Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan: Review By No-Personality

First thing that should perhaps be said is that this film belongs to a select group of color-stylized horror films which are almost lethargic by most standards. Richard Stanley's Hardware and Dust Devil being the best examples, along with Tony Scott's The Hunger, Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves, Paul Schrader's 1982 remake of Cat People, the Anthony Perkins' directed Psycho III, and any of Michele Soavi's offerings (The Church, Cemetery Man). Man- I love color in my horror. Maybe the fans of today's brand of action-thriller pretending to be horror aren't happy with anything that isn't posing as ultra-gritty. Jason Takes Manhattan, however, balances out its' quiet and colorful sides with a brand of violence which is actually shocking considering the seven previous films. Wes Craven in particular was always very against the kind of Friday the 13th deaths where the victims would turn around unwittingly, scream in surprise, be struck with some bladed weapon, fall down, and died fairly quickly. This film actually tries to show us some suffering on the part of these victims- they really run screaming, register genuine terror on their faces, and even beg for their lives. This is truly the first Friday the 13th not to glamorize death itself. Not that I have a problem with the other movies doing that, I love the 8 films of the original Paramount series passionately- it's my all-time favorite horror franchise. There's just nothing like it. But after 7 films of the exact same thing, there's nothing wrong with a change. Now, some fans would have you believe that change is bad. In my opinion, it's best to try and be smart. This film does that in my eyes.