards.
Celebrities: This one's chock full of 'em. Michelle Clooney, of Queer as Folk fame, plays the above-mentioned Deborah. Stephen Culp, currently one of the stars of Desperate Housewives (and many a bad horror flick), is one of the people possessed by Jason, and does most of the killing in the second half of the movie. Erin Grey, she of Buck Rogers fame, plays the mom of the lead. And John LeMay, best (only?) known for the Jason-free Friday the 13th TV show, is one of our heroes.
But all of these pale compared to Allison Smith, who was a crush of mine as Jennie on Kate and Allie, and a full-fledged lust object on the short-lived show Spy Game (am I the only one who remembers that show?). She plays the poor friend of the lead character who gets skewered at the end of the diner massacre. Allison makes any movie worth watching.
Denouement: The heroine stabs Jason with the magical knife, causing demons to rise up and drag Jason down to Hell (which, y'know, was technically spoiled by the title). As a bonus teaser, we see Freddy's claw reach up and grab Jason's hockey mask.
Miscellany: Jason's origin/story here counter everything we've learned in other films. The whole notion that he's a demon, can possess people, or (starting with #6) that he could be shot to death in any of his bodies goes against canon. Take this one as an "alternate world" Jason, if you prefer. His style is also different here -- he much more "hands on" with his kills, killing at least six of his victims with his bare hands, and a few more with blunt object trauma (not his usual M.O.). Also, the three campers who get murdered were not in the original script -- the producers felt that the movie needed more "traditional" Jason-style killings, so added this scene, which probably did more to muddle things than anything else. This was also the second movie in the series (after #4) to use "Final" in its title. This time, at least, it stuck for a few years, as the hiatus between this and #10, eight years, was the longest one so far.
Overall: Give 'em points for trying. Jason Takes Manhattan was nearly bad enough to destroy the franchise, so the producers decided to shake things up a bit. But the demonic possession thing, frankly, was just a little too silly. There are some nice moments in the movie, including the opening scene, in which we see police set up an ambush for Jason (something that had to happen at some point), treating him like the serial killer he is. And the acting is amongst the best in the series. But this still felt like the sort of movie you get from a franchise without direction, throwing too much against the wall in hopes that something (other than blood or intestines) sticks. And all too little did.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 01:05 pm (UTC)"We're going to Camp Crystal Lake."
"Oh yeah? Planning on smoking a little dope, having a little premarital sex, and getting slaughtered?"
"Wanna come along?"
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 01:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 01:23 pm (UTC)That is one of the great moments in the series (nicely bookends with the holograms in Jason X, too).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 01:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 02:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 02:25 pm (UTC)Have you heard any advance word on Crystal Lake Memories?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 03:51 pm (UTC)I own all the Friday the 13th flicks (and all the Nightmare on Elm St. flicks — the two box sets sit next to each other on a shelf with Freddy Vs. Jason between them), and I'll probably buy the book, though my feelings about the films can best be described as a small but nagging nostalgic affection. Then again, I'll sit through any terrible '80s slasher flick — I'm enough of a horror geek to have rented Madman just because Gaylen Ross is in it under a pseudonym.
Another great book on a similar subject — the Video Nasties foofarah in the UK — is See No Evil (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1900486105/qid=1115221561/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-8973535-1621630?v=glance&s=books). I can just sit for hours flipping through and giggling at all the meretricious poster and video cover art. :) When horror movie ad campaigns started copying the floating-diagonal-heads Miramax style, they lost the dubious charm of video covers like this (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~julieann/driller.htm) and this (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~julieann/snuff.htm).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-04 10:51 pm (UTC)