Review of Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood (1988) by Ryan L — 06 Dec 2008

Last seen underwater with a chain around his neck, Jason Voorhees returns from the dead for Friday the 13th part 7, in a sequel that was originally intended to be the showdown between Jason and Freddy Krueger before rights issues put a stop to that idea.

Instead we have Jason taking on a telekinetic girl (every horror franchise seems to have a telekinetic heroine at some point), in what is basically a retread of the previous 6 films, with Jason terrorising Camp Crystal Lake and killing off another bunch of teens in various ways (my particular favourite being when Jason picks up a girl in a sleeping bag and batters her against a tree).

Minus a couple of inventive moments, this sequel is very samey and repetitive, and if you've seen any of the previous installments then there won't be anything here to surprise you. It gains extra points for being the first film to feature Kane Hodder as Jason, and his physical build and willingness to perform his own stunts (involving a stairway fall, having a roof collapse on him and even being set on fire) provides some memorable moments towards the end, but otherwise, this is a forgettable sequel indeed.