Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives is the film that turned Jason into a zombie. It’s the film that took the murderer and made him a monster. For myself as a kid who grew up in the eighties, this was the film that made Jason scary. Not to say that he wasn’t in the other films, but I simply remember being a scared nine year old in 1986 and my father giving me the option of seeing this film or STAND BY ME. I sat down and saw the first scene of this film and looked at my Dad and said lets go see STAND BY ME. (Which is a far more superior film). I did however see in on video at a friends house about a year later, but believe it or not this is my first time seeing this film in more than twenty-two years.
JASON LIVES stars off with Tommy Jarvis once again escaping from a mental hospital along with a buddy where they go out to a cemetery where Jason is buried. Tommy wants to make sure Jason is dead and along with his friend they dig up the grave. After Tommy has a fit and stabs Jason’s body with a broken metal fence post, lightning strikes bringing Jason back to life just like the Frankenstein monster. From there on Jason kills Tommy’s friend and sends Tommy running for the hills. But when Tommy goes to the local sheriff station, they know who he is and put him in jail. They agree to escort him back to the state border, but Tommy knowing that Jason is now back from the dead, pulls a fast one on them and heads back towards the graveyard. Meanwhile campers are heading back to the newly refurbished camp and Jason finds his way back there with a fresh batch of camp councilors to kill. Tommy know locked up, gets some help from the Sheriffs daughter who believes Tommy and the two of them head out to the Camp Crystal Lake to stop Jason one more time.
One thing that I like about this film is that it’s a complete 360 from all the other films. Jason is harder to kill, bullets don’t work, stabbing him does not work and so on. It go’s back to the camp where the last few films before it took place outside the camp, and it rounds out the story of Jason and Tommy Jarvis. The script is decent and it focuses more on the main characters than it does on some of the minor roles. There is an even balance, even though there are some scenes such as the paintball scene that really don’t add to the pacing of the film all that well, but give the story some length.
In this film we get better acting than we do in some of the previous film. For starters one of my favorite characters in this film is Sheriff Garris played by David Kargan. I not only like the guys acting but the fact that he looks just like my father-in-law makes the movie all that better for me. Thom Mathews is also very good as Tommy and the supporting cast is solid in this film.
Just as with the acting the production value is also superior to that of the previous films. There is great make-up effects, more gore, better sets and even the films editing and look are better than the previous films.
The Deluxe Edition DVD has many special features such as commentary with director Tom McLoughlin along with some of the cast and crew. A few featurettes such as Lost Tales From Camp Blood – Part 6, The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited Part III, Jason Lives: The Making of Friday the 13th: Part VI, and Meeting Mr. Voorhees. There are also deleted scenes and the original theatrical teaser trailer.
Overall, I had fun watching this DVD of Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives. I’ll always remember that scene at the beginning for as long as I live, mainly because it scared the crap out of me when I was younger, but after revisiting it on DVD I realize that it’s really not that scary at all. Still it’s probably one of the most freighting Friday the 13th films, but one I’m no longer going to lose sleep over. The film also does have it’s fare share of comedic scenes although they are rare. Once again this is another Deluxe disc well worth picking up.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
