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Hey guys, it’s October! You know what that means: Halloween is right around the corner! As such, we will be bringing you some of our favorite horror film suggestions, in the hopes that they will lead to some sleepless nights. This is…Trick or Treat!
Wait? Friday the 13th: Part 6!? Yes, Part 6. Why recommend the sixth in a franchise that by that time was wheeling entirely out of control to the point where they had to “take Manhattan?” Because Part 6 is an outlier from the rest of the Jason Vorhees films. While I’m actually quite a big fan of the hockey-masked killer’s entire repertoire some of his movies get ridiculously stupid, and while Jason Lives is definitely dumb it’s dumb in a very special way.
Remember when Scream came out and was lauded for its take down of the horror movie stereotype? Jason Lives did that ten years earlier and a whole crap ton better. Instead of literally calling out the genre like Scream did the film takes Jason and uses him to wink at the camera (sometimes even breaking the fourth wall). It’s a parody and pastiche within the very series it’s making fun of. It really is actual pure genius.
Let’s not get it confused either. It also has some of the best kills in the entire series and turns Jason from a lumbering dolt into a total badass. The reason Jason could take Manhattan or the fact that he’s so awesome in Freddy vs. Jason is because Jason Lives turned him into the badass killer he truly is. There’s a kill sequence in the film where he kills two young lovers in an RV (while Alice Cooper’s Teenage Frankenstein brilliantly plays in the background), which then flips on its side. He pops out the door and stands on top more like a victorious action movie star than a slasher movie killer. You can check it out here, and then just go watch the rest of the movie like you know you want to.
When you do you’ll find something entirely unique: a slasher film in a series that defined slasher film cliches playing into its own tropes in order to mock them. It’s easily one of the smartest slashers made and it’s a shame that screenwriter/director Tom McLoughlin didn’t get to do more horror work after it because it did so poorly at the box office. At least they could have let him direct the next one since Part VII: The New Blood is one of the worst in the series. 1986 people, you kind of suck for not realizing how awesome this movie is.
