Brief Thoughts - FRIDAY THE 13th PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN (1989)

I have no idea why I return to this film every couple of years. It is without a doubt the absolute worst (in my humble opinion) of the entire Friday the 13th series. I know the film that came after this is generally considered the worst but I have to disagree. This film is often criticized because Jason never really makes it to Manhattan until the final 20 minutes of the film. But that is far from its real crime. The truly egregious element comes long before the third act as our central villain creeps around a cruise ship stalking teenagers on the way to NYC. This is the movie in which any semblance of logical movement for Jason Voorhees is completely abandoned. Yes, this is the teleporting Jason film. The hulking creature will instantaneously move from one place in view of his next victim to a location yards away in the blink of an eye. Boo! I guess.

Watching this mess now I can kind of understand what writer/director Rob Hedden might have been thinking. This is the third Friday the 13th film in which Jason is an undead zombie-like creature who is resurrected whenever the producers need a new film. Lightening or electricity seems to be the preferred method of returning him to 'life' and since the rules for what Jason really IS are never clearly established I think Hedden was allowed to make up his own. Resurrected human zombie? Sure. Un-killable monster? Yep.  Ferocious murderer? Of course. So, why not give him the supernatural ability to move around like a ghost?

BECAUSE IT'S F#*KING STUPID!! It destroys any and all opportunity to establish suspense or tension or anything resembling dread. It's not horrific - it's silly!

Clearly Hedden had something in mind about mixing up the formula when making this mess. If you doubt this, that bizarre ending in the sewers should drive it home easily. But turning Jason into a teleporting ghost-like critter was the wrong move. I'll take the bizarre shenanigans in JASON GOES TO HELL (1993) over this every time.