The film opens to 1958 where two summer camp counsellors slink away to a private spot at the camp to fool around, but a night of lustful memories becomes a grim nightmare as they are stalked and murdered by an unrevealed assailent.  Then there's this very cool white out over the frozen image of a screaming teenage girl, and the credits hit.  Then, it's the present day, and Steve Christy is attempting to re-open Camp Crystal Lake - a camp which certain locals claim has a "death curse."  Over the past twenty years, the summer camp has been plagued with one mysterious incident after another such as arson and "bad" water.  It's obvious someone doesn't want this camp to ever open again, and will go to whatever lengths necessary to make certain of it.  All the counsellors arrive at the camp, and have an enjoyable day, but once night falls, death awaits them in every shadow.  One by one, these teenagers are killed in various ways throughout the night.  When the ending arrives, we are treated to numerous revelations, and all of them quite impactful.

Now, I've never really liked this movie.  For one, the direction isn't too hot as I believe Steve Miner did a far better job with the subsequent Friday The 13th, Part 2.  Cunningham doesn't give us anything special in the director's chair, and not to mention, the film feels quite dated in every way.  The budget was very low, but at least, they got some fantastic gore effects from Dawn of the Dead's special makeup effects master Tom Savini.  My main gripe would have to be the continued use of the first person perspective of the killer throughout the film as if Cunningham was trying to capture the opening sequence of Halloween for the entire film.  This is part of his unimpressive direction, and I believe it hurts the effectiveness of the scares.  Also, the story leaves a lot to be desired, and a lot of time passes before we get into the real slasher aspects of the film - practically half way through.  The pacing certainly is slower than many of the sequels, and is down right sluggish by today's standards.  The pacing wouldn't be so blatantly obvious if there was actually something happening in the first half of the film, but there isn't.  People went to this movie to see a horror gorefest, but are left to sit through 45 minutes of character's getting to know one another while we ocassionally see through the eyes of an unrevealed stalker before anything exciting or genuinely interesting happens.  Now, I was only a couple of months old when this film was released in theatres, and so, I can't say I grew up with films with this style and pace.  Though, I do enjoy films like The Exorcist, Dawn of the Dead, Black Christmas, Halloween, The Thing, and Phantasm.  So, I do enjoy films with slower paces and methodical storytelling, but when there's little storytelling taking place, anyone can become quite bored with said film.  Also, I've never cared greatly for Harry Manfredini's abrassive musical style, but it has become a signature for the series and I don't outright hate it.  I just believe that, sometimes, simple is better than overly textured music, but I will digress.

There is some good talent in front of the camera as this was Kevin Bacon's first feature film role, and Adrienne King is a fantastic female lead.  Also, the reveal of the motherly Betsy Palmer as the demented psycho killer is priceless.  Though, when a brand new character shows up in the last 15 minutes of the film where all other characters have been dispatched with, it's not difficult to deduce their purpose, and only their motive remains to be revealed.  Though, that revelation is intricle to every sequel to this film.  Betsy provides a wonderful and memorable performance that sells every bit of Mrs. Voorhees' dementia and madness.  The ending is one of the best of the series, and even though there have been way, way better chase sequences, the ultimate end is gold, and the final shock of the film has become legendary.  So, if I was just rating the final act of the film, I'd probably give it a 7.5 out of 10 but overall, I have to downgrade to only 4 out of 10.  There are too many lengths of time here that do nothing to further the plot or even keep the audience interested, and even though the kills are top-notch and the longer the film goes, the better it gets, you have to wait a little too long for business to pick up.  This film was really made so Sean Cunningham could just have a small hit film to boost his lagging career, but in the wake of Halloween, Friday The 13th gave the horror movie fans just what they needed - another stalk n' slash flick with lots of kills and gore.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gory violence, adult language, drug use, and brief nudity.

Now, the makeup effects aren't quite as good as Savini's were in the original as he opted to do the obvious (and certainly inferior) Friday The 13th rip-off The Burning instead.  Though, the effects are still of high quality thanks to Carl Fullerton and his team.  The kills are even more creative and definitely more violently aggressive than before.  On top of it all, the direction here is great!  Steve Miner really made a fantastic directorial debut here, and earned the privledge of being the only person to ever direct two Friday The 13th films.  From all accounts, he had heavy influence from Mario Bava with this film, and it really helped deliver a great first sequel.  Miner racks up the suspense and tension in any potential stalk n' slash scene, and he crafted a great final act with the confrontation between Ginny and Jason.  Betsy Palmer also makes a cameo appearance, but that's all I'll say there.  Miner really put together a tight film with plenty present to consistently entertain everyone.  I loved Stu Charno's practical joker in Ted, and really helped give a certain bit of levity as a counterpoint.  But it's not like the one-liners and wisecracks we get these days.  His character stays the whole night in town drinking himself silly and laughing up a riot.  So, the tension remains constant throughout the climax, and the chase sequence is far more clever and creative than in the first film.  All in all, Miner did a far better job as director here than Cunningham did with the original, and delivers possibly the darkest entry in the whole franchise here.  Manfredini may have topped his score here as it really sells a lot of scares, shocks, and tension.  The cast is quite good here, and the leads are solid as well.  I have no problem giving this installments a near perfect rating of 9.5 out of 10!

The only other notes to be made are concerning Warrington Gillette and his stuntman Steve Daskawisz  I know what you're saying.  "Who in the sam HELL is Steve Daskawisz?"!  I could try to explain it, but I'll just quote my source, David Grove, author of the upcoming Making Friday The 13th: The Legend of Camp Blood book.  Here's what he said in an email to me on April 12th, 2003:

"The "real" Jason is funny because everyone thinks it was Warrington Gillette (and it was), but what happened was that he wasn't able to do the stuntwork and he eventually stopped working and so Steve Daskawisz (remember him?) took over and did ninety percent of the stuff.  Not only did I talk to Steve, but I also spoke to Cliff Cudney (the tow truck driver) who was the stunt coordinator."

Daskawisz did stunts for the 1981 Sly Stallone / Billy Dee Williams cop thriller "Night Hawks", and for the Donald Pleasance / Jack Palance horror film "Alone in the Dark (1982)".  But Mr. Francis Warrington Gillette III deserves credit himself, and I won't belittle his role in the film.  It's just time that the truth came out, and proper credit was given in the proper places.  Gillette was a struggling actor who auditioned for a role OTHER than Jason in "Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981)", but when someone else got the part over him, the filmmakers asked if he'd portray the role of Jason Voorhees.  Since Francis didn't have many takers for his acting duties, he readily accepted the part.  Though, Mr. Gillette was somewhat uncomfortable with all the make-up prosthetics glued to his face.  If that wasn't bad enough, he had either a prosthetic or the pillow case over his right eye all the time, and thus, lost any depth preception & became frequently dizzy.  And to top it ALL off, he had to wear distorted dentures that forced his mouth open whenever he had to wear them.  Quite the pain to endure on your first filmed acting job.

It is highly obvious by those statements that Gillette did a lot of work on the final few scenes of the film, and is even more apparent by this certain story.  At the point where Jason crashes through the window at the film's conclusion, Gillette had to ram through the glass window with some significant impact.  The problem being is that the art director forgot the score the glass (make an incision on the glass to prep it for breaking in a particular manner), and so, when Gillette charged the glass, he injured his head and fell backwards.  And by the time they actually got the scene correct, he was rather irritated.  Francis Warrington Gillette III only took one other acting job after his role as Jason.  He went into the women's clothing business, and finds it depressing to watch other people portraying Jason Voorhees on film.

As for Mr. Daskawisz, he had a few other acting and stuntman jobs following his work on the first "Friday" sequel, but hasn't been heard from much after the 1980's.  Look for more information on him in Mr. Grove's "Friday the 13th" book which will be published later this year.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains toned down violence, brief language, and nudity.

Part 3 begins where Part 2 left off, and Jason Voorhees has been wounded, but is able to slip away into the woods and the night.  He wanders to a small market in Crystal Lake, and while he kills the cranky couple which own it, he grabs himself a new set of clothes (and apprently a shave as well).  Meanwhile, a sizeable group of teens set out on a weekend at Crystal Lake at Higgins Haven, the woodland retreat for Chris Higgins (Dana Kimmell) and her family.  Also, tagging along is the uptight Rick (Paul Kratka), and the jokey Shelly (Larry Zerner) along with a pair of old stoners.  Chris is very weary of returning to the area because of an attack by a freakish man in the woods two years prior, but Rick does what little he can to comfort her.  In the meantime, Shelly and one of the teenage girls take a ride to a convenience store where a trio of bikers cause them a bit of trouble, but Shelly kind of leaves them a bit humiliated.  This provokes the trio to follow them back to Higgins Haven, but their snooping around the barn costs them a great deal more than they bargained for.  Jason continues to slowly off each and every person in the area - as per usual - until the climactic confrontation with the heroine.

After a great outing with Friday The 13th, Part 2, I'm rather disappointed in how uneven and disjointed the direction and story are here.  Not to mention the quality of the cast and characters falls down one big notch, and the makeup effects aren't anything to note.  I believe Miner was relying too much on the 3-D sight gags and gimmickery to be the film's strong point, but most people these days have never seen a 3-D presentation of this movie.  So, all there is is the two dimensional image on the screen, and the lackluster direction, acting, and storytelling.  The filmmakers attempted to bring some emotional depth to Chris with her previous frightening encounter with Jason, but it falls flat because of the actress in the role.  Amy Steel and Adrienne King were head and shoulders above Dana Kimmell.  Larry Zerner as Shelly is a loveable misfit that pulls too many cheap practical jokes, and ends up pissing everyone off - unlike Stu Charno's Ted from the previous film who was a master of practical jokes, and everyone still had a good laugh afterwards.  Though, he does add in an intricle element for every subsequent sequel - he provides Jason with his very first hockey mask.  Speaking of Jason, Richard Brooker really brought a lot creativity to the role with the nonchalant, confident attitude he brought out in the character.  He was killing as if were the most casual thing in the world, and thus, exuding the belief that Jason is without conscience or contempt.  As Megadeth's debut album says, "killing is my business, and business is good."  Jason kills because he is imitating what his mother was doing, and aside from the murder of Alice Hardy, he just kills because his mother killed.  It's not out of vengeance, vendetta, or anger - he just kills because mommy killed.  That's the belief that Brooker's performance brings out.  Though, chances are that Jason's just very territorial, and like a street gang, he doesn't want anyone invading his turf.

Now, another really BAD element in this film is the horrid disco theme Manfredini concocted with Michael Zager.  I mean, it's 1982, and disco is deader than Jason's mother.  If for nothing else, this dates this film horribly, and in a bad, bad way.  Also, if you want to talk more about the script, I can do that.  One of the co-writers, Martin Kitrosser, also co-wrote the script to Friday The 13th, Part V: A New Beginning, and thus, you can get an idea of how poor his scriptwriting is.  The plotting here is not engrossing, let alone engaging, and the characters lack any genune depth or likeablity (except maybe Shelly).  Everyone else is a flat stereotype - the stoners, the heroine, the heroine's comforting boyfriend, the sexy girls, and so on.  This installment just pales in comparison with the tight and taut Friday The 13th, Part 2.  Though, I'll give this a little credit because of Brooker's great performance, but everything else makes this a hardly enjoyable watch.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gory violence, drug use, adult language, and brief nudity.

Now, there are many good points to make here, but there's one big negative mark I'll point out shortly.  First off, the good points - Tom Savini returns as the special makeup effects artist, and definitely brings all his tricks with him.  The director, Joseph Zito, does a wonderful job to make this a more cohesive piece than the previous entry, and also brings along some character depth.  Also, the cast is quite good, and the script is very well written.  Crispin Glover gets one of his first theatrical film roles here that soon after, got him parts in numerous films including the first Back To The Future film.  Manfredini brings along one of his most tense scores, yet.  Although, I don't have much love for Ted White's portrayal of Jason or his attitude regarding the role, he does a quality job nonetheless.  Now, the big negative mark I personally put against this film is the character of Trisha Jarvis.  In the latter end of the film, she becomes so painfully DUMB that I literally have to stop watching the film.  Now, there's a  bit of a spoiler, so, avert your eyes for until the next paragraph.  It's the dead of night, Rob Dire goes down into the pitch black basement, and gets bludgeoned to DEATH by Jason!  So, what does Trisha do?  She runs away, but then, changes her mind - as if she suddenly came to her senses (when she really takes all leave of them) - and goes down into the basement herself to find Rob where Jason is undoubtedly still lurking about!  This is moronic beyond comprehension!  Anyone who would get anywhere NEAR believing this to be a good idea deserves to have their brains bashed in!  Sorry, but this level of dumbness just pisses me off, and anyone who wrote this character like this owes me an explanation.  Unless you're doing a horror movie parody, this sort of writing is just ridiculous.  I'm sure retarded people have more sense than to do something like THAT!  Not to mention, she continues on from this point being a total moronic idiot, and it is only a total shame that she embeds that machete in Jason's cranium!

Now, if it weren't for the complete loss of brain activity in this character, I could give this film a much higher rating because the direction is great, Savini's effects are top-notch, the rest of the cast is solid, and the score is tight.  But I just can't get around Trisha Jarvis in the final two acts of the film because she's in every scene for the last half hour of it!  So, you're stuck with a 7 out of 10 instead of something like a 9 out of 10 because of ONE badly written character that only gets more annoying the long she's in the film.  Though, you can hardly pass this one up because Joe Bob Briggs says, "it's got important plot points," in regards to the following two sequels.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gruesome violence, adult language, and nudity.

The cast is so uninteresting, no one could really care about the score, the script is weak, the effects pale in comparison to Savini's work, and the direction is just plain TERRIBLE!  There's an overabundance of cheap gore and sexual content here, but no worthwhile story to make it at all enjoyable or justified.  There are creative kills, but this whole movie reeks of a 1980s direct-to-video steaming pile of shit.  My friend Jason Pavlik actually really likes this movie along with the story, and John Shepard in the role of Tommy Jarvis whereas I love Thom Mathews' portrayal in the following film the absolute BEST.  This whole movie was building up to the premise that Tommy would become the new killer of the series, but who were they kidding?!  No one would accept it, and the franchise would've died very quickly without the juggernaught slasher of Jason Voorhees helming it.  Danny Steinmann vanished from filmmaking after this film, and I understand why.  His directing is horrid, and his scriptwriting is just as horrid!  No one's heard anything from him since this film was released in theatres, and if it wasn't for Tom McLoughlin's highly entertaing Friday The 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives, this franchise would've died here and now.  John Shepard became a born again Christian shortly after this film, and chose not to reprise his role here for the following film.  I'm glad he didn't because he'd have probably wussed it up as much as he did here.  All in all, this is a very poor entry in the series, and the great majority of Friday fans acknowledge it as such.  Though, since Jason X, it's 'bottom of the barrel' ranking has been disputed, and obvious from my review further below, Jason X beats out A New Beginning as the worst of the franchise by 0.5 of a rating point.  The only really worthwhile sequence in this film is the very beginning which is a dream sequence with Corey Feldman chiming in with a cameo as Tommy Jarvis seeing Jason being unearthed by two thugs.  Corey couldn't return to star in this film because, at the time, he was shooting one of his greatest classics - The Goonies.  Gee, work with hack Danny Steinmann on a crappy Friday The 13th sequel, or work with Steven Speilberg and Richard Donner on a wonderful family adventure film?  I think the scales were a little more than uneven in this case, and thank Corey and his agent for making the only right choice there was.  As for this film, I'm sure you can find something better to watch on Cinemax at 2am than this.

Rated R by the MPAA- Contains lots of gory violence, adult language, crude humor, and lots of nudity.

This one has some great death scenes as Jason uses a variety of weapons from the trademark machette to a spear gun to a host of other deadly weapons (including his bare hands).  Jason is stronger than ever before in this movie, and C.J. Graham really puts in a solid performance under the mask and makeup.  Not to mention, that the rest of this cast is pretty damn good.  I'd really like to see Thom Matthews as Tommy again in a future F13 or FvJ sequel, but it probably won't happen.  This is basically the best original story yet because, to be honest, most of the previous movies were usually rather light on story, and could've been a LOT better.  Director Tom McLoughlin really brings in a wonderful mix of horror and humor, but not like the one-liner / wisecrack humor that runs rampant in horror these days.  His direction was quite unique, and welcomed after the bland and horrid direction of the previous sequel.  Harry Manfredini's score is also different, but not necessarily for the better.  There's a lot less strings and more horns and woodwinds used here - not an exceptionally tense score.  Though, there are some GREAT soundtrack conributions by Alice Cooper including "Teenage Frakenstein" and "He's Back [The Man Behind the Mask]" which is avaliable as a previously unreleased "movie mix" along with the previously unreleased "Hard Rock Summer" on "The Life & Crimes of Alice Cooper" 4-CD Box Set (which I'm a proud owner of).  With a very likeable cast, an enjoyable story, great direction, and an overall highly entertaining film, Friday The 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives gets a great score of 9 out of 10.  If we got to see McLoughlin's unrated director's cut with all that extra gore and extended death scenes added in - I believe a perfect score would be warranted.  Though, it's doubtful that Paramount will ever release the uncut versions of any fo these films.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gory violence, adult language, and sexual content.

Despite its lackluster plot and characters, this one has the BEST undead Jason Voorhees makeup effects designs, yet, as you can actually see the decaying bones of Jason through his ripped-up clothing.  John Carl Buechler really did a fantastic job in that aspect, but when Jason isn't involved in the scene, his direction is very unengaging.  The story is quite uninteresting without the hulking Jason kicking some ass on screen.  This film is often called "Carrie vs. Jason," and it was basically that.  Tina battles Jason with her telekenesis, and gives him quite a battle, but nothing this evil ever dies.  It was a nice idea, but this film was originally supposed to be Freddy vs. Jason, not Friday The 13th, Part VII.  So, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger is replaced by Lar-Park Lincoln (who I do not find to be attractive in the least) as Tina Shepard.  Not a good trade-off, if you ask me.  Also, with the MPAA doing more hacking and slashing with this film than Jason does IN the film, it makes nearly every kill scene very unsatisfying.  No gore fix here, people.  The Jason makeup effects are basically the best part of the film as everything else is basically filled with stereotypical characters that really aren't even worth killing off.  The extraordinary makeup effects and dark atmopshere, both provided by director John Carl Buechler, and the menacing performance by Kane Hodder are what earns this movie its 6.5 rating.  Though, one interesting fact is that Crazy Ralph himself, Walt Gorney, provides the chilling voice-over for the pre-credits montage.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gory violence, adult language, sexual content, and brief nudity.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gory violence, sexual content, adult language, brief nudity, and drug use.

As everyone believes Jason has been destroyed for all eternity, a bounty hunter named Creighton Duke (Steven Williams) knows he's not been destroyed, yet.  Duke sets a dollar amount of $500,000 for him to track down Jason, and destroy him for all time.  Meanwhile, Jason continues to switch bodies as each one grows weak.  As Duke basically states, Jason was born of a Voorhees, through a Voorhees he will be reborn, and only by the hand of a Voorhees he will be destroyed.  While that happens, Duke's offer is considered by Robert Campbell (Steven Culp) of the fictional tabloid news show, "American Case File."  Coincidentally, Campbell is involved with Jessica Kimble (Kari Keegan), who is the daughter of Diana Kimble (Erin Gray), and she is the sister of Jason Voorhees.  Thus, Jason attempts to be reborn through the body of his younger sister, but the father of Jessica's baby, Steven Freeman (John D. LeMay), thwarts this attempt, and Diana becomes an accidental victim while Jason escapes to find a new temorary body.  Steven is soon locked up for being accussed of Diana murder, and in the holding cell, he meets with Creighton Duke who has been locked up for undisclosed reasons.  Steven wants answers, and Duke has them.  Though, the price he has to pay for them is very painful, and provides us with a great sadistic scene.  What ensues is a great final third of the film, and a kick ass climax.  This mostly strays from the usual Friday formula, but itn my eyes, it's a welcomed change.

I can't say anything bad about this one as it covers pretty much all the bases as it eludes to much of the demonic Jason's origin.  I also like the appearance of the Necronmicon in the Voorhees household.  The Nerconomicon comes from a story from H.P. Lovecraft named just that, and the prop itself is from Army of Darkness.  You'll love the ending as it is an awesome prelude to Freddy vs. Jason!  Everything in this movie rocks, but it's not the F13 you're used to.  Although, being in a different direction than the others makes it that much better, and that much more original!  It also has one of the most goriest and kick ass scenes in the entire series with the climactic diner massacre scene.  Kane Hodder once again pulls this off well, but Jason appears to have put on a bit of weight since Manhattan and lumbers around a bit.  Also, on a final note, I find this one is superior to many of the previous films because Jason is NOT stalking a bunch of stupid, drug using, horny teenagers.  He has some formidable opponents here that become armed with the knowledge and the tools to send Jason straight to Hell!  Check this one out for sure!  Also, you can thank New Line Cinema for being the only ones to ever officially release a Friday film unrated and uncut on home video in the United States!

Unrated Version - Contains gory violence, adult language, graphic imagery, nudity, and sexual content.

It begins in the year 2010 where Jason has been captured and has been held in the Crystal Lake Research Facility for sometime now.  The military wants to ship him cross-country for who knows WHAT purpose, but the scientists want to cryogenically freeze him until a way can be found to destroy him for good (well, if they couldn't make it stick in the last film, I doubt these people have a chance in hell).  Anyway, Jason breaks free, dispatches with some military personnel, but is soon trapped in the cryo-freezing chamber by Rowan (one of the scientists).  Although, Jason is able to breach the chamber with his machette, thus, wounding Rowan and causing a leak in the chamber.  Suffice it to say, both are trapped and cryogenically frozen for the next 445 years.  Then, in the year 2455, a scientific research team on an expedition to the now barren planet Earth, enter the facility and discover both Jason & Rowan perfectly frozen.  The team, mainly composed of teenage students (oh yeah, it's comin' soon), bring the frozen bodies back to their starship, the Grendel (to paraphrase a line from Star Trek V, "What does Jason need with a starship?").  Anyway, Rowan is thawed-out and her wound is healed by way of nanotechnology (which serves a more significant purpose later on).  Now, of course, everyone but Rowan believes that Jason is dead, but, of course, Mr. Voorhees must prove them wrong.  Jason eventually thaws-out and begins dispatching of the passengers and crew of the ship immediately.  It's the same old stalk-and-slash deal, only set on a starship in the 25th century.

I am a BIG Jason fan, and Friday The 13th, Part 2 is probably the strongest of the classic formula, Jason Lives is certainly the most entertaining, and Jason Goes To Hell is the most successfully original film of the series (not box office success, but story-wise).  This one just basically rips off Ridley Scott's classic Alien, and writer Todd Farmer admits it!  He knowingly and purposely ripped it off because, why?  He couldn't think of anything original, or at least, better?  It's the same old, tired formula, but in a science fiction setting.  Not only does the whole premise suck, but so does Jason's make-up.  Mainly because Farmer threw in some STUPID line about "spontaneous tissue regeneration".  This is Jason X, not X-Men!  What's next?!  Does Jason have an adamantium skeleton, or what about optical energy blasts?  I mean, he already demonstrated teleportation abilities in Jason Takes Manhattan?!  My god, it's MUTANT JASON!  It's ridiculous!  Now, back to the make-up job on Jason.  Because of this "tissue regeneration", Jason looks WAY too human for one of the undead!  Jason appears to have no signs of decay or decomposition.  He's got fuzzy hair, a very human right eye and skin, and well, it's probably the WORST make-up of the series!  Also, Jason's mask looses its blank, emotionless visage that made him all the more menacing.  They try to stylize the mask to give it more features, but it ultimately is a negative mark for them.  Also, despite the fact he looks very human throughout the film, when he's unmasked before reawakening on the Grendel, Jason's face looks like a mish-mashed, acid-soaked version of Savini's Final Chapter design.  Also, Jason is now decked out in rags.  No boiler suit, no khakis and button-down shirt.  In my honest opinion, this is the WORST design ever conceived for Jason.  I actually liked The Final Friday design for the most part (though, a bit overdone).

Now, as bad as I've trashed it, it only gets worse.  It gets worse when Jason is blown to pieces by the android Kay-Em 14, and rebuilt by the nanotechnology into a part cybernetic being known as Über-Jason.  I mean, when you see him floating through space he looks like a ballon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  That's how much padding they packed onto Kane Hodder for this suit.  Possibly the only decent moment is when Über-Jason is subjected to a holographic recreation of Camp Crystal Lake, circa 1980.  It looks stellar, but at the same time, it looks bad.  Basically, all of the CGI effects in this film are bad, very bad, despite the revolutionary digitally scanned film process used.  I've seen better CGI on any post-2nd season episode of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series.  Though, the effects are more bearable than if said process hadn't been used, but they're still bad.  As is the rest of this film.  Granted, we get a few inventive kills, but the most creative is thrown at us far too early.  The rest are mostly updated versions of old kills (i.e. impalings, hack n' slash).

Despite writer Todd Farmer's statements of being a Friday fan, and wanting to make a film FOR the fans, he displays an enormous level of unoriginality in his script and story.  In my honest opinion, I view this as the worst entry in the series.  It's not the fact that Farmer tried to do something new, it's the fact that it really ISN'T new or fresh.  It's the same old Friday film with a sci-fi setting, and all around, is a 2nd-rate rip-off of Alien.  Farmer attempted nothing new or original with this film, and that's why I hold it to such a low level.  Director Jim Isaac did as well of a job possible directing this shlock, but the shit script and the crap effects simply bring anything Isaac attempts to do down to a horseshit level.  Well, I might be being a bit harsh, but I just really hate this movie!  Isaac is a decent director, at best, but no matter how you display a piece of crap, it's still a piece of crap.  No one person can really make or break a film because aside from David Cronenberg's cameo appearance, Kane Hodder is really the only good actor in the film.  Jason Goes to Hell had a great cast that really could act with some memorable characters (where's the Creighton Duke spin-off?) and memorable scenes with a script that was original and didn't fall into the old formula.  This film is just the opposite.  I may have repeated myself here, but, for some people, it takes a few times to pound an idea into their heads.  I might've said enough here, perhaps I have not, but I shall leave it as it is.  This truly could be held as one of my classic rants, and I am sorry that it had to be about a Friday the 13th film, but it is.  The only oddity here is that the worst film in the series got the BEST DVD release.  Weird, huh?  I guess it's the only way New Line thought it could REALLY move the thing.  And you know what?  They were right.

Rated R by the MPAA - Contains gory violence, adult language, and sexual content.