So here's the situation. If you read through my collection tab above, you'll see I own nearly 300 different DVDs/Blu-Rays. I decided to take the list and randomize it online and was left with a personal project to pass the down time. Gonna take the next couple months to just watch them all and appreciate my collection that has accumulated. Should be fun for me! I figured I could toss up a quick little review for each movie as well, because, why not? My reviews will have spoilers, so whichever review it is, be aware of that.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is part of the massively popular Friday the 13th franchise. The very franchise that birthed us one of the most recognizable and profitable characters of all-time, the legendary Jason Voorhees. The machete wielding, hockey mask wearing psycho killer always seems able to come back for more, no matter what is done to him. Jason Lives starts off with Tommy Jarvis, who was the young protagonist in the movie before this one visiting Jason's grave, who has been buried for years. Tommy, who "killed" Jason is determined to make sure the body is disintegrated. He and his friend have escaped from a mental institution because he can't stop having nightmares about the hockey mask killer himself. The continuity of the franchise is pretty much thrown out the window considering in part V, they say Jason's body had been cremated. Jason movies aren't exactly the greatest pieces of cinema masterpieces. They're certainly guilty pleasures for me. It's all very basic, following the much repeated formula that has been made familiar to us.
Tommy, who just HAS to make sure Jason is dead, goes to the grave to see a corpse being mangled by maggots. Crazy little Tommy decides it would be prudent for him to stab the crap out of the dead body with an iron pole in the middle of a thunderstorm. Well, SHOCKINGLY enough, the pole is struck by lightning and the lifeless corpse is now suddenly up and mobile. Tommy's friend gets his heart ripped out and the killer goalie is back on the loose again. Tommy gets away, goes right to the sheriff's office and is promptly thrown into a cellar for being an escaped crazy person trying to bring up horrible past memories. He's basically shrugged off. The sheriff's daughter, Megan, comes to the station to say hello to her dad and meets Tommy. Of course there is instant flirtation because chicks love bad boys.
This movie has a copious amount of "filler kills." What I mean by that is instead of having some sort of storyline, they just show some random characters we care nothing about being killed. For example, several people on a work outing get killed by Jason in the woods during a game of paintball. Unlike the other Jason movies, this one is not centered around camp counselors. The counselors in this movie are actually killed very easily by Jason while the kids they are watching hide in terror. Another first for the franchise was the inclusion of the children, who usually served nothing more than to announce the arrival of Jason or as comic relief.
As expected, the protoganist Tommy and his new love interest Megan are able to band together to put away the blood thirsty monster. Jason's biggest enemy, water, is what does him in again as he is chained down by a boulder, with the help of some motors. Jason's body is left floating deep under water as Tommy and Megan walk off into the sunset. BUT WAIT. Jason is still breathing and his eyes are open under water. Dun dun dun...
I'll never pretend like any of these sequels are any good at their core, but I'll always admit that I enjoy watching that badass Jason rip people up. I'll always enjoy watching them and appreciate them for what they're worth. That being said, of all the sequels, this is probably one of the more lackluster efforts. This is made evident by the fact that this movie made less than $20 million, a first for any of the Friday the 13th movies.
My Rating - 5/10
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