This Day in Horror History: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN Was Released in 1988
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, the eighth entry in the Friday the 13th series Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan was released in 1989.
Filming took place primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, with additional photography in Times Square and in Los Angeles. It was the final film in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, with the subsequent installments being distributed by New Line Cinema.
At the time, Jason Takes Manhattan was the most expensive film in the series, with a budget of over $5 million. Unfortunately, the flick only managed to gross $14.3M at the domestic box office, making it the poorest-performing film in the Friday the 13th series to date.
It was followed by Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.
Starring Jensen Daggett, Scott Reeves, Peter Mark Richman, and Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees, it was written and directed by Rob Hedden
The film finds mass murderer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) resurrected from the bottom of Crystal Lake. After he kills a passing boat’s occupants, he stows away on a cruise ship filled with a high-school graduating class-bound for New York City. Biology teacher Charles McCulloch is on board with his niece, Rennie, who has visions of Jason drowning as a child. They escape his bloody shipboard rampage, but, when Rennie and Charles reach Manhattan, Jason is close by.
The film sports a 12% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: Jason terrorizes a ship and nearly sinks the franchise in a clunky sequel that feels like self-parody without the charm.
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