Heroine: "There's a maniac trying to kill us!"
Unsurprised Patron: "Welcome to New York."
That line is a good indicator that Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is trying to say there are worse things out there than Jason Voorhees, and the big city is certainly one of them. Not a bad idea for a 1989 production, I guess; at least, it would have been had writer/director Rob Hedden had the funds to really explore it. Instead, Paramount's last chapter in the Friday the 13th series is a strange and unappealing concoction that spends half its run time on a cruise ship and half in the alleys and sewers of New York (actually Vancouver). I don't blame Hedden completely; his original script had a lot more action in New York, but it turned out to be money the studio didn't want to spend. That being the case, the first thing they should have done was change the title (or come up with a different premise).
The opening credit sequence sadly lets us know that the days of Crystal Lake are gone forever. The classic black background, stock white font, and signature music have been replaced by shots of the New York slums, complete with a cheesy pop song, fancy looking credits, and a voice over about the city that sounds like something you might hear on a third rate tour bus. Not a moment of it portrays New York in a positive light; in fact, the image that's shown the longest is of a rat peeking out of a vat filled with toxic looking liquid. In other words, this place is a cesspool and Jason should have no problem fitting in (when he gets there, no one gives him a puzzling glance).
The set up involves a group of high school seniors taking a cruise to New York before graduation. Like Part 7, the heroine this time is a troubled girl with some daddy issues. No thanks to him, she's afraid of the water and doesn't know how to swim (as a child he pushed her into the lake and told her if she didn't swim, Jason would get her!). This fear combined with childhood trauma provides her with a strong connection to Jason; throughout the picture, she has visions of him as a drowning child. I must say I wasn't prepared for another character to develop a bond with Jason. First off, it's a bit late in the series to being doing that and second, after the failure of Tommy Jarvis it feels like too much of an afterthought. I've been burned once and am not ready to risk it happening again.
After being resurrected by electricity for the second time (after Part 6), Jason kills a couple of teenagers and hitches a ride on the cruise ship, boasting the necessary question of why he would get on the boat in the first place. Sure, there are potential victims there, but doesn't that take him out of his element? Crystal Lake is Jason's comfort zone, meaning he's always in complete control there. It just doesn't look right seeing him wandering around the cramped corridors of a sea vessel. Naturally, he's got plenty of people on board just waiting to be dispatched, and they each fit their stereotypical mold. My personal favourite has to be the female glam rocker, who sports a flying V guitar and a Joan Jett haircut.
Hormones fly high in Part 8, although nothing noteworthy is ever done with it. There's a queen bitch who's reminiscent of the one from Part 7, and once again she's the object of desire for an ultra nerd. Even though he's never humiliated by her, he still says that he wouldn't care if she used him because she's "sexy." This kind of pathetic behavior is as unforgivable as being a spoiled snob, and will no doubt lead to an early grave. There is a little nudity in the picture, but it's handled in a completely different manner than we've seen before in the series. Previously, it's all been a tease or shown from a distance while here, it's very exploitative. Hedden has the camera thoroughly examine the female bodies, generally doing so shortly before their deaths.
If the nudity feels more exploitative, so does the violence. Jason's pattern of quick kills has been replaced by an inexplicable need to take his time killing and actually watch the victim die. This is the first chapter where we get a sense he may really be enjoying what's he doing. Look at the movie's second kill, which has Jason stabbing a girl with a spear. He lowers the weapon very slowly, as if he's making her anticipate what is about to happen, and then after she's dead, he stands and simply looks at her for a moment. The brutality gets even worse from there. One guy gets a hot sauna rock to the stomach, another gets electrocuted, and one poor girl gets choked and then thrown on the floor. In each instance, particularly the middle one, Jason soaks in his destruction completely. If I recall, there's only one true "rape" style murder, and it involves the ship captain's assistant being stabbed repeatedly from behind.
I'm not sure why Jason would be so interested in the deaths all of the sudden. Maybe he's developed a sense of patience, which might make sense because he is no longer able to run. My real guess is that it's a totally random decision made by the director, who also thought it would be good to have Jason target certain people! If you are confused than trust me, so was I. Once in New York, instead of taking out every person in sight, Jason makes it a point to only pursue the survivors of the cruise ship! His new found discrimination makes the last half completely asinine, especially when Jason follows the heroine and her boyfriend onto the subway. There are tons of people he could take out but instead, he pushes them aside to pursue the two familiar faces. Was this meant to be funny? If so, then I'm afraid Rob Hedden is the only one who was laughing.
If you think Jason's behavior is off, wait until you see his absurd ability to teleport. By taking him out of the woods, the studio must have been desperate to come up with some kind of gimmick to justify the fact he won't be able to sneak up on people as well as he used to. As a result, Jason is suddenly able to appear wherever he wants, which takes this idea of him being a boogeyman just a tad too far. Worse, it cripples any chance of suspense from the chase scenes. What good will it do to run away from Jason if he's going to be able to magically pop up in front of you? Once in New York, Jason also gets his sense of humor back. While I must admit I found a billboard joke pretty funny, there are a few other jokes, most notably one where Jason raises his mask to scare some thugs, that felt like they belonged in Part 6.
The latter chapters have shown a weakness in the ending department, so it's appropriate that Part 8 follows suit. It takes place in a sewer where the heroine learns that every night at midnight, toxic waste floods the tunnels. This makes for a convenient way to get rid of Jason, since he will not only drown, but also remember what happened to him as a child. The idea hardly is relevant when you consider that Jason is no longer human and therefore would doubtfully be able to recall anything that happened that many years ago. Interesting though, that Jason goes back to being a defenseless child again; if anything, it revives the theme from the first movie that Jason is labeled as a monster before he even gives anyone a reason to see him that way.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan represents the lowest point of the Paramount years. In addition to its rocky subtext, the picture is not very well made, the sound design is annoying, and the makeup effects are really crappy. For being the biggest budgeted entry in the series, it's rather difficult to figure out where the money went (my guess is the MPAA made sure it was kept off screen). More than anything, the movie makes one wish the studio had ended things after Part 7. Yeah, it was a thankless demise for Jason, but at least the movie was respectful to the roots. The realization that we'll always have to remember Jason Takes Manhattan are the finale is kind of insulting and, for someone who has become a true fan, more than a bit sad.
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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008
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