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Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
1989 | Horror
2
5.0 (23 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A group of students are taking a cruise to New York. A couple, who's part of the group, ventures off on their own in their own private boat. They wind up drifting through Camp Crystal Lake for a little quality time together. They set anchor and wind up resurrecting Jason in the process. Now as the cruise ship sets off, with Jason in tow, our students may have more than their biology projects to worry about.


Re-watching this was not a pleasant experience. I really had to force myself to watch it and once I finally did it was almost painful to make myself sit through the entire thing. Continuity is probably the film's biggest flaw. When we see young Jason drown, he looks like a normal little boy. Whenever Rennie sees him, however, he suddenly looks like he has down syndrome and like somebody beat him with a 2x4 made from every ugly branch they could get a hold of. On top of that, he pretty much has a different appearance every time Rennie sees him. Then there's the whole Crystal Lake leading into the ocean thing and the ending. Heavens, the ending is atrocious.

The script isn't so hot either. Julius is probably the best example. After Wayne asks him what weapon he's going to take after they realize Jason is on the ship, Julius replies, "Nothing," then pauses for a moment before following with, "...but this gun." The kills were also lacking. Jason takes a guitar to a girl's head and throws a guy onto an antenna. That's about as inventive as we get this time around. The one enjoyable factor of the film is Kane Hodder as Jason. The scene in Times Square is probably the highlight of the film. It's disappointing that the last film with "Friday the 13th" in the title is so bad.