The city that never sleeps meets the killer that never dies. Jason takes a little vacation from scenic Crystal Lake to take a slice out of the Big Apple. The problem is that the horrifying hockey player doesn’t get there till late in the game.
Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is once again at the bottom of Crystal Lake. A teen couple is making out on a boat when their anchor snag a power cable and it comes into contact with Jason. A good jolt was all the old boy needed and he makes short work of the teen couple, but not before Jimmy Exposition relates the entire history of Jason.
The ship Lazarus is taking the senior class on a cruise to New York. Aboard are budding writer Rennie (Jensen Daggett) and her legal guardian, chaperone, and arsehole Uncle Charles (Peter Mark Richman), other chaperon teacher Colleen (Barbara Bingham), the captain’s son Sean (Scott Reeves), boxer Julius (V.C. Dupree), rocker J.J. (Saffron Henderson), filmmaker Wayne (Martin Cummins), egghead Eva (Kelly Hu), and other teen victims. Jason picks them off one by one on the pleasure cruise, but when they make it to New York it offers a whole city of victims for Jason.
Sadly, Jason only makes it to Manhattan for the last twenty minutes of the film. I can understand the need to take the killer out of Crystal Lake but it’s the familiar stomping grounds and campfire tale that really make the films classics.
However, I will admit there’s something cool about seeing Jason standing in Times Square. There are a few moments in the film, but mostly it’s a dud. You know you’re in for something lame when Jason is given an opening credits 80s rock song. There are too many things that just make you scratch your head.
The makeup is pretty abysmal when compared to the quality decomposed Jason face in Part VII. It’s a letdown from the big guy, though Kane Hodder does his best in everything up till the final terrible makeup reveal.
There are some fun, silly kills (boxer guy) but the bad outweighs the good in this entry. The box office failure of this film would convince Paramount to sell the franchise to New Line.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason takes Manhattan is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary with Scott Reeves, Jensen Daggett, and Kane Hodder. The 18-minute “New York has a New Problem” details the making of the film. Next are 12 minutes of slashed scenes and a 5-minute gag reel.
Jason takes Manhattan seems to have an 80s feel and that isn’t a good thing. Maybe it was a mistake to take Jason away from his old stomping grounds. It also could be that Jason should’ve gotten to Manhattan sooner and not spent so much time on that silly pleasure cruise. Not my favorite entry in the series, but this time around it does get some fetching special features.
Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (Deluxe Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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