Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
release year: 1989
genre: horror
viewing setting: home Bluray 12/24/22 and several more times from the 1990s and 1980s
synopsis: Jason hitches a ride aboard a small cruise ship full of high school kids, and ends up in New York City.
impressions: This one had two unusual angles: the first half of if was set on a cruise ship, and the second half was set in New York City. The problem was, this should have been two separate films, each focusing entirely on one of the settings. But that's just my opinion - and they didn't ask me when they made this movie. The long list of notable things in this entry included but wasn't limited to: random rat emerging from muck-filled oil drum...a river that's behind some sort of residential community but yet is deep enough to allow a good-sized boat...a lethal stowaway...another doom-sayer...the girl's dog also seeing her vision...prevalence of said visions/hallucinations, which are apparently caused by her having had a childhood encounter with young Jason in a lake...Jason pulling the ship's fire alarm...not one but FOUR instances of Jason teleporting himself ahead of someone he's chasing (no, he doesn't have that power, but there was no other explanation)...Jason headbutting a porthole...the ship sinking despite having incurred no damage that would have led to flooding...a one-punch decapitation...Jason's encounters with criminals and punks...Jason walking through another door...Jason losing his mask...the stated nightly occurence of toxic waste being vented through the sewers. Let me reiterate some of the more preposterous of those things: 1) Jason repeatedly appearing ahead of people he was just chasing, 2) the ship flooding for no logical reason, 3) the scheduled nightly TOXIC WASTE DUMPING in New York City. I guess I could also mention that this entire senior class graduation cruise consists of less than twenty students. Oh, and...the ending. What the fuck? The toxic waste not only stops Jason but changes him into an unconscious little boy in his underwear? Really? They could have at least explained it. They could have, but they didn't. But here's my guess: they ran out of money and had to end the movie however they could.
body count: 16 confirmed (14 courtesy of Jason) plus one more likely but offscreen.
notable kills: smashed with guitar, hot rock through chest, syringe impalement, head punched off, drowning in toxic waste
acting: Kane Hodder returns as Jason, who's aggressive and lethal despite being out of his usual element here. Jensen Daggett is the main girl, who has literally zero survival skills or behaviors. They gave her a hazy past with Jason just to make her stand out, but really, several of the other girls could have survived if they had gotten to be the main girl. Scott Reeves is the main guy who befriends her early on. Peter Mark Richman is the teacher/principal/chaperone/dick who always complains, never helps, and gives the audience someone to hate. A young Kelly Hu makes her screen debut here as an honors student who doesn't fall prey to her friend's drug use (but does fall prey to Jason...in the dance hall.) Future Jason Ken Kirzinger has a brief appearance as a NYC diner cook who tries and fails to stop Jason from walking through the place.
final word: New idea and scenery for Jason, but it was silly at times.
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