After seven previous instalments, three of them at Camp Crystal Lake, it was time for a new locale for Jason to carve up his latest bloodbath. Non-filmmaker Rob Hedden, a former executive at Universal Studios, approached Paramount with the idea of putting Jason Voorhees in Manhattan. They loved the idea and he went to work on the script. Jason was going to jump off the Statue of Liberty, go boxing at Madison Square Garden, go on a killing spree on the Brooklyn Bridge, among others. Then Paramount vetoed the budget for filming in such locations and Rob Hedden had to quickly shift the balance. Jason would take Manhattan, eventually, but first he'd go for a long cruise.
With little continuity to Part VII, Jason is still stuck at the bottom of the lake, where Tina's dad left him in chains. Somehow Camp Crystal Lake has reappeared at the far side of the lake, even though it wasn't there before. A power surge gives Jason new life and the killing begins once more as he climbs on board a pleasure boat and makes light work of the kids inside. Somehow Crystal Lake is now connected to the Atlantic (actually Pacific) Ocean and Jason drifts downstream where he ends up on board the Lazarus, a pleasure cruise for teens who have just graduated from Crystal Lake High.
On board is aspiring writer Rennie (a very cute and innocent Jensen Daggett who was actually a teenager at the time) and her dog, her overbearing teacher/uncle Mr. McCulloch, English teacher Miss Van Deusen, and her estranged boyfriend Sean, along with the usual extra meat for the chopping board. As the ship steams off for New York Jason begins to off the meat in amusing ways.
Eventually, they arrive in Manhattan, for about five minutes before they end up in Vancouver doubling as New York. Part VIII has endured immense criticism over the years for failing to deliver much of the promise made by the title. It's perfectly valid. Why on Earth would Paramount approve the script only to not pony up the cash for the necessary locations? Despite this damning problem it's still fun to see Jason in a new environment. As much as I like most of the movies they really should have taken him out of Crystal Lake sooner and experimented.
Kane Hodder comes back for his second (of four) rounds as Jason and really does embiggen the role with his cromulent performance (Simpsons joke). The Jason make-up is rather terrible for this round, but it's mainly hidden behind the mask. This time he's all slimy and gooey (and rather cute and cuddly, strangely) and game for some welcome humor. There is a scene where they apparently try to make his teleportation powers apparent when he's stalking Kelly Hu's character, but I don't think that this was in the script, it comes across as a joke by editor Steve Mirkovich who tried to have fun with the scene in post-production instead of something that Ron Hedden intended. Though we're talking about a man who wrote a scene where Jason swims many miles to Manhattan docks when the reason he's dead in the first place is because he drowned as a child due to his inability to swim.
There's plenty of shortcomings, but it's slick and fun, if a little goofy. It does deserve criticism, but not hate. Keep a lookout for the scene where Jason smashes through a greasy spoon diner. That angry cook he throws against the wall is none other than Ken Kirzinger who would go on to play Jason fourteen years later (much to Kane Hodder's annoyance) in Freddy vs Jason. I suppose that scene is sort-of Jason vs Jason.
With little continuity to Part VII, Jason is still stuck at the bottom of the lake, where Tina's dad left him in chains. Somehow Camp Crystal Lake has reappeared at the far side of the lake, even though it wasn't there before. A power surge gives Jason new life and the killing begins once more as he climbs on board a pleasure boat and makes light work of the kids inside. Somehow Crystal Lake is now connected to the Atlantic (actually Pacific) Ocean and Jason drifts downstream where he ends up on board the Lazarus, a pleasure cruise for teens who have just graduated from Crystal Lake High.
On board is aspiring writer Rennie (a very cute and innocent Jensen Daggett who was actually a teenager at the time) and her dog, her overbearing teacher/uncle Mr. McCulloch, English teacher Miss Van Deusen, and her estranged boyfriend Sean, along with the usual extra meat for the chopping board. As the ship steams off for New York Jason begins to off the meat in amusing ways.
Eventually, they arrive in Manhattan, for about five minutes before they end up in Vancouver doubling as New York. Part VIII has endured immense criticism over the years for failing to deliver much of the promise made by the title. It's perfectly valid. Why on Earth would Paramount approve the script only to not pony up the cash for the necessary locations? Despite this damning problem it's still fun to see Jason in a new environment. As much as I like most of the movies they really should have taken him out of Crystal Lake sooner and experimented.
Kane Hodder comes back for his second (of four) rounds as Jason and really does embiggen the role with his cromulent performance (Simpsons joke). The Jason make-up is rather terrible for this round, but it's mainly hidden behind the mask. This time he's all slimy and gooey (and rather cute and cuddly, strangely) and game for some welcome humor. There is a scene where they apparently try to make his teleportation powers apparent when he's stalking Kelly Hu's character, but I don't think that this was in the script, it comes across as a joke by editor Steve Mirkovich who tried to have fun with the scene in post-production instead of something that Ron Hedden intended. Though we're talking about a man who wrote a scene where Jason swims many miles to Manhattan docks when the reason he's dead in the first place is because he drowned as a child due to his inability to swim.
There's plenty of shortcomings, but it's slick and fun, if a little goofy. It does deserve criticism, but not hate. Keep a lookout for the scene where Jason smashes through a greasy spoon diner. That angry cook he throws against the wall is none other than Ken Kirzinger who would go on to play Jason fourteen years later (much to Kane Hodder's annoyance) in Freddy vs Jason. I suppose that scene is sort-of Jason vs Jason.