Sunday, March 6, 2011

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Oh, Friday the 13th Part VII, you will live in infamy for having created the glorious sleeping bag scene, which was sadly cut from six whacks against the tree to merely one.  Part VII is also important for being the first Friday the 13th to have Kane Hodder play Jason Voorhees.  He would then go on to play him in three more films before being booted from Freddy vs. Jason for not having puppy dog eyes or some such nonsense.

Obviously at this point, the writers are having difficulty coming up with ideas to bring Jason back from his various deaths.  At this point, he has been chained to the bottom of Crystal Lake by Tommy Jarvis, hopefully never to return.  Of course, the most logical cause for his rebirth would be a pissed off telekinetic (Tina) who stares at the lake until it gets all bubbly and Jason breaks loose. 

This time, a bunch of twenty somethings are at the lake at a cabin for a birthday party.  Staying next door are Tina, her mom, and her psychologist.  As it turns out, as a child, Tina became infuriated at her father as he abused her mother in an alcoholic rage.  This released her hidden telekinesis, and she destroyed the dock her father was standing on, causing his death. 

This caused her to be slightly messed up and fully committed to a mental institution.  This trip to the lake was the idea of her doctor, in order for her to face her demons and be healed.  But pretty much, her doctor is a douche and just wanted to get her riled up enough to showcase her telekinetic powers for his video camera.

As per usual, Jason goes on a killing rampage, offing 16 people altogether.  He looks really badass in this sequence, with the bones poking through his skin and the mask a little worse for the wear.  Kane Hodder, being the awesome person that he is, set a record at the time in the furnace scene.  Instead of using trick photography to capture the burning sequence, Hodder burned for a full forty seconds, which was a massive accomplishment at the time. 

Jason peaces out in the typically fashion, being pulled into the lake.  Although each Friday the 13th was kinda supposed to be the last, we all know that he returns to take Manhattan shortly thereafter.

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