| Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan | |
|---|---|
_theatrical_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rob Hedden |
| Written by | Rob Hedden |
| Based on | Characters byVictor Miller |
| Produced by | Randolph Cheveldave |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Bryan England |
| Edited by | Steve Mirkovich |
| Music by | Fred Mollin |
Production companies | Horror, Inc.[1] |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5.1–5.5 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $14.3 million[4] |
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a 1989 Americanslasher film written and directed byRob Hedden. The eighth installment in theFriday the 13th franchise and a sequel toFriday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), it starsJensen Daggett,Scott Reeves,Peter Mark Richman, andKane Hodder reprising his role asJason Voorhees from the previous film. Set one year after the events ofThe New Blood, the film follows Jason as he stalks a group of teenagers on a boat toNew York City. It was the final film in the series to be distributed byParamount Pictures in the United States until 2009, with the subsequentFriday the 13th installments being distributed byNew Line Cinema.
Filming took place primarily inVancouver, British Columbia, with additional photography in New York City'sTimes Square and inLos Angeles. At the time of its production,Jason Takes Manhattan was the most expensive film in the series, with a budget of over $5 million. It received substantial attention for its initial marketing campaign, featuring Jason Voorhees slashing through the "I Love New York" logo with a knife, which was later retracted after theNew York City tourism committee filed a complaint against Paramount.
Released on July 28, 1989,Jason Takes Manhattan grossed $14.3 million at the domestic box office, making it the poorest-performing film in theFriday the 13th series to date. The film received mostly negative reviews by critics and fans for its plot and humor, as well as a failure to live up to its premise. The next installment in the series,Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, was released in 1993.
While aboard ahouseboat on Crystal Lake, teenager Jim tells his girlfriend Suzi the legend ofJason Voorhees, before playing a prank on her with ahockey mask, similar to Jason's old mask, and a prop knife. The boat's anchor damages some underwater cables that shock Jason's corpse, who was seemingly killed in theprevious film, and revives him. He sneaks on board, takes the mask, and kills Jim with aspeargun before impaling Suzi.
The next morning, theSSLazarus is ready to set sail forNew York City with a graduating senior class from Lakeview High School, chaperoned by biology teacher Dr. Charles McCulloch and English teacher Colleen Van Deusen. Colleen brings Charles's niece Rennie Wickham along for the trip despite heraquaphobia, much to his chagrin. Jason sneaks on board and kills rock star-wannabe J.J. with her guitar. That night, a young boxer who lost his match to champion Julius is killed by Jason in the ship'ssauna. Rennie, searching for her petBorder Collie Toby, discovers prom queen Tamara Mason and her friend Eva doing drugs. Charles nearly catches them moments later, and Tamara pushes Rennie overboard, believing she told on them. She then uses video student Wayne Webber to record Charles in a compromising situation with her but rejects Wayne's advances afterward. Jason kills Tamara with a shard of a broken mirror after she showers.
Rennie sees visions of a young Jason in different forms throughout the ship. Jason kills Admiral Robertson and his first mate Jim. Rennie's boyfriend and Captain Robertson's son, Sean, discover them and tell the others before calling for an emergency. Eva finds Tamara's body and flees. Jason chases Eva into the disco room, where he strangles her to death on the dance floor. The students agree to search for Jason while Charles decides that the deckhand is responsible. However, the deckhand is found with afire axe in his back. Jason tosses student Miles Wolfe into theradio transmitter tower to his death, and Julius is knocked overboard. In the hold of the ship, Wayne comes upon J.J.'s body and is thrown into an electrical box by Jason. Wayne's corpse catches fire and causes the ship to take on water. With the other students that were left in the disco room seemingly dead, Charles, Colleen, Rennie, and Sean escape aboard alife raft and discover that Toby and Julius are still alive. The five then row away as theLazarus sinks.
They row to New York City, where Jason stalks them through the streets. Rennie is kidnapped by Homes and Jojo, a pair of drug addicts, and the group splits up to find help. Julius fights Jason on a rooftop but becomes exhausted after Jason does not go down after a series of punches, and then gets decapitated by a single punch from Jason. Rennie escapes from Jason when he kills thepunks that kidnapped her. She runs into Sean, and they reunite with the teachers and theNYPD before Jason kills the officer who is helping them. Rennie crashes a police car after a vision of Jason distracts her. Colleen is incinerated in the car when it explodes, and it is revealed that Charles is responsible for Rennie's fear of water, having pushed her into the lake as a child. They leave him behind, and Jason drowns him in a barrel oftoxic waste.
Jason chases Rennie and Sean into thesubway, where Sean incapacitates Jason by pushing him onto thethird rail. When Jason revives, he chases them throughTimes Square to adiner and then into the sewers, where they encounter a worker. He warns them that the sewers will be flooded with toxic waste at midnight. Jason appears and kills the worker before knocking Sean unconscious. Rennie throws a vat of toxic waste into Jason's face, causing his skin to melt away. She and Sean climb a ladder as Jason staggers after them. The sewers flood, and Jason is reminded of his childhood drowning and vomits water. The wastewater overcomes Jason, washing his body away. When the water recedes, Rennie once again sees her vision of Jason as an unconscious child for the final time, finally conquering her longtime fear. Sean and Rennie return to the street, reuniting with Rennie's dog Toby in Times Square.
In addition, Amber Pawlick and Timothy Burr Mirkovich appear as young Rennie and young Jason, respectively, andTodd Caldecott and Tiffany Paulsen appear in the film's open as Jim Miller and Suzi Donaldson. Sam Sarkar andMichael Benyaer appears as gang members Homes and Jojo. Fred Henderson appears as Chief Petty Officer Jim Carlson, David Jacox appears as a boxer, Roger Barnes appears as an IrishNYPD offier and David Longworth appears as a sanitation engineer.Ken Kirzinger, who would go on to portray Jason Voorhees inFreddy vs. Jason, appears uncredited in this film as the Times Square diner cook who confronts Jason. Kirzinger served as a stunt coordinator for this film, and doubles as Jason Voorhees in two short stunts.[5]
After the disappointing box-office gross ofFriday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988),[6] directorJohn Carl Buechler began developing a follow-up which reprised the character ofTina Shepard again facing off againstJason Voorhees after her release from an insane asylum.[6] Meanwhile,Lar Park Lincoln, who had portrayed Tina Shepard, co-wrote (with her husband Michael Lincoln) an alternative screenplay which had Tina working as a psychologist for troubled girls. Lincoln's co-star inThe New Blood,Kevin Spirtas, also wrote a screenplay which recast the events ofThe New Blood into a long dream, with his character Nick Rogers as the killer.[6] Paramount, however, opted to assign the project of a follow-up to writer-directorRob Hedden,[6] marking his debut feature.[3]
A former employee ofUniversal Studios, Hedden strove to devise a screenplay in which the antagonist,Jason Voorhees, would travel outside of the setting of Camp Crystal Lake, the primary location of the previous seven films.[3] "The biggest thing we could do with Jason is to get him out of that stupid lake where he's been hanging out," Hedden said.[3] One of Hedden's original ideas was to set the film solely aboard a cruise ship with Jason hiding in the lower levels, described by Hedden as "a little bit ofDas Boot and a little bit ofAliens, with a claustrophobic feeling storm at sea and that sort of stuff."[3] The alternate concept was to place Voorhees in a large city, such asNew York. Hedden commented: "Everything about New York was going to be completely exploited and milked. There was going to be a tremendous scene on theBrooklyn Bridge. A boxing match inMadison Square Garden. Jason would go through department stores. He'd go throughTimes Square. He'd go into aBroadway play. He'd even crawl onto the top of theStatue of Liberty and dive off."[6]
Ultimately, after receiving approval fromParamount Pictures of both concepts, Hedden decided to combine them, with the first act of the film occurring aboard a ship, and the second on the streets ofManhattan.[3][2] This decision was mainly due to budgetary restrictions from Paramount, as filming exclusively in New York City cost more than the studio was willing to spend.[6] In addition to the shift in setting, Hedden stated he wanted to examine the character of Jason Voorhees as a child, which appears in the film in the form ofhallucinations experienced by Rennie Wickham, the heroine.[3] To conceal the fact that it was aFriday the 13th film, the initial working script circulated under theworking titleAshes to Ashes.[7]
ActressJensen Daggett was cast as the lead of Rennie Wickham, beating outElizabeth Berkley,Dedee Pfeiffer andPamela Anderson for the role.[6]Lisa Wilcox was offered a role in the film but turned it down.[8] Scott Reeves was cast in the role of Sean Robertson at the last minute, after the producers felt the previously cast actor had no sexual chemistry with Daggett.[6] The film marked the feature debut of actressKelly Hu.[9]Peter Mark Richman was cast in the film as Charles McCulloch, the students' teacher and Rennie's uncle.[10]
The film was shot in April 1989 at seven locations in the United States, though the primary filming locations were inBritish Columbia, Canada,[2] particularlyVancouver.[7][11] The alleyway scenes were shot in Vancouver. After filming wrapped inLos Angeles, the rest of the film was shot on location in New York City, including Times Square.[3] The Times Square sequences were shot while pedestrian onlookers observed the scenes, and attracted numerousFriday the 13th fans.[3] Kane Hodder, who portrayed Jason, recalled pointing at one fan in-between takes, after which she fainted.[3] According to Hedden, the cost of production in New York City was not feasible given the film's budget, which is why large portions of it were shot elsewhere.[7] The budget for the film was estimated at $5 million.[a] At the time, it was the most expensive film produced in the series.[2]
| Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | March 27, 2021 (La-La Land) |
| Recorded | 1989 |
| Genre | Film score |
| Length | 1:07:05 |
| Label | La-La Land |
The film's musical score was composed byFred Mollin, who worked with longtimeFriday the 13th series composerHarry Manfredini on the previous installment.[12]Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan was the first film in the series not to feature Manfredini credited on the score.[12] On September 27, 2005, BSX records released a limited edition CD of Fred Mollin'sFriday the 13th Part VII andVIII scores.[13]
The song "The Darkest Side of the Night" performed byMetropolis plays over the opening and ending credits to the film. Rob Hedden specifically wanted them to write a song reminiscent ofRobert Plant.[14] The song would not see an official release until the year 1999 on the albumThe Power of the Night.
The song "Broken Dream" which J.J. Jarrett (Saffron Henderson) jams along to on her electric guitar was written by Mollin andStan Meissner and featuresTerri Crawford on vocals. The instrumental "J.J's Blues" was written by Meissner. The two songs remain popular among fans and when a fan inquired to Meissner about whether they can be released he responded that no complete versions of the songs were ever recorded as they were never intended for release outside the film.[15] Despite this, fans noted that a longer instrumental version of the track plays during the club scene in "Dark Knight", the first episode ofForever Knight in 1992. Meissner's claim was ultimately proven false as in 2021, La-La Land Records included the full track on their release of theFriday the 13th Part VIII soundtrack which included a previously unheard chorus and lead guitar parts.[16]
In promotion for the film, Paramount Pictures began an advertising campaign featuring Jason slashing through the "I Love New York" logo, which was featured on the original movie poster. Though the poster was distributed, it was later replaced after Vincent Tese of theNew York state economic development committee filed a complaint against Paramount Pictures for unauthorized use of the "I Love New York" logo.[7][17] Paramount issued a replacement poster, which featured an image of Jason looming over the New York City skyline.[7]
In the months leading up to the film's release, its title was alternately known asFriday the 13th Part VIII: Terror in Times Square.[18][19]
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan was released on July 28, 1989, in the United States. The film entered thebox office at number 5 for the weekend with earnings of $6.2 million.[2][20] The film faced strong competition at the time of its release from high-profile genre fare such asA Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child,Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers andFright Night Part 2,[21] and was considered one of the biggest disappointments at the summer box office.[22] Ultimately, it would go on to gross a total of $14.3 million at the U.S. box office, making it the poorest-performing film in the franchise and ranking at number 70 on the list of the year's Top 100 earners.[21]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan holds an approval rating of 11% based on 27 reviews and an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Jason terrorizes a ship and nearly sinks the franchise in a clunky sequel that feels like self-parody without the charm."[23] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 14 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[24] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[25]
Chris Willman of theLos Angeles Times commended the film's "funny ad campaign", but deemed the film "a real dunghill" that missed the satirical potential of having Jason's evil being dwarfed by real life evils. He called the script "as witless and willfully imbecilic as any of the preceding seven".[26] TheNew York Daily News criticized the film for "grossly underutilizing its promising premise" but said that it "should pleaseFriday fanatics and shapes up as a marginally watchable fright item for the genre's more demanding fans."[27] Desmond Ryan of theAsbury Park Press wrote: "Common sense should tell you to skip this film" and called the characters very stupid.[28] ThePhiladelphia Daily News's Gary Thompson called the film "gory and conventional" but praised the "change of scenery and occasional dashes of humor", which make it a better than average entry in the series.[29]
Malcolm Johnson of theHartford Courant deemed the film a "snoozer" and criticized its humor. Although he said younger fans who sneak in to the theater may enjoy the humor, he felt non-fans would find it a "clumsy reworking of the formula".[30] Mike Dembs of theDetroit Free Press awarded the film a zero-star rating and called it "the worst of the bunch", and a disappointment even for fans.[31]The Atlanta Constitution's Eleanor Ringel wrote that the film "isn't in the least bit scary and is only intermittently gory. It is, however, often quite funny, intentionally or not."[32] She also criticized the film because a significant portion of it took place aboard a boat as opposed to in Manhattan,[32] a sentiment echoed by Betsy Sherman ofThe Boston Globe, who wrote that the film "should have been calledJason Takes a Cruise".[33] Film criticLeonard Maltin awarded the film two out of four stars, and called it the best in the series. Maltin complimented the film's imaginative direction, but criticized the film's runtime.[34]
Adam Marcus, who directed the sequelJason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, said the franchise's premise had become untenable after a hundred teenagers had died at Camp Crystal Lake. He felt sending Jason out in search of new victims in New York City was a good idea, but result was a film that insulted the audience by putting Jason on a boat for most of the film's runtime.[35] On hiscommentary track for the film in the box set, director Rob Hedden acknowledges the faults and agrees that more of the film should have been set in Manhattan, citing budgetary and schedule problems.[36]
In 2007,Entertainment Weekly labeledJason Takes Manhattan the eighth-worst sequel ever made.[37][relevant?] In 2018, Scott Meslow ofGQ wrote that the film was among the "most stylish" in theFriday the 13th series and said that it was "actually a pretty good" sequel despite the misleading title. He also liked the idea of setting the film on a boat, which he thought made the film more claustrophobic. When Jason arrives in Manhattan, he was amused by Jason being dismissed by New Yorkers as "just another weirdo walking the streets".[6] Paramount Pictures producerChad Villella said the creative team behindScream VI (2023), including directorsMatt Bettinelli-Olpin andTyler Gillett, studiedJason Takes Manhattan before starting shooting the sixthScream installment, which also takes place in New York City. TheScream filmmakers wanted to achieve the atmosphere of feeling alone even when surrounded by millions of people, despite the protagonists no longer being present at Woodsboro.[38]
Paramount Home Video initially released the film onVHS on February 15, 1990. The company re-released the film on VHS on September 28, 1994.[citation needed] A standardDVD without bonus materials was released by Paramount on September 3, 2002.[39] In October 2004, a box set,Crystal Lake to Manhattan, was released, featuringJason Takes Manhattan alongside the previous sevenFriday the 13th films.[40] This release featured an audio commentary with writer-director Hedden.[40] A standalone "deluxe edition" DVD was subsequently released in September 2009, featuring Hedden's commentary, a making-of documentary, a gag reel, and deleted sequences.[41]
Paramount issued a double-featureBlu-ray on September 8, 2015, featuring the film paired with its predecessor,Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.[42]Jason Takes Manhattan was subsequently included in two separate Blu-ray sets: First in 2013'sFriday the 13th: The Complete Collection, which included every film in the series, along with the2009 remake; and again in 2018 inThe Ultimate Collection, which included the first eight Paramount-owned films only.[43]
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