30 September Slashers: Day 4 – FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 8: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN

Today’s feature is a relatively unpopular entry in the meca of all slasher franchises.  By 1989, Jason had been terrorizing audiences with seven previous films.  The series had had its ups and downs, sometimes taking bizaar turns(Part 5 didn’t feature Jason at all and part 7 included that god awful psychic subplot) but by the time the eighth film debuted at theaters, it felt as though audiences had become tired of the beloved machete wielding maniac(as box office receipts indicate).  Did the film deserve to be panned or was it’s release simply bad timing?  Tonight lets pull up the anchor and take a 1 ½ hour voyage with Friday the 13^th part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan.

Day 4:  Jason Takes the Boat….. Friday the 13^th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

So the old saying goes, you can take Jason out of Crystal Lake but you can’t take the Crystal Lake out of Jason.  By the time this film debuted, we had seen Jason as a child, have a burlap sac disguise, don a hockey mask, and become resurrected as a sort of zombie Jason but he had always stayed close to his old stomping grounds of Camp Crystal Lake.  This film saw Jason leave behind his New England haven and head for different shores as he joined the graduating class of Crystal Lake as they headed on their senior trip to New York.

Completing the Tommy Jarvis Arch and not revisiting the characters from the 7th film, the story follows Rennie and her trusty dog as she has to get over her fear of drowning and go on the boat trip to the big apple.  While the back story is pointless and boring, the rest of the film is filled with all the babes and blood that you have come to expect from the franchise.  Two kills in particular that stand out are a creative kill by guitar and a boxing move that would make Mr. Balboa himself jealous.

The boat setting helps the film, in that it isolates the characters and provides a new venue for Jason to kill his victims.  The only thing that puzzles me is that it is called Jason Takes Manhattan but the killer is there for maybe ten minutes of the film.  Another thing about the film that has left me and countless others questioning is the ending and how they were going to continue the series.  That is, had Paramount not axed further production on other Friday films.

All in all, this is a very solid entry in the series and should have been as successful as the others.  I have re-watched it countless times and it is far above the self parodying Jason X and the awful Jason Goes to Hell.  Later, I will look at another unpopular entry in a very popular franchise, Halloween 6 but for tomorrow, spruce up on your Italian because we are going to take a look at another 1989 film, Stage Fright.