“It seems every year I’m at camp, someone loses their head.”
Angela-Sleepaway Camp III
I grew up watching the Friday The 13th movies. I thought I had watched all of them a million times. So, when I was thinking about doing some horror series rankings, I quickly realized I hadn’t seen them all. Somehow, Jason Lives slipped through the cracks. So naturally, I had to include it in Halloweenfest 2023.
A year after the ‘fake’ Jason Voorhees (Roy Burns, one of the paramedics who arrived at the scene of Joey’s murder in the previous film, was killed by Tommy Jarvis. In this film, Tommy is played by Thom Mathews. Tommy heads to the ‘real’ Jason’s grave to finally rid himself of Jason for good. However, a sudden lightning strike resurrects Jason, and he again begins his murder spree—returning to Camp Crystal Lake. Now it’s up to Tommy to stop Jason all by himself, this time with the Police hunting him down.
Thom Mathews is such a fun addition to this franchise. I love him in the cult classic Return of the Living Dead. As Tommy Jarvis, he has this goofy charm that gives the film a bit of B-movie clout. Mathews isn’t the strongest actor, but he’s perfect in this type of horror movie. The rest of the cast is terrific, but there aren’t any real standouts.
Tom McLoughlin’s direction is pretty great, considering he hadn’t done and would never do anything else remotely close to this budget. McLoughlin directed some of the most entertaining kills by Jason. The reanimation of Jason is also a spectacular scene. It sets the tone for a bonkers take on the franchise and is one of the most iconic scenes.
Despite a propulsive narrative and many entertaining kills, I think the film’s ending is one of the weakest in the franchise. The internal logic of how to stop Jason doesn’t really make sense. This is the first film to introduce “Zombie Jason,” which permeates pop culture. This was a sudden change in the franchise’s tone, and even though the following films aren’t nearly as good, they are a lot more fun because of this.
Jason Lives is a fun romp that brings a lot of fun kills. There are several terrific set pieces and a lot of iconic imagery. The opening scene is all-timer, and Thom Mathews is fantastic as Tommy Jarvis. While the film does many new and creative things, it’s still a straightforward slasher. The ending is cliched and nonsensical, but the journey there is worth it.
Rating: 7/10
