For a horror fan, there is no escaping Jason Voorhees or
Friday the 13th. Even if you have never seen a single movie (for shame!), you know who he is, what he does, and what he looks like. But that's from my perspective. I grew up in the 80s, played the video game on a system known simply as Nintendo (now referred to as "The 8 Bit"), and suffered the indignity of that comic where he fought a talking Leatherface.
But what about those who grew up in the Jason-starved 90s? The only Jason films they might remember in theaters are the ones where he fights Freddy or goes off into space. The remake may be their first real introduction to the hockey masked behemoth that stalks teenagers at a place known as Crystal Lake. So for them, Bloody Disgusting and
Horror Movie A Day would like to present this retrospective series: 13 Days Of Jason. Each day leading up to the remake's theatrical release, BC will be showcasing one of the original films, with trivia, factoids, thoughts, and his own full blown review.
Bloody will also be presenting a few other articles that highlight some of the series' traditions, such as the lovesick nerd character and Jason's habit of using unique weapons. Because even if you don't agree with BC's assessment of each film, there's one thing we can all agree on: Jason fucking rules.
AKA: "The one on the boat"
RELEASE: July 25, 1989 (1,683 theaters)
GROSS: $14,343,976
PLOT: After being resurrected in the least coherent manner ever (something involving an anchor and a power line running through the lake), Jason hops on a houseboat and takes it from Crystal Lake to the Atlantic Ocean, where he transfers to a cruise line and does his thing for an hour. Then the survivors make it to New York’s Vancouver borough, where they are pursued by Jason until he is done in by NY’s nightly toxic waste flood.
THOUGHTS: If nothing else, it’s a step up from part VII, in my opinion, thanks to some creative kills (a guitar! A heroin needle! Sludge!) and some actual blood to boot. Plus, finally, a new location. Sure, we’d all love more NY stuff, but the boat parts are still fun, and Kane’s performance is terrific. Also, at long last, a new composer, as Harry Manfredini’s score, while great, was starting to show its limits 3 films ago. It has its problems, but I’ll take it over any of Kane’s other entries.
(Read BC's full review at
Horror Movie A Day)
BEST KILL: A lot of good ones here, but Jason punching the guy’s head off is just that much better.
MOST "HUH?" MOMENT: The final 20 minutes of this movie make absolutely no sense. Jason ignores hundreds of potential victims while chasing after two dull folks you know he won’t kill anyway, and then they all end up in the sewer, where a flood of toxic waste (a nightly occurrence, so says a doomed sanitation worker) turns Jason into a child. Then the Final Girl’s dog demonstrates his ability to find his way from New York harbor to Times Square.
FUTURE STARS: Kelly Hu went on to appear in a few blockbusters, including
X2 (she played Deathstrike), making her one of the few "future stars" to appear in an alltime highest grosser.
TRIVIA: This film was released in the middle of what was known as "Sequel Summer", due to the then-inordinate number of franchise films being released over a span of about eight weeks. By the time
Manhattan hit theaters, it was competing against
Lethal Weapon 2, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones 3 (
Last Crusade), Bond 16 (
License To Kill), and
Karate Kid III. Also, it lost the weekend to
Turner & Hooch, which means that people would rather watch a dog die than see Jason schmuck around on a cruise ship.
Check back tomorrow for
Jason Goes To Hell!
Click here to keep up with all of our 13 Days of Friday the 13th coverage!
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