Search - Part VI Jason Lives (Chk) on DVD

You thought Jason was dead? Wrong, you forgot about the ligh

Sid the Elf | North Pole | 10/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Friday the 13th part VI was part II of Sid the Elf's Columbus Day B extravaganza if that makes any sense. We followed the awful Leprechaun in the Hood with this classic horror film. This issue of the ongoing Friday the 13th series is generally considered one of the, if not the best film. Due to the undeniable commercial success of these films, the series continues past roughly 55 "that has to be it, they can't possibly do another sequel" moments. While we aren't huge fans of some of the lesser films in the series, we must admit that the Jason character has held up much better than his counterparts. For example, you won't find bigger Halloween fans than Sid, but even we grew tired of those pointless sequels long ago. The key is that the Friday the 13th series and more specifically, the Jason character continue to be reinvented as this film exemplifies.

The movie starts with Tommy Jarvis, who killed Jason as a young boy, going to Jason's grave site. With the intention of sending Jason to hell, Tommy digs him up opens his coffin and stabs the junk out of him with a fence post from the cemetery. This probably made sense to Tommy because, you know, he was in a mental institution before that. Tommy leaves the metal post stuck in Jason's chest and starts to leave when a storm begins. WATFO! So, obviously, lightning strikes the post, resurrecting Jason, who immediately demolishes Tommy's buddy, Horshack(seriously, it was him). Tommy then has the sense to douse Jason with gas, but the falling rain prevents him from lighting a match, so that was totally useless. Now he has to do what he should have done from the second he saw Jason moving, run to his pickup and floor that thing like he was Sid chasing a pink negligee. Of course, the lightning enhanced Jason. Now he has even greater strength and psycoability. Naturally, Jason goes back to Crystal Lake(now called Forrest Green) and starts ripping through camp counselors like Santa rips through low-grade crab legs.

Meanwhile, Tommy goes to the sheriff to inform him of this clearly dire situation. And, believable as his story seems, they lock Tommy up thinking he's the one responsible for the murders at the camp given his history which we will cover in upcoming reviews of the series. Anyway, the sheriff's decently hot daughter(Megan) is the only one who believes Tommy. She helps him escape while locking her father's deputy in the jail cell. Then Megan helps Tommy execute his plan to send Jason back to the bottom of Crystal Lake where he drowned long ago. In case you were wondering, of course we had the requisite "Why not just move to Australia or something? He'll probably try to go there to get you, but it will take a long time and there's at least a decent chance he'll get eaten by a shark" conversation for about 20 minutes. Anyway, Tommy lures Jason into the middle of the lake where he is waiting in a boat. This genius decides to wrap one end of a chain around a huge rock and the other end around Jason's neck. Of course, Jason pulls Tommy down with him, causing Megan to swim to the boat to save Tommy. She just met this guy like, an hour ago. Man, she's really going the extra mile to get old Tommy's attention. Anyway, Jason grabs her leg to try to kill her, too. But, she starts the boat's motor just in the nick of time, shredding Jason's face in the process. This obviously causes him to let go of both Megan and Tommy. Now Jason is trapped at the bottom of Crystal Lake yet again. If you didn't already guess, the last shot of the film is Jason chillin at the bottom of the lake and suddenly opening his eyes.

This film was a true horror classic. It was pretty cliche, but we believe that the "horror movie formula" was largely created by the Friday the 13th movies, so it's ok. Jason had something extra in this one, supposedly it was the lightning. If he was like a baseball pitcher throwing 92 in the previous films, in Part VI he was painting the corners and topping 97 with regularity. See, this was like the steroid era for horror movies. Almost every killing was awesome, even making Sid go "OOOOOHH!" a handful of times. This film is right up there with other horror greats and completely sucked us into reviewing more Friday the 13th films in the very near future. So, if you haven't seen this movie, or if it's just been a while, get into October horror spirit and check it out. Sid promises it won't disappoint.
"

Refreshing Comedic Turn for Long-Running Series

Kasey Driscoll | 07/25/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In Friday the 13th part 6, Jason would be brought back to life in effortless fashion. I remember even as a child watching this film and saying "well of course lightning would bring him back!" and shaking my fist at the silly pretenses of Friday the 13th part 5: The New Beginning. This film was the new beginning! Jason lived and would be appropriately placed into the horror movie hall of fame next to Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Mummy.

Tom McLoughlin is not a well known film maker but he wrote and directed this little gem. I suspect that he is very much a fan of classic and contemporary horror, from The Bride of Frankenstein and Black Sunday all the way to Critters 2: The Main Course. This is a film that understands our craving for a horror icon not be taken too seriously. Its dark and wry humor is served to us as sort of a self-parody. It is exploitation to the max. The moment Jason is resurrected by Tommy, basically our hero in the parts 4 and 5, we know we got what we wanted and Jason is even more unstoppable than before. Jason is free to run amuck and does he ever. He goes on a huge killing spree and we are basically asked to root for him and laugh all along the way. Things play out in normal formula from here and the movie is basically the same as the others except that Jason is no longer the villain. He is an anti-hero and Friday the 13th part 6: Jason Lives is a comedy.

As it turns out, the series switch over to comedy and abandoning the ideas of part 5 didn't turn out to be as good a decision from a profit standpoint, as part 6 still managed to make less money than part 5 and profitability of these films begins to diminish from here on. Nevertheless, it is still refreshing while it managed to please fans and critics alike. Well, critics were not necessarily pleased but it is the most acclaimed of the series for the most part.

One of my complaints about part 6 is that I was tired of these films and I'm not just talking about Friday the 13th movies but the slasher sub-genre in general. Also, why am I being compelled to root for an undead murderer? The biggest problem for me is that it is camp, but it's trying to be camp. Campy movies are not supposed to make an effort to be campy. It is supposed to be unintentional. If it's intentional, like Friday the 13th part 6, then we have to assume that the film makers are working below their level. Not to mention, this kind of comedy makes me feel like I'm getting an elbow to the ribs a little too frequently. I get the joke; it's just not that funny more than once or twice so please stop making these movies. Then again, at least Jason Lives is consistent."