Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

I love the Friday the 13th series, and after watching them all countless times over the years I have to say that Part 6 is my all time favorite, plain and simple, it is just awesome. Tom McLoughlin (he did another favorite of mine, One Dark Night) does an excellent job directing and really piles on the atmosphere (the opening shot of the misty forest is creepy) and Thom Mathews is the best actor to play Tommy because he is very heroic, attempting to save the lives of those around him and trying to kill Jason once and for all. Jennifer Cooke is appealing as the blonde (aren't they always blonde?) lead girl and CJ Graham's Jason is, plain and simple, awesome. Full of thrills, action, humor, gore murders, and Jason, what more could you ask for? This one is the best, no doubt about it.

The Friday the 13th series has a lot of movies under it's belt. Most range from "bad enough to be good" or "entertaining despite it's flaws" while some titles fall into "just plain bad" territory (A New Beginning, Jason Takes Manhattan and The Final Friday.) But for the most part, this franchise has been surprising competent for the number of films it's put out. It's ratio of good to bad entries is about 9- 3.

"Jason Lives" however, is easily the best standalone film of the series. (I'm not counting Freddy vs Jason because it's a crossover.) It pretty much sets the standard that a Friday the 13th film should strive for.

The plot is pretty standard fair, Jason running around in the woods killing teenagers and tertiary characters while a pair of moony-eyed protagonists try their hardest to stop him. What makes this movie unique is that it's the first one where Jason is "undead." Making him nigh-invulnerable to conventional weapons and totally impervious to pain. He shrugs off gunshots and stab wounds, smashes his way through walls and tosses people around with relative ease. Jason becomes a sort of hulking, lumbering Frankenstien-type monster. Probably why he was revived with a lightning bolt in the intro.

Complete and total '80s slasher cheese, this movie is an absolute blast for people who enjoy these kinds of films. This movie in particular features a touch more comedy then previous entries. Lots of goofy '80s comedy stuff and clever little one-liners. But the funniest moments in this movie, surprisingly, come from Jason. His dull, blank reactions to everything around him are hilarious. His slow head turns, his blank stares, his long pauses. It's like he's constantly saying "Are you serious?" in his mind before he kills someone.

But what really surprised me is that I ended up liking the other characters in the movie. The protagonist, the love interest, even the one character I really hated got a great moment near the end and I actually felt bad to see him die. This movie hits the mark perfectly. It's everything a Friday the 13th movie should be. If you're only ever going to watch one of these movies in your life, this is definitely the one. But you really can't go too wrong, so long as your one movie isn't "The Final Friday."

8/10 - The most Friday the 13thiest Friday the 13th movie ever made.

Great and certainly the best opening to a Jason film we are given a FRANKENSTEIN-like beginning from writer/director Tom McLoughlin. Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews) and his buddy Allen Dawes (Ron Palillo) go to the Crystal Lake Cemetery or rather the Lake Forest Green Cemetery being renamed to erase any memory of Jason Vorhees. There Jason is brought back to life, but now he is much stronger as he is like a zombie. Tommy then goes to Sheriff Garris (David Kagen) who puts him in the slammer believing what he is hearing from the boy doesn't make any sense.

No give or lulls in the action. In my opinion McLoughlin knew what the Jason fans wanted. My favourite Tommy Jarvis is Corey Feldman, but Matthews does a fine job as the older, more troubled Jarvis. They did sort of throw away certain elements of part V with Tommy like his need for meds and seeing Jason everywhere. In the end though you have to be ready to smirk at the story. Very meta, McLoughlin added more humour than any other Jason, and filled with some good laughs.

Since Jason (this time played by C.J. Graham) is back there are lots of kills and much more senseless murders. Unfortunately, it also adds to much more senseless sequels as this is the Jason going forward. The lumbering, never running, very big, but also not near as scary Jason.

If you felt dissatisfied with part V, I would say tune into this part as Jason is back and it is a really good return. One of the better entries in the series. Alice Cooper has 3 songs in the soundtrack including the title song "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)". Also starring Jennifer Cooke and Tony Goldwyn.

Maybe even the most entertaining of the sequels, part VI is the last one to be good, and should have been the last one in general. Like previous ones, there are some memorable scenes, and it is a lot gorier than the one before. Also, much more interesting kills. There are some funny scenes too, but not enough to be considered a comedy, which is a good thing in this case. Unlike previous few endings, this one was pretty good!

From its spectacular, squirm-in-your-seat opening to its exciting finale, "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives" delivers. Still haunted by his killing of the masked maniac two films ago, our hero Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) ventures to Jason Voorhees' grave just to be sure he's really dead. When a lightning bolt strikes the metal fence post Tommy uses to puncture the corpse, Jason is resurrected (remind you of someone?) and ready to hack his way through another terrified group of campers and innocent bystanders. But with no one ready to believe that Jason is indeed back, it again falls to Tommy to put evil in its place.

The "Friday the 13th" series got back on track with this installment following a Jason-less fifth entry that remains a bitter disappointment for many horror buffs. Director Tom McLoughlin struck a magnificent balance between breathing a new life into the franchise and maintaining the look and feel of what fans have come to expect. The picture is fast-paced, smart and, at times, legitimately scary. Jason suddenly seems more evil and terrifying given his newfound strength as a member of the Walking Dead Club. McLoughlin's oft-praised attempts at humor are rarely successful, but at least he chose (wisely) not to mock the zombified star, as the most recent Jason films have.

"Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives" is not Hitchcock, but it is a highly-entertaining effort that never once reveals its low-budget limitations. Horror fans and those looking for a good scare will be pleased.