A brand new year is upon us and what better way to bring it in than to finish writing up something i started last year!
THE STORY
Like any good horror villain, Jason Voorhees simply can’t stay dead.
THE GOOD
The film’s best descision and biggest boon is the fact that the one and only Jason Voorhees comes back into the series; in fact he comes back with a bang, fronting the most action packed film in the series (to that point) that brings a climatic end to the Tommy Jarvis trilogy.
Really enough can’t be said about bringing Jason back, while Part V is definitely better than most people give it credit for, Voorhees was and remains the heart and soul of the series. His return is a bit of a lightning rod to the series that was threatening to spin off in an unwanted direction.
It really seems with Part VI the film makers made a genuine grab for legitimacy, seemingly tired of being written off as (what it is) trashy exploitative horror, it takes a stab at being somewhat respectable. The violence while remaining pretty extreme feels a tad bit less exploitative, and there’s less trashy nudity (especially compared to V).
The movie also attempts to actually have stakes and tension (instead of just relying on violence that’s as random as it is brutal), by building on and paying off on a serialised narrative with at least one constant character (Jarvis), providing genuine attempts at creating atmosphere, and having Jason stalk around a reopened and repopulated Camp Crystal.
It works, for the most part, as it freshens things up subtly without upending the entire concept of the series. The series also evolves with the addition of action scenes like car chases, and gun fights that don’t feel out of place as they add and build on the campiness that the rest of the series has.
THE BAD
While the film (and series) needed to go through something of an evolution to remain watchable, i can’t help but get a feeling something was lost in its attempts at legitimacy. One thing i noticed (and i may be wrong), is that the classic Friday the 13th stalking theme isn’t as much (or rather where i expected to hear it) in this outing.
Again the tone is a bit serious here in Jason Lives, or rather more straight faced than it has been (especially in Part V), this is most notable in the kills; i mean yes, this is silly:
I mean having Jason just hiding in a tree and waiting for a group of dullards to pass close enough for him to swipe all of the heads off is brilliant stuff. But for some reason it’s just not as cartoonish as before (which is what i enjoy most about the original series). It must be the sound effects, or the context of the film just being a bit more serious this time around.
Also while the movie attempts to be bit straightfaced it still runs into the perennial problems the series (and slasher movies in general) has had since its beginning. The plot is silly, with the writers throwing out Tommy’s developments out the window and going for a more traditional plot. It would be a bit less disappointing if they got a better actor to replace John Shepard (or better yet pay him enough to come back), but they didn’t, Thom Matthews is hardly leading man material and definitely doesn’t have the range to potrayed someone as damaged as Tommy Jarvis.
THE UGLY
Jason Lives is ultimately the series’ first attempt at being a proper block buster, it makes legitimate attempts to be a sort of roller coaster horror movie. It retains the best elements from the franchise in Jason and Tommy, but attempts to evolve the series out of its comfort zone of cheesy sleazy schlock. And it’s to our benefit that it works, but i can’t help but mourn a bit.
As the series was never really the same after this, as it added in elements that increased its campiness to the point where Jason literally goes into space, it’s simple slasher film elements no longer suitable for audiences that had seen too much.
Jason Lives, is indeed a classic zenith for a franchise, evolving its elements to the point where there wasn’t much ground left to cover. But cover they did…
OUT OF FIVE
Ten Years Too Late 