Cheap Friday the 13th, Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan (Video) (Kane Hodder, Jensen Daggett) (Rob Hedden) Price

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Customer Reviews of Friday the 13th, Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan

Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
This time around, unstoppable supernatural thug Jason Voorhees -- imprisoned at the bottom of a lake by his telekinetic foe Tina in the previous film -- is reanimated yet again after being goosed by an underwater electrical cable, freeing him to stow away aboard a shipload of standard-issue obnoxious teenagers en route to Manhattan. The title ultimately proves a bit of a cheat, since the majority of Jason's homicidal hijinks take place aboard the ship until the film's final reel, during which he pursues a handful of survivors through the streets of the Big Apple. Thanks to heavy MPAA cuts, the mayhem is more subdued here than in any other films of the series -- splatter fans primed by the previous chapters' copious bloodletting will be left high and dry. Despite a very amusing "teaser" trailer that suggested that the film might be a semi-parody, writer-director Rob Hedden and company play things tediously straight. The film is over rated, but then it fits in the long running series perfectly. A few obnoxious characters don't ruin this 8th entry into the "Friday The 13th" series.

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Despite it's flaws, quite entertaining.
Friday The 13th Part VIII Jason Takes Manhattan is not one of the best of the series (that honour goes to Jason Goes To Hell The Final Friday), but it's not one of the worst either (THAT honour goes to Friday The 13th Part V A New Beggining). Sure, this movie has it's fair share of problems, most notably that that the small little lake from all the previous entries is now an oceon leading into New York City, but it's a good movie to pick up at the video store when you're bored and have nothing to do. It also has some of the best acting (and some of the worst) of the whole series. Unlike others, I liked Peter Mark Richmond (The Naked Gun 2 1/2 The Smell Of Fear) in this movie. I also liked VC Dupree as the boxer, Julius, and I really LOVED Sharlene Martin in her small role of Tamara. Martin Cummins is funny as the video friek who's got the hots for Tamara.

The movie begins at Camp Crystal Lake (Where else?) where good old Jason (Kane Hodder) is brought back to life by a dropped anchor that sends an electric shock through him. Then, he gets aboard the ship "Lazarus" where a bunch of graduating teens are heading to New York. To bad only a few of them will make it there. Our heroine for this movie is Rennie (Jensen Daggat) who's having visions of a young Jason who says "Help Me". But, she boards the ship to lose her fear of water. However, her uncle (and teacher) Charles McChullock (Peter Mark Richmond) doesn't want her aboard, he thinks it's to dangerous. Meanwhile, all the other teens are getting slaughtered by Jason in various non-gory and bloodless deaths (thanks mostly to the MPAA!!!!). Well, eventually the ship sinks and leaves only a handfull of survivors to dock at New York, however, Jason's there as well....

I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's really a pretty [bad] movie, and the ship's insides look a lot like a set, but it sure as heck did keep me entertained for a good 96 minutes. Kane Hodder is really awesome as Jason, and I thought the whole setting of the ship was really claustraphobic and scary. My complaints are that all the interesting people had to die. Poor Tamara, she was one of my favorite charecters of the whole series, and after she dies it gets a little boring. Also, JJ, who was only in the movie for about 5 minutes before Jason slams a guitar in her face. Also, now Jason has picked up an ability to teleport. It's really quite annoying. I mean, he's way down on the ground, and then suddenly he's in the second story of a building. I also believe that this Friday holds the largest amount of mistakes. Like, how did Jason get these clothes after they were shredded in Part VII? Well, there's a lot more, but I'm limited to 1,000 words so, I guess I can't say them all. Never the less, I recomend that you pick up this movie, or buy it used for 5 bucks somewhere.

If you enjoyed this movie, I'd recomend Jason Goes To Hell, A Nightmare On Elm Street, and Halloween 2.

Brett Michael Roberts.

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I think I'M the one that got taken...
Um, let's see: Jason's reanimated and on the killing rampage again, using just about every edged weapon at his disposal to systematically take out several teens until the prime hero/heroine finds a way to end his reign of terror. Oh yeah, that ain't a familiar scenario at all, heh...

But wait-- we can't forget a few elements the writers have thrown into the mix to try and give this a more distinctive look and feel from all the other 'Friday' flicks. Ya know, like the new "ship-of-death" and Manhattan settings. Or the primary heroine's weird quasi-hallucinatory 'flashbacks' linked to Jason and her legal guardian that pop up from time to time, none of which really make any sense or have any logic to 'em. Then there's the whole Jason 'death' scene, which pretty much blew all laws of logic and plausibility right out the door! Oh God, why do I torture myself by watching this trash?! But the sad thing about it is, the next time I visit the local rental store I'm gonna pick up the next installment in this horror schlock-fest to view and review! I am NOT a well person...

On a bit of an upside, I did get treated to the funniest Jason-kill I've ever seen when he literally knocks one teenage victim's block off! I was so astounded by how cheesy this scene looked, I hadda rewind the tape and watch it again to see if I really saw what I saw! Sure 'nuff, I did! AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HAAAH!!! Oh man, that bad-boy was ten times funnier than all of Jason's other so-called 'scary' kills in this movie combined! Though it's not quite as guffaw-inducing as the scene from 'Killer Klowns From Outer Space' that it blatantly ripped off...

'Late