‘Jason Lives’ Turns 40… and Offers Horror a Path Forward
The subtitle Jason Lives was no accident. When Friday the 13th: Part VI arrived in 1986, it made a clear promise: Jason Voorhees was back. After A New Beginning frustrated audiences by removing the franchise’s signature killer, the series course-corrected with a return to its most recognizable figure.
The message was reinforced in the film’s accompanying soundtrack. Alice Cooper’s He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask) underscores the same idea:
Oh, but he’s back!
He’s the man behind the mask
And he’s out of control, he’s back!
The man behind the mask
And he crawled out of his hole!
From a box office standpoint, the strategy fell short. Jason Lives did turn a profit, but it underperformed compared to its predecessor, and subsequent installments continued that trend until Part X. Critically, the film fared only moderately well, earning a mixed reception.
The New York Times‘ Caryn James dismissed it at the time as “a gory waste of time,” and years later Eric D. Snider of ericdsnider.com denounced it as “thunderingly mediocre,” snarkily complaining that it “features no nudity whatsoever. Also, no one falls down while running, no one says, ‘I’ll be right back,’ and there are no cars that won’t start. Surely this is all an editing mistake.”
In contrast, Fangoria‘s Michael Gingold called Jason Lives “easily my favorite” within the series because, despite its plot holes, “damn it, it’s fun! You have to love how the deputy drops a bunch of cartons of food without food in them. And Jason being re-animated like Frankenstein is on par with Freddy Krueger being re-animated by the urine of a stray dog. It’s just fun and creepy Jason Voorhees doing what he does best. And he even slays a credit-card-handling yuppie, to boot. Take that, mid-eighties America!”
Gingold’s review has aged far better than James’ or Snider’s, as Jason Lives is indeed a fun, clever, and thrilling horror flick. As Noah Dominguez wrote for Comic Book Resources, its cheeky and self-aware tone influenced later meta franchises like the ongoing Scream series.
But forget about all of that for a moment. My main observation about Jason Lives isn’t that it is simply influential or better than the other films in the series (at least according to conventional standards; A New Beginning is still my personal favorite.) It’s that the movie holds up incredibly well, a full 40 years after being released, in ways you don’t often see with 1980s horror fare.
While the previous Friday the 13th films had a better sense of humor than its detractors want to admit, none could be described primarily as comedies. This one, on the other hand, puts the “camp” in “campy,” leaning heavily into the hoary tropes associated with the camper slasher genre while simultaneously indulging and tweaking the audience. Most of the humor comes from these elements of the movie.
At the same time, the movie is not devoid of commentary. It tells the story of Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews), who accidentally resurrects serial killer Jason Voorhees (C. J. Graham) and now must kill the zombified murderer as he barrels toward a reopened camp. He is, however, hindered by Sheriff Mike Garris’ (David Kagen) toxic masculinity and fragile ego, which provides the film with its first nugget of social commentary. There are also scenes with yuppies venting their misogyny and aggression before Voorhees rudely interrupts them, sharp remarks about the horrors of taking care of kids, and other irreverent observations.
Yet unlike lesser horror comedies (including many of the Scream sequels), Jason Lives also cares about its characters. Jarvis, who has survived two other Friday the 13th movies to reach this one, obviously inspires our support, but he is not alone in this regard. Jennifer Cooke is smart, spunky, and sweet in equal measure as Sheriff Garris’ daughter and Jarvis’ love interest, Megan Garris. There are cops, camp counselors, hikers, and kids who are introduced who, in a lesser film, would be disposable cardboard cutouts. Here, we are invested in what happens to them because, even when they only appear briefly, the writing and performances leave indelible impressions.
Inevitably, this also means we are genuinely scared for them when they are menaced, and that is the key to quality horror. On top of that, Jason Lives was produced during the golden age of horror, when practical effects were king and CGI was used only to touch things up around the edges. Every death, every spot of blood, every bit of gore looks, sounds, and practically even feels. Even though many old horror movies force modern viewers to suspend disbelief about their special effects, Jason Lives‘ special effects force modern viewers to suspend disbelief about the CGI slop churned out today.
What to do? First, hold studios accountable to produce more horror movies like Jason Lives. We still have the technology to create convincing special and sound effects, the brainpower to write smart scripts, the talent to cast top-notch performers. Jason Lives didn’t work because it brought back a specific horror villain, but because it had all of the elements one expects from a good movie.
Second, make sure that we continue to rewatch Jason Lives at every opportunity. It is a great work of art, and the fact that it stands the test of time means it deserves to be remembered.
In short, Jason Lives is a movie that earns the right to urge viewers to rock out to its power ballad as Cooper belts out these lines:
Oh, but he’s back!
He’s the man behind the mask
And he’s out of control, he’s back!
The man behind the mask
And he crawled out of his hole!
Jason Lives is now streaming on PlutoTV and Paramount+
Categorized:Editorials