Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives! (1986)
Directed by Tom McLoughlin
Few series reach a part six, and honestly should Friday the 13th have gone on that long? Eh you can make a case for the Final Chapter (part 4) being worthy of the actual final movie in the series. Some see Jason Lives as one of the best, others think its campy and lame, let’s dive in.
Jason Lives starts off with a bang…of lightning. Tommy Jarvis returns and digs up Jason’s corpse, which he then inadvertently reanimates with an iron rod to the chest and the aforementioned lightning bolt. Now Jason continues his warpath much like the others. It is up to Tommy to warn the town and take out Jason once and for all. At the same time the sheriff doesn’t trust Tommy and thinks he is behind the latest murder spree. The sheriff’s daughter Megan aides Tommy in his quest to bring order to the town again.
The acting is decent, in parts. The sheriff is pretty good and believable, while Tommy is kind of cheesy but it works for this movie. This installment takes more of a comedic approach, which by part 6 kind of makes sense. The comedic moments aren’t over the top and annoying like some horror comedy, it is played well and doesn’t pull away from the tense moments with Jason. Megan is kind of a dull character and I don’t understand her though process. She instantly falls for Tommy, whom her father believes is a psychotic murderer. She decides quickly that he’s trustworthy and sets him free. It is kind of funny how gullible she is.
Jason is pretty awesome in this movie, he is truly unstoppable and basically a zombie with super human strength. It makes me laugh that his design is that of a half dead carpenter with a hockey mask. He has a tool belt and work gloves on. The kills are pretty great and vicious. Jason actually bends the sheriff over backwards and snaps his spine, that one is intense for sure. There is a crazy total of 18 kills in this movie, that is one of the highest I’m sure.
The climax of the movie is laughable actually. I think most people have seen this and it doesn’t really do anything amazing so I’ll just give it away, skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want it spoiled. So Tommy and Megan find Jason near the old camp and Tommy gets in a boat, with a chain and a big rock. He dumps gas all over the lake and sets it ablaze. Jason follows Tommy and they struggle. Tommy then puts the chain around the rock, and the other end around Jason’s neck and sinks him to the bottom of the lake. The propeller of the boat cuts up Jason a little and that’s the end. The camera shows Jason at the bottom of the lake, and his eyes open. Yikes haha. I always laugh at this ending because it doesn’t fix anything. Jason is still alive, he’s just tethered at the bottom of Crystal Lake.
The comedic element brought some more life to the series honestly, and the soundtrack by Alice Cooper was awesome. I love the song “Man Behind the Mask” that is a classic! Part 6 is a good installment and probably near the top 5 as far as quality. If you haven’t watched it, then give it a shot it is good fun. I give Jason Lives a B. It is a good entry but not one I watch a lot, I enjoy Parts 1-4 more.
