Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan Review

Friday the 13th Part VIII

Last night I was making 1" buttons for my webstore The Button Kids dot com, and watched this film. I've seen it before, and I used to own the original vhs tape. The poster for this edition of Friday the 13th is one of my favorites. Not just the one I decided to use here, but the "I Heart NY" one with Jason slashing through. Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in pure form is nothing more than a slasher, and very predictable. You already know the story, but the writers and director try to mix it up with some cool interesting points, but overall, you're not missing much if you haven't seen this one.

The film's plot revolves around a boat trip going to New York. Jason is awakened here thanks to an underwater power line that electrifies the body, and he rises from the grave. The start of the film immediately gives us a love scene, and the Rated R quotient is completely placed early on. The movie then progresses to slayings by Jason, as he completely kills most of the crew and people on the boat. It's interesting to note that we once again do not care about any of the characters, and are treated to a blood fest.

The movie surprised me at first, because I realized for the first time in a long time that the movie doesn't really take place in New York. In fact, the majority of the film only takes place on a boat headed for New York. So if he's taking Manhattan, he's not doing a great job. The movie's plot moves fast, and you just wait for the next idiot to get slayed, and nothing more. In that sense, this film is nothing more than a Friday the 13th film, and really is poorly crafted.

Comedy reigns in this film, especially with some of the killings. At one point, my favorite, a character boxes with Jason. He just goes forward and lands a lot of punches against the villain, and tires himself out. After he tired himself out, Jason punches him and completely decapitates him! That's the funniest thing I've seen in horror since "Vegas Vampires". If you don't remember that film, in the Vegas vampire film, at one point Jim Brown (i think) kicks a vampires head off, completely decapitating him, during a street fight! A great piece of Urban horror.

So Jason kills a bunch of people on a boat, they eventually get to New York, and that's that. Friday the 13th VIII: Jason takes Manhattan is not my favorite of this series, but it has something for fans of the movie, and those looking for that classic 1980's slasher formula. I didn't expect a whole lot, so I was entertained. You might enjoy it, but if you miss it, don't worry yourself.

jason takes manhattan dvd

No comments:

Post a Comment