Starring: John D.Lemay, Kari Keegan, Kane Hodder, Steven Williams, Steven Culp, Erin Gray, Rusty Schwimmer, Allison Smith.
Director: Adam Marcus.
New Line Cinema purchases the rights to the Friday The 13th franchise and, inspired by their decision to get rid of Freddy Krueger(temporarily, anyway), decided that it was time to put Jason to bed. The resulting film was Jason Goes To Hell which, for all its own foolishness, was at least a clever attempt to do something different with a franchise that basically came into the world stagnant.
If running this series for the blog has done anything, it's made me hate this franchise. I mean it. I'm even having difficulty liking it for it's own ridiculous values and simple metaphoric undertones. I use to be a pretty big defender of the series but I get it now: this franchise is simply terrible. As such, I applaud Jason Goes To Hell for at least giving it the old college try...and in some ways it even succeeds.
For example: The opening sequence is a nice, clever subversion. A random Woman takes up in a cabin, gets naked, and Jason attacks. She flees and leads him...right into an ambush put on by the FBI. Jason is blown to absolute smithereens. It's definitely unusual, but that's what makes this entire film watchable: the liberties it takes with the material. While the idea that Jason is some sort of parasitic entity that possesses bodies is a silly one, it isn't any sillier than anything else we've seen in the series. It's just different so, obviously, fans hate it and I...hate it less.
Harry Manfredini scored every single one of the Friday The 13th films. They're probably the best part of the entire series. I'm going to go like him on facebook, like, right now. He doesn't have an official one, it seems, which is a bummer because he's super talented. But I liked what was there.
I figure it was worth a shot for the coroner to eat Jason's heart. Jason did have incredible strength worth attempting to obtain. I know the coroner was under some sort of magic spell or whatever, I just like the idea that he was going all "I will eat his heart and gain his strength" instead. The actor does a pretty great job of just GOING FOR IT, too. It's a disgusting effect and the actor shows real gusto.
Y'know, when someone says Jason Voorhees to me, I also think of a little girl in a pink dress who is sticking a hot dog through a donut. Then again, MOST things make me think of that for some reason. I think Creighton Duke is working kinda cheap, though: $500,000 to catch and kill America's greatest serial killer? Is that all?
I rather like Creighton Duke. Steven Williams has real gravitas, and offers a pretty fun performance. He's not the only one "in on the joke"-John D. Lemay as nerdy hero Steven certainly is fully aware that he's supposed to be doing hammy comedy while not veering too far away from a serious performance-but he certainly does the most with it. The character certainly knows his way around trash talk. "She's only your girl 'cause she ain't had a taste of The Duke yet" he says. To the Sheriff.
Steven Williams is easily the best thing about the whole film. Lemay plays off of him pretty well, though: the exposition scene in the jail cell, where Duke breaks Steven's fingers as "the price of information" is actually really well done. The two actors clearly relish the opportunity to go big with their performance. It's a really crucial scene for Steven, too: he gains the respect of both the audience AND Duke with his willingness to suffer for his Baby Mama. It might actually be one of the best exposition scenes I've ever seen, really: I've talked a few times about how tough exposition is to keep fresh and interesting. It's dumping a lot of information on the audience, and that often feels a lot like a boring high school class. But in some cases-and this case definitely counts-it can be very entertaining. Duke gives a lot of mythology expansion in a method that is actually easy to swallow and fun to watch.
There are enough quiet character moments to radically distinguish this from previous franchise entries. Steven's interactions with his infant daughter and subsequent interaction with the dull cook from the diner are both simple but effective little moments that help advance a feeling that we're dealing with actual people instead of lumps of basic traits. She's super irritating, but diner owner Joey actually has a natural ease in playing her stereotypes that it's forgivable that she's mostly, y'know, stereotypes.
Bob Jackass, host of Hard Copy or whatever, is particularly evil. "I stole her body, hid it in the closet, and then I went home and fucked her Daughter!" I don't think any other franchise does absolute scum quite like Friday The 13th. I mean, Scum with a capital S. There are horror movie VILLAINS who aren't quite as awful as some characters in this franchise.
There are some fun gags in this film, and I bet the effects staff had an absolute ball with a lot of it. The sheriff's whole melting scene is the epitome of egregious but it's so fun looking that it's forgivable. I'm beginning to sense a theme:
Jason Goes To Hell: it's forgivable.
I have no idea why the diner is basically Waco, but somehow there are a LOT of guns. Poor sweet Vicki: I wish you had survived. You had no characterization besides "sweet" (in fact, the weird rednecks had more personality and they're annoying weirdos...but still somehow kinda lovable and it kinda sucks when they get killed) but your act of defiance in death really worked well. I love a good "last hurrah" and the diner people surely got that.
Magic knives and the world's greatest bounty hunter getting taken down by a pit trap. Also, weird worm creature. Not a great third act. At least we get Jason back for a mostly awkward fist fight with Steven. Oh, well.
Then, of course, the Freddy glove grabs Jason's mask, teasing fans for a movie that won't come for another decade or so.
Final Thoughts: Much as I said in the beginning, this movie at least has the guts to try something different with a worn out franchise. It doesn't all work-far from it-but there's enough fun to make it stand out and be actually entertaining. It's spirited and committed, which is more than I can say for most of it.
Final Rating: Three Stars.
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