I hate having to start these blogs by explaining shit. Unfortunately, part 5 messed so much stuff up that when they made this, they had to do even more tinker. I’m just going to copy and paste a paragraph from Wikipedia because they say it better than I can and faster and you can read the rest right HERE.
” McLoughlin decided to take the film in the direction of an old Universal Monsters movie, specifically the 1931 version of Frankenstein, which portrayed the monster as a lumbering killer brought to life by electricity. McLoughlin also drew from vampire lore in order to give Jason a weakness, namely being returned to his “home soil”; to achieve this, McLoughlin disregarded the idea presented in Part 2 that Jason had survived his drowning, instead presenting the idea that Jason has always been some sort of supernatural force.[10] He also decided to retcon the ending of the fifth film, where Tommy Jarvis was a serial killer. In fact, Pam’s truck from the fifth film can be seen indicating she is alive. In the “Tommy Tapes” for Friday the 13th: The Game (2017) written by Adam Green, it’s explained that the ending of the fifth film was Tommy’s dream.[11]“
Part 5 screwed so much up that they had to change and alter a LOT of shit. But in the end, this was definitely necessary to keep the franchise alive. Glad to know that the ending to part 5 was just a dream and we can simply wipe that mess out of our memory. Let’s just get on with the film.
I really need a backlit keyboard so I can watch this in the dark but the one I have is huge. We meet Allen who is with Tommy and the good Jason mask. Tommy is going to make sure that Jason goes to hell. Well, you got 3 more movies for that to happen. They got shovels, gas, a lantern, flashlight, Tommy is rocking the denim with a fleece-lined jacket. This is all working for me. They are in the graveyard and find Jason’s grave. Allen wants to leave but Tommy has to be sure. I feel bad for Allen. This graveyard reminds me of the one in Walking Dead season 9 episode 8 when Jesus meets the Whisperers. Tommy opens up the coffin, more worms.
Tommy rips off a piece of the gate and repeatedly thrusts in into Jason’s corpse and leaves it in him. You’ll never believe it but during a lightning storm in a horror film with a metal bar, well lightning struck and Jason is reanimated. Jason comes up and out of the grave. Allen bails. Tommy throws gasoline on Jason but now can’t light a match in the pouring rain. Allen from behind charges and hits Jason with a shovel. It does no good. Allen has been punched through and tossed into Jason’s grave. Jason picks up the metal pole and he has himself a sweet spear, perhaps my favorite Jason in the video game.
Tommy drives off to the Sheriff’s office. The sheriff doesn’t wanna hear Tommy out mainly because he’s so damn hyped. I’m just realizing, Tommy was also in the first 2 Return of the Living Dead films, and he was fantastic in them. I love those movies. Tommy is now in jail. Oh, and the town has changed its name.
We meet Darren and Lizbeth and they run into Jason. She backs up into horrible mud. Darren says that they should just scare him by driving toward him. Smart! And that didn’t work, so Darren honks the horn. Jason speared the car. Darren decides to grab a gun and shut this shit down. Darren talks shit, Lizbeth tells him to not do that. Darren is speared. Lizbeth is crawling in the mud and begs and offers Jason some money, and then he’s gone. And then spear through her dome and her money ain’t good no more.
Megan and her 3 friends (Sissy, Cort, and Paula) are going to be counselors but 2 of their friends are missing. Megan is the Sheriff’s daughter. The Sheriff wants Tommy to go because he’s talking about Jason and Camp Blood. Megan also thinks that Tommy is cute. At the camp, kids actually arrive. That’s weird, but it had to happen eventually right?
Now we meet Stan and Larry who are meant for comedic relief in their camo outfits looking or hunting. I don’t know. They walk right past Jason who just stares at them. They are insurance salesmen. Oh, they are playing paintball. And Katie shoots both of them. I am assuming this guy must be Burt. Jason just ripped his arm off and flung him and killed him. Jason notices that he is stronger. Another dorky guy loses his gun while dicking around in the woods. That is probably Roy. Why are they reusing that name? Larry, Stan, and Katie just got decapitated with one swing of the machete. Roy sees this and shoots Jason…with a paintball. Roy runs away screaming.
The cps are escorting Tommy out of town when Tommy decides to take a detour to the cemetery. The chase is on! This is just silly. Tommy wants to show them that Jason’s grave is dug up, but Martin the graveyard attendant has already filled it back up.
Back at camp and Cort is teaching the kids about Indian rocks. It was fantastic. The pacing is different in this one. The cops drop Tommy off outside of town with his truck. That’s not going to keep Tommy from meddling. Martin is hitting the bottle pretty hard. We meet Steven and Annette who are having some wine outside. Time for them to fuck. Martin has lost the road, yes, you read that right. Martin tosses his bottle over his head. Jason catches it, crushes it in his hand and kills Martin with the broken bottle. Steven and Annette hear the chaos so they get on his motorcycle to go to the sheriff’s office, but instead, get shishkabob’d.
Okay, Sissy and Paula are gonna play a game called Camp Blood. I like that Sissy is trying to be creative. They hear a girl scream. One of the girls saw a monster outside, but it was a dream. Oh, the little girl’s name is Nancy. That’s a nice shout out to Nightmare on Elm Street. I loved the line that it was real, just like on TV. That is clever. Cort is in a camper with Nikki and they are fucking. She is riding him and tells him that he has to keep it up until the end of the song, which is ten more minutes. He looks horrified. Sir, if you can’t last 10 minutes, you’re doing things right and I am jealous. Jason unplugs the camper’s power. Typical female making the guy go outside to take care of things. They are really building the suspense well. She scares him. They find the power cord destroyed. Cort knows someone is out there and wonders if it could be Jason. Cort is a great driver and Nikki can’t stand well. He cranks up “Teenage Frankenstein. Ohhhh, Jason takes her into the bathroom. Cort is oblivious. Jason shoves her face into the side to showcase his strength. Cort wants to watch her take a shit. Classy. Jason stabs him in the head with a knife and the camper flips onto its side like a Hollywood blockbuster. Jason gets out and stands on top of the flaming camper.
Megan is giving her father the business. Officer Rick calls and is on the scene of the accident. Sheriff Garris (Probably not named after Mick Garris) heads down to check it out and tells Megan to stay put. Tommy has like 4 books on the occult and is reading them in his truck. I like how Jason moves in this one. His size and body are on point. Tommy calls the sheriff’s office, tells Megan that he has a plan, but she informs him that her dad is out looking for him blaming him for the accident. Megan is gonna go pick up Tommy. Her panties are already soaked with excitement. Too soon!!!
Jason is now at camp and just wandering. The sheriff is now on the scene and other officers are finding the previous insurance salesmen carnage. “Happy Friday the 13th.” I think Sissy was reading some dirty mag. She thinks she saw something. She is now hearing footsteps and this wakes up Paula. I think Paula was one of the counselors in the NES game. Sissy is gonna teach Cort a lesson. Why the hell is she wearing suspenders and like sweatpants? She pours a soda out the window thinking that she got Cort good. Well, Madame, you got lifted out the window, lost your damn slippers, got your neck twisted 180 degrees and torn off, and Paula is worried about waking up the kids.
Megan tells Tommy to hide his truck so they can go get some supplies. I never understood the hamster wheel. Nancy sees Jason walking and is spooked. Megan drives toward a roadblock and shoves Tommy’s face in her crotch. I am digging this song. Tommy is digging the view. “This is going to be a hair turn.” And there’s her dad. This is really enjoyable.
Nancy brings the bloody machete to Paula and scares her. Paula was going to call but opted to scare Sissy and Cort instead. Good decisions. Jason watches them. The phone is disconnected. The authorities from Carpenter are on their way. Hopefully a nod to John Carpenter. And there’s a Cunningham road or drive or something. The sheriff doesn’t like listening to reason, despite Tommy being with Megan at the time of this shit happening. Paula tucks Nancy into bed and Jason is right at the window watching. This is awesome. Paula is terribly naive, but I don’t hate her. She is just now realizing that the phone is disconnected and the door is open, yet again, and she sees blood on the floor. Awww, she just met Jason, got slashed and then head smashed through a window. The campers didn’t hear this?
Megan is now writing notes to Tommy. They play off a rouse to get Rick involved. Tommy and Megan are making out. Megan steals Rick’s gun. She forces him to unlock his cell. Now Rick is locked in the cell and they take off to head to camp. Tommy needs to bring Jason back to the lake that he drowned in. That’s the only way to kill him. Jason is in the camper’s room. He’s just chilling, but the hamsters aren’t/ Nancy sees Jason. Jason approaches Nancy. The cops arrive at camp. Jason leans in toward Nancy and she starts to pray. He hears the cops and bails. Nancy opens her eyes and no Jason.
There are 2 cops with Garris. One just got a throwing knife to the head, just like in the video game. Garris is checking the bunks and one girl is missing. You can imagine who. The second officer hears something. I’m sure this will be resolved peacefully. Nancy scares him and runs and lets him know about the scary man. Jason appears, the cop puts 5 bullets in him and Jason crushes his dome. Nancy now runs into Garris and now the kids are all awake because of the gunshots. He brings all the kids into one bunk and tells them to hide under the beds. This poor bastard. Well, he is out and trips over officer #2 and there’s Jason just standing there. Ohhh, the shotgun knocked Jason to the ground. He’s clearly not going to…oh he got up. Then he got shot and went down, then he rose up and got shot, then went down, then up, then sheriff switched to a pistol and has emptied both of his guns. He is now running.
Megan and Tommy show up and Megan sees how bloody Paula’s area was. Tommy has a big burlap sack and a hefty chain and he is putting it in a canoe. Tommy is hossing this big ass rock. Megan is gonna use the radio to call for help and finds Sissy’s head in the car. Still not going to use the radio? The kids are getting some funny lines. Jason hears Megan screaming and Garris jumps Jason from behind. He really takes it to him with a rock and bashing Jason’s skull, but Garris gets bent in half, the bad way. Tommy is now padlocking the chain around the big rock. Jason breaks into the bunk and the kids all stand up and scream. Megan goes for the rescue, and now Jason has a hold of her. Tommy talks some shit and coerces Jason to come to get him. Jason is walking into the water, no problem, no fear.
Jason goes underwater and Tommy has the chain ready to loop around Jason. Tommy is now pouring gas around the boat, setting the water on fire. This looks pretty badass. Jason comes out and now the struggle. Tommy gets in a good paunch and Jason goes under again. Jason pops up again on fire. Tommy gets the chain on Jason, but Jason has a hold of Tommy. They are underwater struggling. Jason strangles Tommy but Jason is unable to free himself. So the mission was technically accomplished.
Megan sees Tommy’s dead body floating so she goes to check on him, but Jason grabs her leg. She tries to start the motor on the boat. She is shredding him up. The struggle is real for Jason as his throat is torn up. He appears to be dead…for now. Megan drags Tommy and gives him CPR. It has been a long ass time, but it works, somehow. The kids are cheering. Tommy says that it’s finally over and that Jason is home.
The next day, we see that Jason’s eyes are still open. Now we get some Alice Cooper in the closing credits and I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rocking out just a little bit. “He’s back!!!”
End Film
I can’t begin to describe how happy this film made me. Most of the characters did reasonable things. There was no nudity, and I still loved it. Alice Cooper doing 3 songs for the soundtrack was incredible. The acting was pretty damn good for an 80’s slasher especially. Most importantly, they actually came back from a horrible film that could have crippled their franchise and they performed CPR on it. Don’t think for one second that the CPR scene wasn’t a little wink to the audience that this is their attempt at breathing life back into this franchise. It worked.
To go back to my review of part 5, you’ll see at the end all the mistakes that I felt were made. The pacing was a huge problem, it was too frantic at times and then others too calm, and it lacked a flow to it. This had some faster shots, but it still got to where it needed to at the right time. The deaths, by and large, had meaning and served a purpose. The paintball players served a purpose in establishing Jason’s new strength and making the sheriff think that Tommy was behind it. The deaths weren’t completely formulaic like they were in part 5. Not all of them were a home run, but enough were good. I loved the other references in this and I thought the way to kill Jason was pretty damn smart. I’m not sure if this was the first to do the idea of bringing the killer back home to put him to rest, but it may have been.
Part 3 and 6 have long been films that I didn’t pay much attention to because as a kid they kinda bored me, but as an adult, they were so much better than I remember them. So if you haven’t seen these in a while, maybe give them another go.
Final Rating: 7.5 Yeah, I went high on this and I am good with this rating. I always loved Part 7, so I am cautiously optimistic about what’s next.
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