Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

This is like watching "Friday the 13th" done by Showtime in the early '90s when they were trying to compete with HBO. Sure, there are hallmarks of something edgy, but if it isn't done with any care, it won't work. Now Crystal Lake becomes a body of water that connects to the ocean, leading to the Atlantic and down to New York. The story takes place during the Lakeview high school senior trip, even though everyone looks like they’re 30, on a boat headed from Crystal Lake to New York. The way Jason is revived is silly, and the first kills are not interesting. In fact, most of the kills are flat and are mostly boring. Additionally, I never noticed before that they added audio stingers whenever Jason would kill someone. Why did they do that? Anyway, I was actually happy when Jason killed some of these characters, which doesn’t quite feel right. In a good horror movie, one should laugh in nervousness and shock at the mayhem and horror, glad it's not happening to them, but ultimately feel bad that lives were lost in the story. Here, I just didn’t care about any of these characters. The only thing that somewhat elevates this is when they arrive in New York City, allowing us to see parts of Times Square from the late 1980s. Jason kicking a boombox is one of the most hilarious things I've seen on film, and it still makes me laugh to this day. This is a really terrible way to end a franchise, nosediving into the abyss. Even Harry Manfredini's score cannot save it. That’s Paramount’s final "Friday the 13th," which are all now part of horror movie franchise history.