Rennie Wickham, a hydrophobic aspiring young writer, boards a cruise ship with her graduating class and heads for New York for fun. Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the passengers, Jason Voorhees, recently resurrected and VERY PO'd, has already boarded the ship and is looking for irresponsible teens to slaughter. Rennie, her boyfriend, her sadistic jerk of an uncle and a very small handful of survivors manage to escape the ship and dock in New York harbor before Jason can kill them too...but Jason is not so easily left behind. The huge and hulking hockey masked killer follows Rennie and her friends right into Times Square.
This is yet another semi-brainless installment in the never ending teen slaughter-fest that is Friday the 13th, and yet I really enjoyed this 8th sequel. It's nice to see Jason taken out of Crystal Lake and transplanted elsewhere for a change. Kane Hodder is and remains my favorite incarnation of Jason Voorhees and his performance here is nothing short of amazing: the man somehow manages to make Jason express explosive rage, childlike curiosity, impatience, disgust and even dry humor, all from behind an expressionless hockey mask. My favorite scenes are all of him: Jason peering up at a billboard advertising a hockey team, Jason flipping his mask up and revealing his rotting visage to a group of punks, Jason knocking a guys head off, Jason throwing Ken Kirzinger (the future Mr. Voorhees) across a diner and into a mirror. Jason Voorhees has never been more frightening and cool than when played by Hodder, and watching Jason plow through back alleys, a subway train and the New York sewer system is exhilarating great fun! You'll be rooting for Jason in several scenes, such as when Jason unintentionally "rescues" Rennie from rape or slams the jerk of an uncle head first into a rain barrel.
The body count is high and bloody, the teens one-dimensional and vacuous - the better to enjoy the slaughter - and the action unrelenting. And though it is true that Jason spends far more time on the cruise ship than in Manhattan itself, its a forgivable mishap. Once Jason enters Times Square you'll have forgotten about the ship anyway. Longtime hardcore fans of the series will probably enjoy this offering of cinematic junk food and appreciate it for what it is - harmless fun. 7 out of 10 stars for Jason takes Manhattan.
This is yet another semi-brainless installment in the never ending teen slaughter-fest that is Friday the 13th, and yet I really enjoyed this 8th sequel. It's nice to see Jason taken out of Crystal Lake and transplanted elsewhere for a change. Kane Hodder is and remains my favorite incarnation of Jason Voorhees and his performance here is nothing short of amazing: the man somehow manages to make Jason express explosive rage, childlike curiosity, impatience, disgust and even dry humor, all from behind an expressionless hockey mask. My favorite scenes are all of him: Jason peering up at a billboard advertising a hockey team, Jason flipping his mask up and revealing his rotting visage to a group of punks, Jason knocking a guys head off, Jason throwing Ken Kirzinger (the future Mr. Voorhees) across a diner and into a mirror. Jason Voorhees has never been more frightening and cool than when played by Hodder, and watching Jason plow through back alleys, a subway train and the New York sewer system is exhilarating great fun! You'll be rooting for Jason in several scenes, such as when Jason unintentionally "rescues" Rennie from rape or slams the jerk of an uncle head first into a rain barrel.
The body count is high and bloody, the teens one-dimensional and vacuous - the better to enjoy the slaughter - and the action unrelenting. And though it is true that Jason spends far more time on the cruise ship than in Manhattan itself, its a forgivable mishap. Once Jason enters Times Square you'll have forgotten about the ship anyway. Longtime hardcore fans of the series will probably enjoy this offering of cinematic junk food and appreciate it for what it is - harmless fun. 7 out of 10 stars for Jason takes Manhattan.