"The only way to kill Jason is to send him back to his original resting place where he drowned in 1957."
Well here we are at "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives." After the slightly disappointing "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," this movie wasn't completely better, but it's a slight step up. This movie was the restoration, in ways, of Jason Voorhees, after the ending for "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," it's nice to have our good buddy Jason back, and in this one, he's back, and his kills are disastrous as ever. In the first three movies, you saw the transformation of Jason Voorhees, with his downfall in the fourth. In this one you see what I consider to be Jason's final transformation. After the ending of "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," you found out that Jason was still buried. So in this one, we see his ascension into the zombie killer that we all know. The decripit and decayed menace, sporting his legendary hockey mask, and a seemingly unquenchable thirst for blood and destruction. With this, in my mind, Jason is complete. It's just a shame that it's not as awesome of a movie as it could be to give us this final transformation. We also get another landmark with this movie, and I'm not sure if it's the most exciting thing ever. Tommy Jarvis is the only character that I know of in any of the "Friday the 13th" movies, to have survived through two Jason attacks. Alice didn't make it past two, and everyone else never had to face up with him again. However, this is sort of bittersweet. I didn't have an issue with their casting of John Shepherd as Tommy Jarvis because he was portraying the character in the future, and Corey Feldman was still a twelve year-old. However, in this movie, John Shepherd is replaced by another man, who looks absolutely nothing like him. Whenever people do this with characters in movies, it makes that character tiresome, and so you kind of wish they'd focus on a different character. Though it's nice to see that they're doing a first for this series, and keeping a character to go against Jason. It's kind of like Laurie Strode from "Halloween," in a way, except that Jamie Lee Curtis returned as the character for every movie. It's not a really big deal, but it's slightly disappointing. The movie overall, is enjoyable, though it has it's downfalls.
The director of this movie is a man named Tom McLoughlin, whose only other theatrical release movie was a movie called "One Dark Night." The rest of his work are all made-for-TV movies. However this does not mean that he does terrible with this movie. On the contrary, his angles and filters make the movie very enjoyable to watch, even though his direction of the cast was a bit mislead. I've said it many a time, and I stick by it, that interesting angles always make the kills very fun to watch. One angle in particular, however, did not deal with a kill, but rather, Jason's rebirth. It was a fun angle, with an interesting filter, which combined made the electrically charged Jason rising from his grave really cool to see. That was my favorite bit of directorial skill from McLoughlin, but there are definitely many more in it. He's not the best of the series' directors so far, I'd say that spot belongs to Sean S. Cunningham for the original "Friday the 13th," with Steve Miner in a close second with "Friday the 13th Part 2." McLoughlin definitely makes a great contribution for the "Friday the 13th" series. It's definitely not towards the top of the list, but it is still not the worst of the series so far. Tom McLoughlin is also the writer for this movie, and his characters, or at least Jason, are based off of Victor Miller's creation in the original "Friday the 13th." McLoughlin does, what I consider to be a very fair job, at returning our main man Jason to the scene. Many of you remember the ending of "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," so it's nice to see the return of our main killer buddy. I especially applaud McLoughlin for his choice of HOW exactly Jason Voorhees was returned to life. I know it's slightly predictable, and you know EXACTLY how it'll pan out when Tommy begins to stab Jason's body with the metal rod, but I still think that it was a creative little tidbit, and definitely great for the character. However, with a lot of stuff, McLoughlin failed. The story was kinda sketchy all over the place, and some of the characters weren't as developed as they could be, but I'll touch more on that later. McLoughlin has the reins in his complete and total control for this movie, and for the most part, he does a decent job with it. Creating a movie that is not the best, but it's also not the worst, either.
The visuals of this movie pretty much stand up to par with the visuals that adorn the other five "Friday the 13th" films, though in some spots, they are a bit oddly done, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a not-so-good way. First of all, as I always do, or have done so far in my reviews for the "Friday the 13th" series, we have the point of view of the kills, and of the killer himself. This goes on par with what was chosen for "Friday the 13th Part III" and "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter." You know who it is, you saw him in the beginning, so it doesn't try and pull it over your eyes. You see Jason with ever vicious kill he executes. In the last film, they hid him because you were tricked into thinking that Jason was completely dead at the end of "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter," so it made some sense to have the kills done from the killer's point of view. I definitely like the fact that you see him as he kills, since it makes it more fun. It also adds a different kind of eeriness that the unseen killer effect did. It gives you that, "Oh shit, it's HIM," kind of feeling. Jason himself, has made, what I consider to be his penultimate, but most important transformation: The zombie. Jason has been buried in the ground for many years, and so he's definitely been decaying there, stuck in a bed of dirt. His mask is back to it's usual red marked one, and that pleases me, though, like I said in my review of "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," I did enjoy the blue markings, as it offered something new for the series. However, it was only fit for the one, and you'll know why, with it's ending. The blood of this movie, was used in large amounts, and depending on which scene, it looked good, or it looked a bit sketchy. Not terrible, as it definitely passes, but more work could have been done with it, I think. Speaking of blood, Jason's kills are becoming more and more imaginitive, if I may be so bold as to use such a word. I think for me, the most memorable kill of this movie, was when Jason pushes the woman, Nikki's, face through the wall of the motor home. I don't know why, but it struck me as a particularly wicked, in a good way, kill. Not a lot of blood involved in it, but still an interesting one, nonetheless. So the visuals of this movie are definitely done pretty well, and though they aren't as good as the visuals in a couple of the past "Friday the 13th" films, but it's definitely not terrible, and manages to help keep your interest in the film.
The Storyline of this movie is pretty much the same as usual, but it's got some twists to it that I think made it interesting to watch. Jason's movies, as many of you know, seem to revolve around the same premise, and it's right that they should, since Jason's inhuman rage is aimed at all of the teenagers that live in the vicinity of the lake in which he drowned in, and as you all know, that is Crystal Lake. With this movie, the townfold of Crystal Lake try and put everything about Jason behind them. Since he's been dead for many years, and the camp is being reopened, they want to forget that Crystal Lake ever existed, leaving it behind with the twisted Voorhees legacy. They tell their children that Pamela Voorhees, and her dear son, Jason, are nothing but mere legend. I find this to be an interesting step for the characters, and it's an interesting attempt, seeing as how they had no clue that Jason Voorhees was going to be brought back from the dead. What I really like about this story, is that it brings back Tommy Jarvis in the main role, the only character to survive TWO Jason Voorhees massacres, as I mentioned earlier, whereas the only one who was ever mentioned a second time, Alice from the original "Friday the 13th," was killed in the sequel, "Friday the 13th Part 2." While that's an awesome fact, I wish they'd have kept the same actor for the role, you know? Characters often get a little tiresome when their actors change every film. I also REALLY liked that we've returned to Camp Crystal Lake, since it has always been different spots ON Crystal Lake, however, it was not the camp that we saw in the original "Friday the 13th," the camp dubbed "Camp Blood" by the inhabitants of Crystal Lake. However, the storyline itself is rather sketchy and shallow, but these points that I've made clear make it an enjoyable film to watch, so it wasn't a terrible storyline, it just wasn't the best, either.
Tommy Jarvis (Played by Thom Mathews of "The Return of the Living Dead") has finally been released from his institutionalized state, and together with a friend, Allen Hawes (Played by Ron Palillo of "Comitted"), he is going to destroy Jason Voorhees' body, and make sure that he can never wreak havoc on the innocent townsfolk of Crystal Lake again. It is a stormy night, and windy as ever, but he still wants to persever and gain his revenge on the mass murderer. However, when they find the body of Jason Voorhees, it is made clear to Allen that Tommy doesn't just want to see that Jason is dead, he wants to destroy the body. Allen isn't so keen on the idea, and when they get to the casket, he doesn't want Tommy to open it, however, Tommy asks him for the crowbar. Allen doesn't want to, but gives it to Tommy anyway. When they get the casket open, and Tommy sees the long ago decayed body of the man who caused him terror as a twelve year-old, and remembers chopping him to death. He suddenly is caught up in a rage, no doubt attributed to the mental disturbance that Jason sent him into, and the pain and fear that haunt his every waking moment. He goes to a gate, and breaks off a bar from a rusted gate nearby. He takes it, and begins to stab Jason repeatedly. Allen backs off a little bit, clearly alarmed by Tommy's sudden breakdown. However, as quickly as it had begun, Tommy's rage dissipates, and he stops stabbing Jason, however he leaves the metal rod inside of Jason's chest. He picks up Jason's mask, which he had kept as a souvenir of that night, for some reason, and tosses it onto his body, saying "Fuck you, Jason." Soon, lightning cracks the sky, and hits the rod that is stuck in Jason's chest. Electricity is sent throughout his body, and as the second bolt of lightning hits the rod again, and the electricity runs through Jason's body, we see his eye open. Tommy runs up to the rod, and sees it smoking. He puts on a pair of gloves that he brought because clearly it is smoking hot, and he pulls it out. As he tosses it aside, and turns to get the stuff to destroy Jason's body, Jason (Played by C.J. Graham of "Highway to Hell"), now fully rejuvinated, lunges, and grabs Tommy. Tommy breaks free, however, and Jason stands up. He sees his mask, and picks it up, placing it on his face. He picks up the rod, which he uses as a spear, and kills Tommy's friend, Allen. Tommy flees the scene, getting into his truck, and driving away. He rides into the town of Forest Green, to warn the Sheriff what has happened. The Sheriff, Michael Garris (Played by David Kagen of "Body Chemistry"), does not believe Tommy in the slightest, and he tells him that he doesn't want to here anymore nonsense about Jason Voorhees. The town changed it's name from Crystal Lake to Forest Green so that it could FORGET about Jason and all of his terror, and when the Sherrif finds out who the kid is, and how desperate Tommy is when Tommy lunges for the Shotgun cabinet, Garris locks him up in the holding cell, and tells Tommy that he's calling the institution in the morning, and that Tommy better get some sleep, or he'll knock him out himself. Tommy falls asleep, though very unwillingly. Meanwhile, Jason had gone on his own little hunt in the woods, and come across a couple of kids who are driving through the woods, named Darren (Played by Tony Goldwyn of "Ghost") and Lizabeth (Played by Nancy McLoughlin of the made-for-TV movie, "Fuzz Bucket," and wife of the director, Tom McLoughlin"). Jason stands in their path, and doesn't move. Darren tries to scare him off, but obviously it doesn't work, so Darren gets out, with his gun, and tries to MAKE Jason movie. Jason takes the rod that gave him life, which he's made into his own little spear, and stabs Darren, and flings him over his shoulder. Lizabeth gets out to run, but trips and falls into a puddle, and Jason finishes her off, too. Tommy wakes in the morning, to see a group of kids, Megan (Played by Jennifer Cooke of "Gimme an 'F'"), Sissy Baker (Played by Renee Jones of "The Terror Within II," and the Soap Opera, "Days of Our Lives"), Paula (Played by Kerry Noonan of "Hot Moves"), and Cort (Played by Tom Fridley of "The Karate Kid"), who are all talking with Sheriff Garris. Megan is the daughter of Sheriff Garris, and she is talking to him before she and her friends head to Camp Forest Green, to start the weekend activities for the children. She is telling him that Darren and Lizabeth haven't shown up yet, and that she wants him to keep watch out for him. Tommy takes this moment to shout his warning about Jason, and the Sheriff tells the kids to be on their way, but not before Megan has her chance to flirt with Tommy. The Sheriff ushers everyone out, and turns to Tommy. He tells him that he wants him gone now, and escorts him out of town, however, Tommy makes a lunge for the Cemetary in his truck, and brings the cops with him so that they can see that Jason was really dug up the night before, but when he gets there, it's all covered up. Meanwhile, Jason's found himself a nice group of paintballers in the woods, whom he kills rather quickly, as they are no match for his inhuman rage and abilities. They escort him out of town, and head back to business. Soon, Jason finds the camp of children, and their counselors, and begins to start his mayhem. He starts with Cort, who is making love with his girlfriend, Nikki (Played by Darcy DeMoss of "Return to Horror High") in her mobile home, and from there, terrorizes the other kids in the camp. Garris gets a call from his deputies, who have found the mutilated bodies of Cort and his Girlfriend, and tells Megan to stay in the station because he believes Tommy Jarvis is taking all possible tries to convince everyone that Jason Voorhees is back. She stays, as he leaves to investigate. In the woods Garris's deputies find what's left of Darren and Lizabeth, and the Sheriff puts out an APB and roadblocks to aprehend Tommy Jarvis, and put him away for good. Meanwhile, Tommy tries to put in one last call to the Sheriff, but gets Megan instead, who tells him that her father is looking for him. He starts to go, but she asks where he is, and heads to get him since her Dad will be looking for his car. They are caught in their escape, however, and Tommy is locked up once again, but Megan really believes Tommy's story, and wants to check out the Camp to make sure her friends and the kids are all OK. She breaks Tommy free, and they head to the camp. However, Megan finds more than she bargained for, as her and Tommy must now face off against Jason Voorhees, a menace who doesn't seem to know the meaning of "Dead." Tommy, whose dealt with Jason before, is determined to make sure he is put to rest, in every sense of the word, no matter WHAT it takes, but it's not going to be as easy as he wants it to be, not even with Tommy's seemingly foolproof plan. All of the Actors and Actresses in this movie deliver roles that are, for some characters like Megan and Tommy, pretty good, and for others, not-so-good. They do manage to get their characters across pretty well, though, getting down most the different emotions, feelings, worries, and other such characteristics of each character very well, and making them work. Definitely a pretty good job on the casting of this movie.
All in all, this was a pretty good "Friday the 13th" film. It offers us up some new stuff, and brings Jason into his penultimate transformation, as well as introduces some other fun things to the series. It's, as I've said numerously, not the best one in the "Friday the 13th" series, but it's also DEFINITELY not the WORST in the "Friday the 13th" series, either. The Director of this movie manages to add some really nice touches to the kills in the movies with interesting and creative angles and filters, although his direction of the actors for the movie was a bit shaky in some parts. DEFINITELY a pretty good job with the Directing of this movie. The Writing of this movie, which was done by the Director of tis movie, as well, was also done pretty well, and he manages to come up with some interesting new twists to the series that really make it fun to watch. DEFINITELY a pretty good job on the Writing of this movie. The Visuals of this movie are done very well, and really adds to the movie with the point-of-view of the killer and killings, the zombie-like looks of Jason Voorhees, the blood, and the kills DONE by Jason Voorhees, and really gives it a nice creepy feeling, but one that is also really fun to watch. DEFINITELY a great job with the Visuals. The Storyline of this movie was done alright. It offers us some new and interesting things and twists for the series, and something fresh for it as well, however some of the things are a bit sketchy in parts, and the dialogue gets a tad tiresome in parts, nothing major, but it's noticeable nonetheless. DEFINITELY an alright job with the Storyline of this movie. The Acting ties everything in this movie together. All of the Actors and Actresses in this movie aren't the greatest, but they do well enough, and manage to deliver performances as characters that are PRETTY Convincing, PRETTY Believable, and PRETTY Realistic, and they deliver performances as characters that you can KIND OF feel for, though I'm not sure how much you could really RELATE TO all of them, on SOME different levels. DEFINITELY an alright job on the Casting of this movie. So if you're a big fan of the previous five "Friday the 13th" movies; "Friday the 13th," "Friday the 13th Part 2," "Friday the 13th Part III," "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter," and "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," then you would probably like this one, too. So give it a try, especially if you were one of the ones who were disappointed by "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. It's not the best of the "Friday the 13th" series, but it's also definitely not the WORST of the "Friday the 13th" series, either. So give it a try. I'm almost POSITIVE that you will not get very disappointed with it. I know I didn't!!!!!
THIS CONCLUDES PART 6 IN MY REVIEW SERIES FOR THE "FRIDAY THE 13TH" SERIES!!!!! STAY TUNED FOR PART 7, "FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD!!!!!"
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