FRIDAY THE 13th: a series review
Why? Because it's there.
When this was originally posted, I could actually plonk the whole thing down in one post. (responses were minimal; few people have the patience to sit through this much of my yammering in one sitting) Trying to archive it here, however, turned out to be problematic - as a whole, it's actually too big to fit on one page. So I've given each film it's own page, each of which can be linked to from here, and kept the main series review right here. 'zat sound good to you?
Anyway, here it is, as originally posted, altered for (obvious) form changes...
What the hell? Why would I bother reviewing a series I haven't even seen any installments in since the early 90's? Because I didn't rent any movies today and I find myself awake. Also, the nostalgic (and antinostalgic) (like "protoromantic" and "chronosthesia", "antinostalgia" is MY word, dammit) discussions about this series' high and low points in the newsgroup lately have inspired me to review the whole damn series - all nine flicks. I wasn't sure how to do it - after deciding that nine different threads would be a bit of a waste (and possibly lead to the kind of "Jason is so kewl!" shit we were glad to get away from when I first got here), I elected to put 'em all in one post.
Like I said, it's been YEARS since I've seen any of these - but I have watched all of these movies at least twice. So, I'll be putting this all together from memory and various resources on the films. Here goes...
With Friday The 13th, the 1980's slasher cycle started in full swing. It's probably even more responsible for it than Halloween was - Halloween may have shown 'em how it's done, but this movie showed 'em it could be repeated again and again and still make money. And when all is said and done, it's still an above-average slasher movie, no more, no less, with great makeup by Tom Savini and a modicum of atmosphere from director Sean S. Cunningham. Also features one of my all-time favorite shock effects. Required viewing, whatever you might think of the movies it spawned.
Friday The 13th, Part 2 was released the next summer, and was mostly the same idea. Directed by Steve Miner, this one basically just had Jason knocking off more teenagers, occasionally aping Mario Bava's A Bay Of Blood (that film's influence on this one is still denied by producer Cunningham, I hear). Great look and atmosphere to this movie; otherwise, there's just not much there.
Part 3 had the nominal hook of being filmed in 3-D. On video, of course, it just has that "circa 1983" look in which things keep flying at the camera. You could wear your 3-D glasses, but they won't do you any good. Still directed by Miner, it's basically more of the same, minus the cool atmosphere of the last one. Being the first movie in this series I saw - the first real horror movie I ever saw at all, actually - you'd think that this would be a sentimental favorite of mine. Nope.
Sticking to the adage that you'll never go broke underestimating the public, part 4 was named Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter. Nobody really believed it then (joke titles for another sequel were tossed around at the time, like Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter, Part 2), and you'd have to live on another planet to believe it now (I mean, duh, there's been five more of 'em with possibly another in the works). Tom Savini's back on makeup, and does a great job. The cast is loaded with slightly familiar faces (McFly!), and the movie really moves. This ain't a classic by any stretch, but it's the last movie in this series which can be taken seriously. Directed by Joseph Zito, who gave us a few bad action movies but finally gave up.
With some optimism regarding the projected lifespan of this series, they stuck the fifth entry in this series with the title Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning. It was the most successful Friday yet, but it's the lamest entry in the series by far. It's just lame, lame, lame - foxy chicks are few, gore is minimal, and most of the laughs are entirely unintentional. And at the risk of giving away the "surprise" ending, this movie doesn't even have Jason. What a rip! Just sucks. Directed by some guy I've never heard of.
Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is a big, big improvement, however. Instead of the half-assedness of Part V, this one gives up the fright aspect almost entirely and concentrates on gore and comedy. The result is a rousing success; up until part 9, it's the only movie in this series with more than one interesting character, the only one with a real plot, and it's the most gruesome of the bunch. It's also the funniest ("I'm not the one with the funny red nose.") (okay, I laughed). Features a couple of songs by Alice Cooper at the nadir of his career. Directed by Thom McLoughlin, who's had his occasional moments.
The next movie, Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood, kind of takes a cue from Part VI in not taking itself seriously, but it's just not gory or funny enough. It does feature an immensely likeable Lar Park Lincoln in the heroine role as the Carrie-like telekinetic, and the body count is way up there, and the chick factor ain't half bad, but it just seems half-assed. Definitely worth a look for the climactic Jason vs. telekinesis battle, however. Directed by a makeup guy; not sure if he did the makeup on Jason himself in this movie, but whoever did deserves a round of applause.
Obviously filmed in Vancouver, Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan only goes to the Big Apple after about seventy or so minutes. Up until then, most of the action takes place on a cruse ship. So basically, we're already hoodwinked as soon as we look at the box. This one's even more half-assed than Part VII - still plenty of great-lookin' gals, but the murders are even more tame, and the laughs are largely unintentional. When we finally see Jason unmasked this time, he looks like Skeletor. I suppose that's inevitable, since there?s a little less of him at the end of each chapter. Pretty weak.
And finally, Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday lies to us in its title again, since there's floundering plans for both a Freddy vs. Jason movie and a tenth Friday movie. And the plot rips off The Hidden to the letter. Nevertheless, what results is the second-best of the series - fast-paced, REALLY gory, amusing, and lots and lots of foxy women. Not to mention there actually being a plot and a couple of interesting characters. I dunno, might've been my fave overall were it not for the filmmakers' unconvincing protests that they never did see The Hidden.
In conclusion? Not a good series, but there's a lot, a LOT worse out there (cough cough Witchcraft cough cough). As you might imagine, it's deserving of neither the popularity nor the derision it's received. Were I to rank them, I'd say that from best to worst, they're 6, 9, 4, 1, 2, 7, 3, 8, 5...with my only real recommendations for 6 and 9. And holy shit, have you ever read those FAQ's they have linked from the IMDb? More info than you ever wanted to know about this series. I tip my hat to the one responsible, but man - get help! : )