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Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
1988 | Horror
6
6.1 (16 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Fair play to this series, it's took 7 movies to get into telekinesis superpower territory, and it's predictably silly.

Part VII suffers from a few mishaps - like earlier entries such as 3, 4, and 5, it takes a little while to get going. Whereas Part VI was extremely well paced in comparison, this follow up feels like a step back in that regard. Final Girl Tina (Lar Park Lincoln) is kind of Interesting, and has a bit of backstory for padding, but everyone else just kind of sucks. Another bunch of boring unlikable teenagers - a far cry from Tommy Jarvis and Megan from Part VI. Also, The New Blood is yet another 80s horror that fell victim to the MPAA, resulting in an entry that has toned down gore - ashame as that's what half the fun is about!

With all that said, there are a load of positives here as well. The main plus is of course Jason. This is the first film with Kane Hodder under the mask, and it shows. His Jason isn't just intimidating, but takes an absolute beating. Being a stuntman before playing the iconic villain paid off. The final showdown between Tina and Jason is genuinely entertaing as hell. Her powers are more than a match for Jason, and Hodder shows off some astonishing stunt work as he gets set on fire, thrown through a staircase, thrown through the floor, electrocuted, trapped in a house that gets blown the fuck up - it's pretty brutal and it's great to watch. He also looks fantastically gruesome. The make up work and design is top tier, possibly the best Jason appearance wise in the whole franchise.
The final showdown also portrays how fucking absurd Part 7 is - from Jason inexplicably having increasingly exotic weapons in each scene throughout the runtime, to the ridiculous final moment (no spoilers, but it made me laugh out loud with how stupid it is).

Some memorable and creepy shots here and there, paired with another great score by Harry Manfredini also help to make Friday the 13th Part VII a stupidly enjoyable, if hugely flawed slasher. Trashy, but hard not to love.