My Thoughts On The Franchise
I think the very first thing worth mentioning here is that Harry Manfredini’s music is the MVP of the whole franchise and that cannot be overstated.
The first 4 movies in this franchise are excellent.
I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed The Final Chapter (part 4), which I think is the peak of the franchise – it managed to include some brutal on-screen kills AND distinguishable characters with clear motivations and stories of their own, plus the ending was kind of crazy and I have to imagine it was a bit of a shock for its time.
A New Beginning had a really solid 10-15 minute stretch in the thunderstorm toward the end, but otherwise was largely forgettable and wasted both Reckless Reggie and Tommy Jarvis, who I believe would have benefitted from better writing.
Jason Takes Manhattan has a few moments (Jason kicking the boombox, Jason on the rooftop) that elevate it in relation to the rest of the bottom half of the franchise, but it is worthwhile to mention that those moments are funny and not scary.
The remake was produced well, but lacks anything interesting to merit its existence. It doesn’t outshine the original in terms of horror, and doesn’t provide enough general entertainment value to really give it a better place in the franchise. And who the hell built Jason’s house??
Jason Goes To Hell is a real head-scratcher for me. I’m not sure how production moves forward on the 9th installment of a franchise with such a drastic retcon of everything that came before it, such as the possession angle in this one. Now I’m not making the case that this franchise has the most grounded story and can’t account for a supernatural twist, but to make Jason a demon that possesses people in part 9 – when he wasn’t that in any of the previous 8 movies – is just too drastic of a change to the lore in my opinion.
Jason Lives and The New Blood are about equivalent to Jason Goes To Hell in that the story is weak, the kills are weak, and there aren’t enough scares or just general entertainment value to merit regular viewing.
Written by Matt Cordisco aka Wutsisface. First Published on Letterboxd
