Review of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) by Brandon R — 07 May 2016

Rob Hedden's infamously substandard Jason Takes Manhattan was a disheartening curtain call for many trademark elements of this franchise. It was the last Friday the 13th film Paramount Pictures released before selling the rights to New Line and the final installment of the 1980s, a decade whose economic excesses made this bounty of sequels possible. While I'm extremely grateful that Jason Lives and The New Blood were so good their high water mark makes this sorry finale all the more disappointing.

I'll start with the most obvious point: Jason in New York City is a dumb idea. As I've written several times already these movies are painfully formulaic so it's perfectly understandable that the filmmakers would want to change things up. I'm all for it so long as you aren't playing fast and loose with an already perfect creation as Mr. Hedden has done here. Jason leaving the camp is fine but why take him to New York? How about a neighboring town or something? Not only is it cheesy but budget and logistical restraints severely limited filming time in NYC which is why most of the movie takes place on a boat or in alleyway scenes shot in LA and Vancouver. If you're going to do something idiotic at least see it through properly.

The boat trip to New York brings up an interesting question in itself. We know from the first film that Camp Crystal Lake is in New Jersey so please tell me what large body of water the cast is crossing to get from there to New York City. Did they venture out into the Atlantic Ocean and go around the island of Manhattan in some kind of perverse scenic route? Did anyone at Paramount consider that this made no sense before putting a multi-million dollar film into production? I'm baffled.

As for the film itself Jason Takes Manhattan is easily the worst in the series up to this point. The only positive is the return of Kane Hodder as Jason, everything else is a total disaster. The plot, dialogue, and performances are pitiable and Jason's makeup design is a joke. He spends the whole movie covered in unexplained slime and the mask used for his exposed face at the end of the movie is laughable. Jason is also now able to vanish and almost instantly reappear in another location like The Flash, when did that start?

This movie was so bad that the franchise rights were quickly sold and four years passed before the release of the next film, the longest gap between installments at that time. I suppose that's in keeping with the cycle of this series, you get two or three good ones before something inexcusably awful follows. That means we're in for another series reboot, I can't wait.