Friday The 13th Part 6: Jason Lives
After toying with the idea of having Tommy Jarvis pick up the mantle as the new Friday The 13th villain, the producers decided to give in to the fans and bring back the main man himself. As the film opens with Jarvis (now played by Thom Mathews) driving to the cemetery to dig up his archnemesis and destroy his corpse, the viewer immediately realizes that they’re doing something right by having his sidekick by played by Ron “Horschack” Palillo (of Welcome Back Kotter fame). Indeed, as this IS Part 6 of the series and Jason is by now an established icon, writer / director Tom McLoughlin takes a fresh approach to the material, infusing the story with a sense of humor not just about Jason, but about 80s slasher films in general (“I’ve seen enough horror movies to know any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly.”). As a result, the film plays out as almost being ahead of its time, with its hip dialogue that’s sure to make any fan of the Scream series and Kevin Williamson smile broadly. Jason (C.J. Graham) gets more screen time than any other movie previously, and feels like a real character instead of the shadowy presence he was in earlier films, and Graham brings real presence to the role. Mathews as Jarvis is more likable than the previous actors in the part, and while the character’s obsession with movie makeup FX is eschewed here, the script still makes him just enough of a loose cannon to be cool and unpredictable. As the sheriff’s daughter and lead heroine, Jennifer Cooke is spirited and spunky, while at the same time adorable, as she helps out this seemingly crazy kid whom she has found an attraction to, and the chemistry between the two leads is the best in the series; As the sheriff, David Kagen takes on a character who’s written like a reactionary fool and brings him down to Earth to being a normal human being just trying to keep law and order in the town. What’s interesting about the other characters here is that they are NOT necessarily your usual teens obsessed with sex and drugs, but more responsible, level-headed kids who actually manage to get the camp open this time (and bring lots of children into the story for the first time). This results in the establishment of one of Jason’s fundamental rules (that he does NOT kill children), and ups the tension to a maximum as he and Tommy prepare for their final battle. The rest of the cast includes Tony Goldwyn (villain from Ghost) and Tom Fridley (nephew of John Travolta) as counselors, the gorgeous Darcy DeMoss, and Vincent Guastaferro as Deputy Rick Cologne (with a hilarious slow burn scene). The kills are plentiful this time here, with a triple decapitation being the possible highlight, and then there’s the wonderful soundtrack contributed by Alice Cooper, with his unsung classic “Man Behind The Mask” taking us home in the end credits. In the end, with it’s great writing and acting, McLoughlin manages to make Part 6 of the franchise not only the best one in the series, but also one of the best horror movies of all time…
10/10