The Horror Time Capsule - 1989: Friday the 13th Pt. 8: Jason Takes Manhattan
CHEESE |
Friday the 13th Pt. 8 - Cheese
There is good cheese, and bad cheese; "Friday the 13th Pt. 8" is equals part both, mainly because it is so God damned 80s. It reeks of everything the 1980s was and will always be remembered by. In fact, this film is the most 80s of all the films in the series. Did I mention how 80s this film is....
So, "Jason Takes Manhattan." Once again, Jason rises from the grave, again, with the help of some lightning and a metal anchor. After his first two welcome back kill of some horny, and whiny, teens, he catches a ride with more horny and whiny teens on a high school cruise to New York City. On this doomed cruise is Renny, a teen who also happens to have some history with Jason, her dickhead "stepfather-of-sorts" and Kelly Hu in one of her first roles.
Needless to say, Jason kills a bunch of kids, visits Manhattan, and is of course stopped in one of the oddest endings to a "Friday the 13th" movie.
Two things that stand out to me in this one is the resemblance to "The New Blood." We have a teen heroine who has a history with Jason in addition to an overbearing father figure and worrisome mother figure. There is a pseudo-romance between said heroine and hero that is somewhat awkward, and of course the girl who is jealous of the heroine but gets her comeuppance.
The other thing is the vision of New York itself. People tend to forget that New York in the 80s and 90s was pretty much a cesspool. It was pretty dirty and you could say dangerous before gentrification took over. There also seemed to be a lot of open toxic waster just hanging around. New Yorkers who grew up in the 80s and 90s in the city, is this true?
Anyway, while this is one of the weaker edition in the series, it's still totally watchable if not just for the fashion, funny Jason kills, and of course we can't forget Kane Hodder who just brings something special to the Jason role.
For more awesome 80s fashion, check out these other hits:
976-EVIL
Friday the 13th Pt 8
Halloween 5
Leviathan
Nightmare on Elm Street 5
Pet Sematary
Warlock