The franchise of Friday the 13th (1980) has been a wildly uneven viewing experience. The first three films had a storyline that started strong but gradually faltered as it continued. The next triplet of sequels further declined in storytelling, only to moderately swing itself back with some mild entertainment in the sixth entry at the time. But of course, like all popular franchises, studios cranked out another film, set to begin the next narrative for the hockey masked machete wielding undead killer. As one would expect though, the way this entry plays out is another disappointing attempt at continuing the franchise that has beaten its audience with the same repetitive plot. It's beyond frustrating when nothing changes from story to story. Seriously....no one must have thought the script needed work.
The story for this entry is about a girl named Tina (Lar Park-Lincoln) who accidentally killed her abusive alcoholic father while they lived in a cabin at Crystal Lake. How did she do that? Telekinetic powers....you know like Stephen King's Carrie (1976). Years later as a young adult, she returns with her mother (Susan Blu) and Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser) to confront those demons only to accidentally revive Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder) who was anchored to the bottom of the lake from the last film. Meanwhile next door, a group of friends are celebrating a birthday party. Written by Daryl Haney and Manuel Fidello, the script is by the book a copy of past entries, except now it also has psychic powers thrown in too. Being that Fidello would only have this to his credit and Haney would have this as his most well-known credit, it's no surprise this entry is a dud.
Any character one would think should be developed or has any kind of interesting trait are completely neglected. The birthday is for the brother of Nick (Kevin Spirtas), who he and others are attending. Most of them don't look like teens, more like early 20s adults. Of that group only some stand out as interesting characters. The rest do what many past entries had the other characters do; fornicate, get drunk or high. It's unfortunate because not all characters do this, but that's all the franchise seems to know, making the story very old very fast. Tina's psycho-kinetic powers largely go unexplained leaving the viewers less interested even though she's the main character and the one who's supposed to reinvigorate the franchise in this new set of oncoming films. The tongue and cheek humor from part six was more creative than this.
Kane Hodder as the new actor to play Jason Vorhees is perhaps the most iconic. Thanks to director John Carl Buechler's insistence, Hodder's look stands out. On top of that, visually speaking this sequel has the best looking effects from a practical standpoint. Being that Buechler's skillset was more well versed with special effects, the look of Vorhees in this film is top notch. The fact that the film acknowledges the prior films and shows that time has passed gives viewers the sense of just how long Vorhees was left undisturbed. The only unfortunate part is, like most horror films, they are heavily cut on the gore, leaving many of the kills not on screen. So much for being gruesome. How is it okay to have Vorhees as a rotting zombie with decaying flesh but can't show gore? Total contradiction.
From an execution perspective, the camerawork was also competently handled. Shot by Paul Elliott, the camera has a number times where its focus captures the right image at the right time. Some of which have become iconic just as a still. Elliot would also shoot for 976-EVIL (1988). As for music, there has been a slight shake up. Due to conflicting schedules, original composer Harry Manfredini couldn't return to create new music. This time, composer Fred Mollin stepped in. For this entry, while its sound is nowhere near the same, Mollin does use the Dies Irae hymn in his music. Most of it is more electronic than organic orchestra, but the post production team recycled in Manfredini's past cues to support the film and it works.
It unfortunately is again a step down from its last entry. The script abandons the fun, self-aware humor of part six and instead focuses again on unlikable characters, not developing the ones that are mildly interesting and having a boring lead. Yes, visually the film looks good and the music works. Even Kane Hodder as the new Vorhees is great, but without having visible kills, there's almost no fun to be had.
Points Earned --> 4:10
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