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Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan
[Paramount]
1989; color
Directed by Rob Hedden
Starring: Todd Shaffer, Tiffany Paulsen, Tim Mirkovich, Kane Hodder & Jensen Daggett
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Unlike many of the previous entries, which start with some sort of flashback scenario, this film starts off with a series of appropriately urban establishing scenes of sights far removed - literally and metaphorically - from Camp Crystal Lake (you know, kids loitering by the subway entrance, steam wafting through trash laden alleyways, rats the size of household pets rummaging through garbage cans, that kinda thing) accompanied by some rambling pointless monologue and a really bad song. You might wanna take a good look at the city too while we're here, cause it's gonna be a while before we actually make it back to The Big Apple. Anywhoo, apres credit roll, we see a houseboat of some sort slowly inching it's way across the screen. Inside said boat, a couple of horny teens are doing what horny teens are wont to do - preparing to die horrible, horrible deaths at the hand of some crazed maniac. Well, OK, the teens don't know they're about to die. They think they're gonna participate in some sex of the pre-marital variety (and Jason hasn't even been reanimated yet) but we the viewer know what's up; especially after we learn via the radio that these two are part of the graduating class of Lakeview High—a class whose graduation date set for the 13th, natch. After dropping anchor, the boy part of the duo entertains us with the prerequisite re-telling of the legend of Jason Voorhees, followed by the equally prerequisite let-me-scare-you-by-pretending-to-be-the-homicidal-maniac-I-just-told-you-about gag. (Which we really do need, because once Jason has been returned to the land of the living, he's gotta come across a new mask somehow.) While all this is going down on the boat, the recently dropped anchor catches some sort of electrical cable lying on the lake floor - a cable that just so happens to be draped across the rotting corpse of you-know-who - causing much arc-ing and sparking and whatever other current related mumbo jumbo is necessary to reanimate a once dead pre-teen boy, who has managed grown to the size of a strapping thirty-something man, for the sixth or seventh time. Then, finally, the two are killed and we can get on with the movie. The next day we see a much bigger ship, filled with the still living members of this ill-fated graduating class, preparing to disembark for a celebratory voyage to Manhattan. At this point we are introduced to a number of stereotypes… uh, I mean potential victims… there's the shy troubled orphan girl (and her dog); the stern legal guardian of said troubled orphan girl, who is also one of the school's teachers and one of the trip's chaperones; another chaperone who is a woman and much more easy going that the aforementioned cranky guy; the son of the sea captain, who can never live up to his father's high standards; the token African American athlete with a full scholarship on his horizon; the rocker chick who eschews all normal social activities to spend quality time with her axe; etc. I'd mention their individual names but there's no point in remembering anyone's name really, because as sure as it's going to take at least another forty-five minutes for us to get anywhere near one of the five boroughs, none of these people are going to be alive by the time the film is over. (Except the troubled orphan girl, her dog, and probably one of the boys. That's the way it works in a slasher film - even the most troubled orphan girl manages to survive against the odds and find a boy who likes her enough to try and kill an unkillable dude in her honor.) Since there is in fact at least another three-quarters of an hour before we wind up in Manhattan, this means there's plenty of time for Jason to do what he does best, kill teenagers in gruesome ways. Which he does. Eventually the group is whittled down to a scant few passengers - orphan girl, guardian of orphan girl, son of sea captain, female chaperone, token African American athlete and, yes, the dog - all of whom take refuge in the ship's life raft to avoid the wrath of Voorhees. They float / slowly row aimlessly through the fog for a while until - lo and behold - they see Lady Liberty herself glowing like a beacon of lady-like liberty in the distance. The crew make like pilgrims and land upon the most deserted dock in New York City, hoping to find help, salvation and maybe a slice of thin crust pizza. Of course, Jason puts the kibosh on these plans by following them to Manhattan in hopes of menacing them on dry land. Which he does. Eventually he whittles down his to-be-killed-list to a mere two: orphan girl and son of sea captain (the dog is still alive as well but rarely does Jason stalk a canine victim) leaving this trifecta of travelers to battle it out to the death. Who will live to emerge from the sewer and triumphantly twirl 360 degrees at a snail's pace in the center of Times Square with a confused look on their face, and who will die only to be reanimated for two more official sequels? (Plus one unofficial one.) Take a guess.
—Bunny
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Cause Of
Jason's Re-Birth:
electrical current
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Setting:
a boat travelling between Crystal Lake and Manhattan (2/3); Manhattan (1/3)
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Body Count:
15
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Methods Of Death:
stabbing (2)
impaling (1)
drowning (1)
head smashing (2)
throat slitting (1)
decapitation (1)
strangulation (1)
electrocution (1)
harpoon (1)
axe (1)
spear (1)
hot rock (1)
misc. (1)
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Cause Of
Jason's Death:
toxic waste
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