Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a 1989 slasher film directed by Rob Hedden, starring Jensen Daggett, Scott Reeves, Barbara Bingham, Peter Mark Richman, and Martin Cummins. The film serves as the eighth installment in the Friday the 13th film series and deals with Jason Voorhees stalking a group of high school graduates on a ship en route to, and later in, New York City.
The story does manage to bring Jason back without it being too ridiculous. It also gives the film a different setting that does change up the Friday the 13th formula. The cruise definitely works to build suspense and give the film a claustrophobic feeling. Also, this is a great way of introducing so many characters without needing a well written story. And the ending. The ending is just garbage. How the hell did sewage water defeat Jason? This film actually comes off as two different stories put together. One set on the cruise ship and the other set in Manhattan.
The story just fell flat for me. It wasn’t compelling and any amount of character development that could’ve made for a better viewing experience was never brought forth. It’s the same beat again, except on a cruise ship. Jason revives, finds a group of young adults, and the kill count starts. There’s no mystery to solve. Nothing new or substantial to add to the lore (except Jason’s ability to teleport). There’s a side story where a student attempts to blackmail a teacher but it goes nowhere. There’s Rennie’s storyline of her dealing with her brother’s death by drowning and her aquaphobia, which isn’t bad, but becomes annoying with all of her hallucinations. Why does she have hallucinations? It’s never explained.
Most of the characters are cliche of course, with the exception of Rennie. I don’t like Rennie. She’s a pathetic character with no depth and she constantly whines all of the damn time. This whole thing where all these films have these female protagonists is just played out with half of them relying on contrived backstories to gain sympathy rather than have good qualities. Some characters I liked more than others but mostly you know nothing about them. And if you know nothing about them then you don’t care for them.
The story had so much potential, but it just falls flat, and the characters are garbage. (2 out of 5)
The cinematography isn’t bad. There are some really good shots and most of the kills are captured well. Thumbs up to the makeup department for the Jason character design. The decayed look of the skin, the worn and torn clothing, the slow movements; everything that makes him that much more intimidating. The cruise ship setting is good, different from previous films. It feels more contained yet diverse.
The soundtrack is garbage. I’ve watched this film dozens of times throughout my life and I could not tell you about a sound in the movie. Fred Mollin leads the music and it’s as uneventful as the writing. Which is unfortunate as Mollin has been involved with some really good movie and tv credits.
The aesthetics of the films have always been pretty decent but the score. (2 out of 5)
The cast and performances aren’t bad, but they aren’t really memorable. Jensen Daggett plays the lead and she’s alright for the crap character she was given. Scott Reeves plays the love interest and the lack of chemistry these two have is astonishing. In fact, he comes off as more of a simp than anything. Peter Mark Richman is good and has that same presence of actors such as Charles Dance or Allan Richman. He’s not given much, and he overacts here and there but it’s not his fault. Kane Hodder is Jason, and he does a good job. The cast also includes Barbara Bingham, Martin Cummins, Gordon Currie, Alex Diakun, V. C. Dupree, Saffron Henderson, Kelly Hu, Ken Kirzinger, Sharlene Martin, and Warren Munson.
Don’t get me wrong. I did like the direction, but the writing is pretty bad. There are some pretty iconic moments in this film. One of them being Julius’ boxing scene with Jason. Another great scene is Jason walking through Times Square. The characterization is rather poor, of course the dialogue is pretty garbage. The writing relies on formula and outside of the cruise ship setting, lacks any kind of imagination.
Unfortunately, like the previous films, this movie has the Friday the 13th inconsistencies. And boy does it suffer from it. And for those who doubted that Jason could teleport, this movie confirms it. Because where in the hell does Jason get the ability to teleport? The whole premise that “Jason takes Manhattan” is a straight up lie. Come on, when Jason steps into Times Square, I expected him to just lay waste to everyone he can get his hands on. Instead, he just chases these two knuckle heads. The scene where he kicks the stereo would’ve been a catalyst. It could’ve culminated in a fight with the cops which would’ve been epic and better than him being killed in the sewers by toxic waste. Dude survived by get electrocuted on a train rail but dies from toxic waste. Wow.
The acting and direction are decent, but the writing deserves to be slain by a masked undead serial killer. (1 out of 5)
The Verdict: In the end, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan attempts to change things up but ultimately goes back to formula. Of all the films this one probably had the most potential, but it just fails. Yeah, there are cool kills, a different setting, and Jason looks awesome but really the story sucks, characters suck, and writing sucks. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan gets 2 out of 5.
Be the first to comment