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Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
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Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is a slasher film, the sixth film in the Friday the 13th series. The film was written and directed by Tom McLoughlin.
Plot
Jason Voorhees is dead and buried. However, sixteen year old Tommy Jarvis, who successfully killed the murderous Jason as a young boy, is haunted by the memories of Jason and sets out to exorcise his demons once and for all by digging up and finally destroying Jason's body with the help of a fellow mental institution patient. In a fit of rage, Tommy stabs Jason's corpse with a piece of the cemetery's iron fence. Instead of being sent to Hell, Jason is revived via a jolt of electricity from a lightning bolt. Tommy's companion is murdered by Jason as Tommy flees the cemetery in his pickup truck. Now more unstoppable than before (this is where he gained the extreme strength seen in the following movies), Jason moves on a killing spree through the town of Crystal Lake, now renamed Forest Green in an effort to distance itself from the events that earned its campsite the nickname "Camp Blood".
Tommy desperately tries to warn the authorities about Jason, but they are reluctant due to the nature of Tommy's claims and his troubled past. The only person willing to listen to him is the sheriff's daughter, Megan. With her father ready to pin several recent murders on him, she helps Tommy as he devises a plan he believes will finally stop Jason once for all. As Jason preys on the counselors of the recently re-opened camp, Tommy lures him out into Crystal Lake, the place where Jason originally drowned. At the risk of his own life, he ties a pair of chains to a large rock and wraps the other end to Jason's neck, and sends the rock to the bottom of the lake. When Megan swims to rescue Tommy, Jason grabs her by the leg trying to pull her down. She starts the motor to the boat and the propeller shreds Jason's face. Once safely on land, Tommy observes the waters where he left Jason and believes that Jason is finally "home".
Cast
Box office
The film opened in 1,610 theaters making $6.7 million its opening weekend. Domestically, the film has made $19.4 million.
Notes
- The script contained material that alluded to Jason's father, which, to date, remains the closest the series has ever come to shedding light on the mysterious character. In the material we would see Pamela Voorhees' headstone next to Jason's; a reference to the fact that someone paid to have Jason buried, which would have explained why he wasn't cremated as the Mayor stated in A New Beginning; and a final scene in which Jason's father (known simply as "Mr. Voorhees" at the time) visits his son's grave, seemingly aware of the fact that Jason isn't inside. These scenes were filmed, but excised; however, they did make it to the film's 1986 novelization by Simon Hawke.
- In the original script, the deaths of both Nikki and Officer Pappas were more graphic. Instead of Jason pushing Nikki's face into the wall, as we see in the wide release, Jason squeezed her throat until blood spurted out. In Officer Pappas' death, Jason originally tore off his face (literally), leaving a faceless corpse staring ahead before falling down. However, veteran Friday the 13th producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. advised director Tom McLoughlin to tone down these scenes for the film, stating that the MPAA would never give the film an "R" rating with these scenes intact.
- An additional scene that has occasionally made its way onto television airings features deputy Rick locked in the jail cell, banging on the cell window, calling for help, and struggling to reach for the keys left on the floor.
- The workprint version, currently circulating as a bootleg, contains the sheriff's backbreaking death in its entirety. The ending is also slightly altered; it excludes the profanity Tommy spouts at Jason, and the ensuing fight between Tommy and Jason both above and below the lake's surface is longer. After Megan rescues Tommy and shoves the boat's propeller into Jason's neck, the shot of the gore spilling into the water is eliminated.
- Although Camp Crystal Lake is a camp for children, this is the only film in the series where actual camp kids appear.
- At 86 minutes long, this is the shortest Friday the 13th film by only a minute (Friday the 13th Part 2 was a close 87 minutes).
- The first Friday the 13th film to not feature any illegal drug use or full frontal nudity.
- Shavar Ross, who played Reggie in the fifth film, was going to be killed in the opener of this film, but Ross refused to do the role.[1]
Soundtrack
In addition to an original score, the soundtrack featured:
- "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)" by Alice Cooper, from his album Constrictor
- "I'm No Animal" by Felony, from their album Vigilante
- "Teenage Frankenstein" by Alice Cooper, from his album Constrictor
- "Hard Rock Summer" by Alice Cooper
"He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" had an accompanying music video, combining clips from the film with new footage featuring Cooper. It is not present on any home video release of the film.[2][3]
Reaction
Mainstream critics generally reviewed the film less harshly than the other entries. The bulk of reviews, especially among fans of the series, consider it the best or one of the best entries in the franchise.[4] [5] [6] This is largely attributed to the use of humour,[7][8][9] though some were put off by this approach.[10]
Negative criticism of the movie includes general fatigue with the slasher film genre, and the implausibility of Jason's resurrection.[11]. The film however did earn some positive reviews, and received a score of 53% at RottenTomatoes.com (the highest ranking for any of the Friday the 13th sequels).
Other media
A novelization of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives was written by Simon Hawke in 1986; notably, the novelization features an appearance of Elias Voorhees, Jason's father who was originally meant to appear in the film, but was cut. The book also includes various flashbacks to Jason's childhood and the backstories of characters such as Tommy and Sheriff Garris are also expanded.
References
External links
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