In some cases, it has held true that some franchises just don’t die despite how negative reviews are. The Friday the 13th franchise is one that has stood the test of time very much for the entire decade of the 1980s with consistent entries on practically an annual basis. As a hexology of films now entering the middle of its third trilogy, it is safe to say nothing was left to do in Camp Crystal Lake. Jason Vorhees stormed, slashed and maimed his way through his home camp grounds for years. So with that said, it seems if the story can’t be new and different, maybe Vorhees should at least be in a different setting. Which is just a guess as to why this entry exists in the most basic sense. Even then, it’s not even completely accurate.
Written and directed by Rob Hedden in his first theatrical debut, the story follows a new group of teenagers setting out on a trip to New York City from Camp Crystal Lake for their graduation. It just so happens that some high voltage electrical line defibrillates Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder) back to life and the rest doesn’t even need to be said. First and biggest issue with this entry, the story. Audiences’ new heroine now circles around Rennie (Jensen Daggett in her first film), who has a phobia of water. Her father Charles McCulloch (Peter Mark Richman) doesn’t feel she belongs on this trip, while her teacher Colleen Van Deusen (Barbara Bingham) feels the opposite. These two varying opinions have nothing to do with anything. There’s nothing to really talk about here. The rest of the cast is more or less fodder for Jason.
There’s only a handful of actors audiences may recognize, starting with Richman known for his TV roles in all kinds of shows. Saffron Henderson who plays J.J. was Gohan and Goku in a couple of Dragonball Z Ocean dub projects. The other being Kelly Hu who people remember from The Scorpion King (2002) and X2: X-Men United (2003). As for the rest of the cast, some of their credits span over several decades while some didn’t last long. None though that have stood out since then. To their credit, they play believable characters just not ones viewers are going to care about. The only other actor to come out fine was Kane Hodder for obvious reasons of playing Jason. Hodder still plays Jason with heaving shoulders and a large height, which is still intimidating. That’s it though because there’s only so much slack Hodder can make up for.
It’s really difficult to say how even with a new setting things are still boring. Pacing is just not in this film’s favor. Despite the run time being only an hour and a half, the execution feels like the story is slogging through things. Perhaps this is also because there really isn’t a story. Yes, Jason is no longer on familiar grounds of the camp but for a while its’ Jason on a boat and later New York City. It’s well known now that part of the film’s performance is due to studio interference but it’s still disappointing. Not even Jason’s kills are that entertaining, which is something horror fans rely on at bare minimum to keep their attention. Some of this lack of interesting kills are likely due to again studio interference but also just lack of creativity. Jason is in a completely different place, there’s got to be other ways people die without looking so ho-hum.
The final good parts that still remain though are the special effects. The practical aspects and makeup all are convincing and do not look fake. The set design for New York is great making the city look like it hasn’t ever been cleaned. The camerawork from Bryan England looks good. England may not have any other mainstream film credits to his name but the shots filmed are convincing and definitely change the view from all the other 13th films in this franchise. Lastly, the film score again composed by Fred Mollin does a fairly decent job with the material he had to work with. Much of the music still sounds like Mollin’s style like the previous but there are still smatterings of the original theme appearing from time to time. It’s also nice that Mollin’s work has received a full album after a long time being forgotten.
This is not an improvement or a downgrade. This is more or less the same negatives and positives with minor differences. Hodder as Jason still works, visuals and music are still well done. However even though the setting changes, it doesn’t allow for unique deaths, an interesting new story with its cast and pacing is just slower than slow.
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