Jason X

Professor Lowe: "Our scans reveal him to be very dead."
Rowan: "Could your scans be wrong? I think you just get rid of him, professor. He's too dangerous."
Professor Lowe: "Well, that would be irresponsible and foolhardy. He's a valuable scientific artifact that must be carefully preserved. Much like yourself."
Rowan: "He is an unstoppable killing machine. He's not dead."

release year: 2002
genre: horror
viewing setting: home Bluray 1/2/23 and 11/19/22 and home DVD 2/12/17 and 7/13/12 and 9/15/09 and theater, 4/27/02

synopsis: The "Friday the 13th" franchise ventures into space.

impressions: Well, it was exactly what I expected: mindless mayhem. I'll never understand why mainstream movie reviewers actually review movies like this, since they can't and won't enjoy them. I'm here to offer a different perspective: if you enjoy movies such as the previous entries in this series, you'll enjoy this. After two decades of different plots (which can be summarized, for the first nine movies, respectively as Jason's mom, Jason, Jason again, Jason dies, false Jason, zombie Jason, Jason vs telekinetic, Jason at sea, magic Jason) this one basically catapults Jason 450 years into the future, and aboard a spaceship. I probably don't have to tell you what happens next. This episode's victims are a mix of space soldiers and young medical students, but nothing can really stop Jason. There were several nods to other movies, and a number of self-parodying moments. New death methods abounded, and of course some of them were dryly humorous. There were also plenty of hot young women. Good times.

body count: 18 direct kills, plus 2 hologram kills, plus 4 indirect kills, plus a whole space station!

notable kills: Face frozen and shattered, impalement on giant screw

acting: Lexa Doig is the survivor from the past who finds that she's not the only preserved individual to get thawed out. Kane Hodder is quiet and menacing as Jason. Lisa Ryder is the android. Peter Mensah is the tough military sergeant. Chuck Campbell is the inventor kid. Jonathan Potts is the jerk professor.

final word: Good solid fun.

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