Vendredi 13, chapitre VI : Jason le mort-vivant

Great and certainly the best opening to a Jason film we are given a FRANKENSTEIN-like beginning from writer/director Tom McLoughlin. Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews) and his buddy Allen Dawes (Ron Palillo) go to the Crystal Lake Cemetery or rather the Lake Forest Green Cemetery being renamed to erase any memory of Jason Vorhees. There Jason is brought back to life, but now he is much stronger as he is like a zombie. Tommy then goes to Sheriff Garris (David Kagen) who puts him in the slammer believing what he is hearing from the boy doesn't make any sense.

No give or lulls in the action. In my opinion McLoughlin knew what the Jason fans wanted. My favourite Tommy Jarvis is Corey Feldman, but Matthews does a fine job as the older, more troubled Jarvis. They did sort of throw away certain elements of part V with Tommy like his need for meds and seeing Jason everywhere. In the end though you have to be ready to smirk at the story. Very meta, McLoughlin added more humour than any other Jason, and filled with some good laughs.

Since Jason (this time played by C.J. Graham) is back there are lots of kills and much more senseless murders. Unfortunately, it also adds to much more senseless sequels as this is the Jason going forward. The lumbering, never running, very big, but also not near as scary Jason.

If you felt dissatisfied with part V, I would say tune into this part as Jason is back and it is a really good return. One of the better entries in the series. Alice Cooper has 3 songs in the soundtrack including the title song "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)". Also starring Jennifer Cooke and Tony Goldwyn.

Tommy returns to the grave to make sure Jason is dead and accidentally brings him back to life. Now it's up to Tommy to stop Jason's mindless killing and put him back where he belongs.

My opinion OK this movie is a DEEP sequel and to tell the truth it isn't expected to be Great or even average to that but to my surprise I actually enjoyed this film more so than I did the first. The death scenes were sorta clever and Jason to me looked at his best. The 1st scene was a little stupid though coming back through lightening get real. From then on was kewl and Jennifer Cooke's performance was pretty good as well. I wish they showed her boobs though but sadly they didn't have any cleavage in this film . I know shocking isn't it.

Also the way they killed Jason was pretty original. Having little kids there made it even better. Although this is the best in the series in my opinion its still just another Friday the 13th sequel there nothing special about at all and to tell the truth it had it shouldn't have ever been made just like all the rest of the F13 films after part 3. To tell the truth like Freddy said in the features on the DVD Jason is very boring and slow. He just walks *Hack hack* and then your dead hes not ruthless as most call hes teddy bear compared to the other killers and how they torture their victims.

People really like Jason for some reason I don't know why but I can't stand him I'm more of a Myers fan thank you very much. Although I don't like Jason this film wasn't so bad.

After the utter bust that was New Beginning the franchise finds its feet again and brings Jason Voorhees back from the dead starting a new chapter in his iconic rise to stardom.

Tommy Jarvis returns this time played by Thom Mathews (Who I can't take seriously after Return Of The Living Dead 1 & 2). Sadly it in no way explains his actions at the end of the last film, you'd think that'd be the first thing they'd address.

In a weird opening sequence Jason is resurrected and you guessed it, goes on a killing spree. Returning to Camp Crystal Lake Tommy seeks to end Jason once and for all! A blend of the early movies and the messy last chapter this is certainly a return to form even if it is nothing special.

With a dodgy opening sequence and daft closing scene the film is badly flawed but gets by with it's vintage Jason style killing action.

The Good:

Some interesting kills

Undead Jason > Living Jason

The Bad:

Weirdly comedic in places

Doesn't explain what happened since the last film

Ridiculous opening

Not that well made in places

All this recasting for the lead is very damaging

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

The groundskeeper is a farthead

I love the Friday the 13th series, and after watching them all countless times over the years I have to say that Part 6 is my all time favorite, plain and simple, it is just awesome. Tom McLoughlin (he did another favorite of mine, One Dark Night) does an excellent job directing and really piles on the atmosphere (the opening shot of the misty forest is creepy) and Thom Mathews is the best actor to play Tommy because he is very heroic, attempting to save the lives of those around him and trying to kill Jason once and for all. Jennifer Cooke is appealing as the blonde (aren't they always blonde?) lead girl and CJ Graham's Jason is, plain and simple, awesome. Full of thrills, action, humor, gore murders, and Jason, what more could you ask for? This one is the best, no doubt about it.

The Friday the 13th series has a lot of movies under it's belt. Most range from "bad enough to be good" or "entertaining despite it's flaws" while some titles fall into "just plain bad" territory (A New Beginning, Jason Takes Manhattan and The Final Friday.) But for the most part, this franchise has been surprising competent for the number of films it's put out. It's ratio of good to bad entries is about 9- 3.

"Jason Lives" however, is easily the best standalone film of the series. (I'm not counting Freddy vs Jason because it's a crossover.) It pretty much sets the standard that a Friday the 13th film should strive for.

The plot is pretty standard fair, Jason running around in the woods killing teenagers and tertiary characters while a pair of moony-eyed protagonists try their hardest to stop him. What makes this movie unique is that it's the first one where Jason is "undead." Making him nigh-invulnerable to conventional weapons and totally impervious to pain. He shrugs off gunshots and stab wounds, smashes his way through walls and tosses people around with relative ease. Jason becomes a sort of hulking, lumbering Frankenstien-type monster. Probably why he was revived with a lightning bolt in the intro.

Complete and total '80s slasher cheese, this movie is an absolute blast for people who enjoy these kinds of films. This movie in particular features a touch more comedy then previous entries. Lots of goofy '80s comedy stuff and clever little one-liners. But the funniest moments in this movie, surprisingly, come from Jason. His dull, blank reactions to everything around him are hilarious. His slow head turns, his blank stares, his long pauses. It's like he's constantly saying "Are you serious?" in his mind before he kills someone.

But what really surprised me is that I ended up liking the other characters in the movie. The protagonist, the love interest, even the one character I really hated got a great moment near the end and I actually felt bad to see him die. This movie hits the mark perfectly. It's everything a Friday the 13th movie should be. If you're only ever going to watch one of these movies in your life, this is definitely the one. But you really can't go too wrong, so long as your one movie isn't "The Final Friday."

8/10 - The most Friday the 13thiest Friday the 13th movie ever made.