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Saturday, October 19, 2013

HMM '13: Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

 It's October!  The doorway to not only the start of the greatest food season (early October to Christmas), but also to sexy nurses, zombies, and grown men dressing up like ponies.  That also means it is time once again for Halloween Movie Madness!  This year, I'll be taking a look back at the movies of my youth.  Every movie this year was released before I turned eighteen.  These are the Halloween movies that shaped me into the man I am today.  Some of them are scary.  Some are funny.  Some are fantastical.  Some are just weird.  And not all of them are good.  But to me, they are all Halloween movies.  Now, stand back, for your own safety! 

Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan
1989


Much like A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, the reason I am doing this movie in the series is because it is the first one that I saw.  It didn't quite get me as hooked into the series like NoES did, but it still made me want to watch the previous movies. And of course, I have since watched them all (like with the NoES series, I have ignored the recent remake), and it is another series that I greatly enjoy.  And while Part 8 here is far from the best movie in the series, it will always hold a special place in my heart.  Or maybe it will find a special place to keep my heart after dismembering me.

Now, when this movie came out, I was a few years older than Nightmare, and it didn't scare me quite as much.  Of course, I didn't spend any real time on boats or in New York, so I didn't really have anything to stay away from. 


There are only a few things that I remember from this movie from childhood, but I've never been able to forget them.  The first is when Jason punches the guy's head off and it flies off into a dumpster.  The other is at the end when Jason is washed in raw sewage and is turned back into his childhood self.  Very strange.

Watching this movie again, I noticed something that really scared me.  At the beginning of the film, there is a young couple on a boat that inadvertently brings Jason back to life.  This boat has the exact same curtains that I had on my bedroom windows while growing up.


I also forgot how mediocre it is.  I know the movies I have this year are all schlocky, but sometimes I forget how much until I watch them again.  If you want to watch cheese horror, you could do worse than this movie.

Even today's Gifs Without Context stink.