Watching the Friday the 13th Franchise, with Jason

There's a legend around here. A killer buried, but not dead.
A curse on Crystal Lake. A death curse. Jason Voorhees' curse.
Few have seen him and lived. Some have even tried to stop him... No one can.
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DancesWithWerewolves
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Re: Watching the Friday the 13th Franchise, with Jason

Post by DancesWithWerewolves »

Never for the life of me did I think it sounded like ki-ki-ki-ta-ta-ta in that one, lol. I did notice the audible change from ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma to chi-chi-chi-ha-ha-ha from part one right into part two, and in part 8 the "chi" goes back to "ki" but instead of "ha' or "ma" it's "jason" echoing and warping. Never caught a "ta-ta-ta". Oh no, a reason to watch the awesome part 5 again :P
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Jason
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Re: Watching the Friday the 13th Franchise, with Jason

Post by Jason »

DancesWithWerewolves wrote:Never for the life of me did I think it sounded like ki-ki-ki-ta-ta-ta in that one, lol. I did notice the audible change from ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma to chi-chi-chi-ha-ha-ha from part one right into part two, and in part 8 the "chi" goes back to "ki" but instead of "ha' or "ma" it's "jason" echoing and warping. Never caught a "ta-ta-ta". Oh no, a reason to watch the awesome part 5 again :P
It only does it twice, I believe. Once when Roy makes a kill, and another when Tommy is trying to get the voices out of his head. If I remember correctly.
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Re: Watching the Friday the 13th Franchise, with Jason

Post by DancesWithWerewolves »

Jason wrote:
DancesWithWerewolves wrote:Never for the life of me did I think it sounded like ki-ki-ki-ta-ta-ta in that one, lol. I did notice the audible change from ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma to chi-chi-chi-ha-ha-ha from part one right into part two, and in part 8 the "chi" goes back to "ki" but instead of "ha' or "ma" it's "jason" echoing and warping. Never caught a "ta-ta-ta". Oh no, a reason to watch the awesome part 5 again :P
It only does it twice, I believe. Once when Roy makes a kill, and another when Tommy is trying to get the voices out of his head. If I remember correctly.
Next watch I'll be listening with keener ears ;)
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Re: Watching the Friday the 13th Franchise, with Jason

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Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)




With all the questions left after part V's ending, we're thrust right into part VI as Tommy Jarvis and his friend Alan Hawes are headed to Jason's gravesite to cremate his remains so Tommy can bury his demons once and for all. The reality rules are officially broken in Jason Lives, blatantly, as Jason is resurrected via lightning-strike to iron-fence-post that Tommy planted in Jason's heart. Seems like a nod to Frankenstein, if you ask me. And just like that, Jason is back.

Jason Lives marks the final film in the Tommy Jarvis trilogy. He went from innocent young boy in The Final Chapter, to a recovering head case in A New Beginning, and now the hero of the franchise in Jason Lives. The evolution of Tommy Jarvis has been a great journey, thus far. On one hand I am slightly disappointed at the change in actor, but on the other hand all three Tommy's are completely different from each other. It's almost like Tommy had to be portrayed by somebody new. Look at each actor, Corey Feldman, John Shephard and Thom Mathews, and each character is immensely different from each other. It makes Tommy one of the most intriguing characters in the entire franchise.

I mentioned in my review of The Final Chapter that I think Tommy in Jason Lives was born through the influence of Rob in The Final Chapter. Both were there to play hero or die trying. Rob is probably my vote for the most underrated character in the Friday the 13th films. Tommy is once again suspect number one in Jason Lives, just as he likely was in A New Beginning. The minute he starts spouting about Jason being alive, murders start to happen, and the small town police shift their attention directly to Jarvis. Tommy picked the perfect time and the perfect woman to pick up, Megan, the daughter of the sheriff. If not for Megan and her alibi, Tommy would've been in serious hot water.

In this film, the camp is actually open for the first time in the entire franchise. In every other film that attempts to reopen camp, the counselors are killed before everything can be set up. This marks the first and only time we see actual children going to camp at Camp Crystal Lake.

The suspense goes down a bit in Jason Lives and is substituted with a bit more humor and rockin' tune-age. As far as Jason goes, this is the most intimidating Jason I think we have ever seen. He is big, light on his feet and extremely energetic, almost like he has electricity pumping through his veins, or something. How the hell do you stop zombie Jason?

We meet Martin, the caretaker. The endearing town drunk. I believe he was originally written in to survive and hint that he is Jason's father, visiting both Pamela and Jason's grave at the end of the film, but it was then scrapped. If true, I'm glad it was scrapped. The idea of knowing more about Jason and the story he carries will only soften the legend. Martin's final scene is walking down the road, singing the Bing Crosby version of "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen" as he loses sight of the road and downs the last drop of his bottle of booze. He says to the bottle, "Darlin', you're gonna be the death of me". In exactly 13 seconds, he would be correct.

Nikki and Cort are off in the woods making whoopie in an RV. Both go outside to check the cable on the RV and it's just enough time for Jason to sneak inside. As Cort is driving the RV away, Nikki is killed in the bathroom with Alice Cooper blasting on the radio so Cort can't hear. He assumes she's taking a dump. Cort is then knifed in the head as he's driving, causing the RV to crash and flip onto its side. Jason pushed the door up and off its hinges and stands on top of the RV. This is one of my favorite Jason images, seeing him standing on the totaled RV in the middle of the night. Really cool touch.

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The final showdown is about to happen. Tommy calls the sheriff's office but it's Meg at the desk. She offers to pick him up because she knows her father wouldn't have any patience with Tommy. He's at Karloff's General Merchandise, which only further convinces me that the opening scene was a small homage to Frankenstein. There is also a moment where a little girl named Nancy wakes up from a nightmare and talked about a scary man she saw. The little girl was named after the director's wife who was the first woman killed in the movie, but I am pretty much convinced that the nightmare stuff was added in to reference that new big hit movie that came out two years before Jason Lives was released.

Not so soon after, Tommy hatches a plan to get Jason in the lake and chain him to the bottom. One of the many times we see Jason in the water, which eventually made me a little sour on Freddy vs. Jason as I got older, but I'll get more into that in my review of that film. Jason walks right into the lake without hesitation and the final showdown with Tommy finally happens. After a struggle, Jason is chained to the bottom of the lake and gets a propeller from the boat right into the neck. Tommy and Megan survive, and it is never known what happens to either of them. Jason is still seen very much alive at the very end of the film, then Alice Cooper rocks the credits.

When I first watched all these films as a young teen, riding his bike to the video store every weekend to rent all 10 movies on VHS, Jason Lives was my favorite of the franchise. As I've gotten older, and my first viewing of the Friday the 13th was half my life ago, it's dropped off a fair bit down the list, but it has never lost the fun. I have as much fun watching Jason Lives today just as I did when I was a clueless young teenager. It is not without goofiness, but the Friday charm is still there and I'll always love this one.

The Theory of Jason Sparing Children:
That theory derives directly from this film. At one point in the movie, he is seen in a cabin full of kids who he could've murdered at any moment, but ended up not doing so. This leaves many to believe that Jason ultimately spares children. I am of the belief that this is true. Going back to a point I made in my part IV review, it is important to remember that Jason is a vicious and violent killer, but was also a young boy who survived drowning. Unlike most slashers, Jason wasn't born evil. I think it fits his character to spare children, as he himself was a child when his life completely changed. But I also love that it's never explained in the films. The legend of Jason is never without mystery.
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