Review of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) by Matthew F. J — 22 Mar 2015

Definitely not the worst installment of the Friday the 13th franchise. I was surprised by how engaged I was throughout since I had really low expectations to begin with. The characters are out there, some were really likeable and some were simply atrocious.

I liked Jensen Daggett as Rennie, a down to earth and refreshing final girl in my opinion. The opening sequence was fantastic and while most part of the film takes place on a boat, I still enjoyed it for what it was.

The death scenes were just good, some make-up effects looked very cheap and plain bad though. It took a long time for them to actually get to Manhattan, and when they did we only get to see like 10 minutes.

.. That was pretty dissapointing. The acting was alright, some of the actors stood out while some fell flat. I still think this movie has lots of problems, like its script, editing and pacing. The story was nothing special, some of the aspects were pretty interesting however.

The soundtrack is fun and the final act is great. Definitely not one of my very favorite installments of the Friday the 13th franchise, but definitely not one that deserves all the hate its getting. In my opinion Part III is still the worst of the franchise.

Jason Takes Manhattan is cheesy and over the top and filled with some bad one-liners, but its worth watching for the deaths, the amazing Kane Hodder and New York alone.