Friday the 13th Part VIII (1989)

February 23, 2020

Friday the 13th Part VIII (1989) - Sigh

I, for one, love her hair.

I had anticipated a bit more enthusiasm involved considering when I started the Friday films I was in a much more upbeat and excited state of mind when starting The Paramount 8. And in times past I've actually enjoyed the eighth film, for whatever reason. But tonight, I don't know, the glaring lack of New York seemed to be much more irksome. And the excerpts of boy Jason popping up either as a waking nightmare for Rennie or literally emerging at the end annoyed me more this viewing than ever before. I think just the sheer amount of time and energy I have lent to this film in the past on the blog has caught up to me. There is very little left I think needs to be said. Even the energy in Hedden's direction--I always felt he really wanted to direct this film and tried to deliver a product with some life injected into it but Paramount wouldn't fork over the needed cash and the MPAA wouldn't allow any leeway in gore--couldn't hold me captive. The toxic waste just had too much emphasis, the logic holes were a bit aggravating (the boat of the first victim making it to the harbor where the teen graduates were set to leave on a ship so Jason could hitch a new ride is too much, the abandonment of students so they could be ditched, why Julius would box Jason at all, how the dog could see Rennie's nightmare of boy Jason, why the boy Jason looks like a normal boy then his face changes to mirror the Jason documented throughout the entire series, why Jason would be on the floor of Crystal Lake while fresh power lines existed right next to him, etc.), trying to hide Vancouver in the guise of New York (although I commend him for at least giving it a shot) just didn't work for me this go-around, and the lack of punch in the kills (though the sauna rock buried into a stomach remains a cringer!) was a bit underwhelming. I go through this with certain films, too. "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" (1982) is a film I waffle back and forth on. So is "Jason Takes Manhattan", a film that could easily be made today thanks to digital effects and creative use of placing characters in backdrops, but that will sadly never perhaps happen unless the future produces fans with the right technology to blow us away if they can get past copyright censorships. But with the Victor Miller/Cunningham courtroom drama, what we have is it. The rest is left for us to ask, "What if?" I don't fault Hedden for wanting to leave Crystal Lake, though. I don't agree with how he ended the film, though, at all. Don't like it. Never have. Never will.

Following the cottails of the previous film, this sequel also had a guy survive, and like the second film offered a dog appearing, except Hedden doesn't renege on it. Liked that the film lifts from the surviving couple and their dog from the city into closing credits.