Brian Fanelli
After the fan backlash that followed Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985), the only film in the series (other than the first) that didn’t technically feature Jason Voorhees as the killer, the franchise needed to get back on track. Cue writer/director Tom McLoughlin, who already had some horror cred from his 1983 film One Dark Night. McLoughlin’s background in comedy, however, and his love of the golden age of Universal Monster movies, made the sixth installment unique and one of the series’ strongest sequels to date. Jason Lives (1986) introduced a reanimated Jason, whose rotting, corpse-like qualities would be the staple moving forward. More notably, the film balanced Gothic tropes with comedy and a self-awareness that would influence later slasher franchises, specifically Scream (1996). In breaking with the previous installments through the injection of Gothic tropes and some levity, Jason Lives became one of the most memorable sequels in the Friday the 13th catalogue.
The beginning of the film has the feel of a 1930s/1940s Universal Monsters film because it’s so heavy on establishing atmosphere from the get-go. It begins with shots of fog rolling over Camp Crystal Lake, which has been renamed Camp Forest Green in attempt to bury the past. Then the camera focuses on Tommy Jarvis’s (Thom Matthews) pick-up truck zooming down the road, headed to the cemetery where Jason (C. J. Graham) is buried. The cemetery scene is reminiscent of James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), specifically the scene in which Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) dig up bodies to create the Monster. As Tommy and his friend Allen Hawes (Ron Palillo) search for the grave with shovels in hand, the scene again echoes the world of the Universal Monsters. Wind howls. The ground is littered with leaves. The trees are gnarled and bare. Eventually, after some digging, Tommy opens Jason’s creaky coffin, where he discovers the maggot-covered corpse. The camera lingers on Tommy’s face, as he recalls the scene from the end of Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984) when he stabs Jason over and over, shouting, “Die, Jason, die!” This moment is significant because it shows the trauma that Tommy still carries, while underscoring his obsession with ensuring Jason/the past is truly dead and buried.
Of course, Jason never stays dead for long, and after lightning strikes him, he’s brought back to life in a way that echoes Frankenstein’s animation of his creature. He makes his presence known by punching through Allen’s body and ripping out his heart. This opening is effective and important for a number of reasons. As stated, it establishes the Gothic tones and moody atmosphere that are prominent in the rest of the film. Furthermore, it shows a break from the previous entries. Jason is no longer going to be the crazed mountain man depicted in the earlier films. In Jason Lives, he’s presented as a reanimated corpse–a distinctly supernatural presence. After Tommy douses him with gasoline, heavy rainfall suddenly erupts and soaks his matchbook, as if it’s fate. Even Jason’s look is different. Until he snags the hockey mask after killing Allen, he looks less like the iconic killer of the Friday the 13th franchise than like one of the zombies in Return of the Living Dead (1985). It’s only after he puts on the hockey mask that Jason becomes the slasher we all know and love.
Jason resurrected via lighting
In Jason Lives: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VI, which is included on the series DVD and Blu-ray boxsets, McLoughlin acknowledges the heavy influence of the Universal films: “My main objective was to give the audience a sense of the old Gothic horror movies because I was trying to set a tone right from the beginning that this was going to be what the Universal horror movies used to be- a stormy night, going to the cemetery, digging up the grave, and a monster coming back who is unstoppable.”
Yet, shortly after the cemetery scene, it becomes clear that the movie is going to include plenty of camp and comedy, which was also evident in Whale’s Universal films, especially Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and particularly in the character of Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who has plenty of zany one-liners and engages in much farcical behavior. The title sequence in Jason Lives marks a shift from the Gothic opening in the cemetery toward comedy. It mirrors a James Bond movie, as Jason slow-walks across the screen and then stops in the center of the frame, slashing towards the camera. This is effective in reinforcing Jason’s iconic status while also previewing some of the farce to come later.
In that same DVD feature, McLoughlin admitted to having only watched the first film and then going to Paramount Pictures to watch the sequels. He made it clear to studio execs that he would only direct Part VI if he was granted permission to wink at the rest of the franchise and include some levity. Producer Frank Mancuso Jr. said that was fine as long as Jason remained serious and frightening. Jason is indeed imposing and chilling throughout the film, a supernatural entity impossible to stop. His counterweight is Tommy, who appears crazed to nearly everyone he encounters, especially to Sheriff Garris (David Kagen) and bumbling Deputy Rick (Vincent Guastaferro), who dismiss his story the moment that he enters the Forest Green police station and says, “Jason’s coming. He’s after me.” The town is eager to move on from the past’s grisly murders, so Garris responds, “No one in Forest Green wants to be reminded of what happened here. That’s why we changed the name.” To Tommy, however, it will always be Camp Blood, and the only way to defeat Jason is to bury him in his original resting place. What Tommy tries to emphasize, and what we see in the opening cemetery scene, is the fact that the past won’t stay dead and buried, no matter the name of the town. This again is another trait of Gothic literature and film. To quote William Faulkner’s novel Requiem for a Nun, the past is never dead. It’s not even past.
The counterbalance between seriousness and comedic self-awareness continues throughout the rest of the film and is handled deftly. The first teens that an unleashed Jason kills are Darren (Tony Goldwyn) and Lizabeth (Nancy McLoughlin), who stop their car the moment they see Jason on a dirt road, gripping a metal spire from the cemetery. Here, the film’s self-awareness is apparent, as Lizabeth quips, “I’ve seen enough horror movies to know any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly.” Again, the supernatural elements of Jason are emphasized. One minute, he’s in front of the car, and then he’s not. After he kills Darren, Lizabeth exits the car, stumbles, and crawls through the mud. At first, Jason is in front of her and then suddenly leaps behind her, killing her after she tries to offer him cash and her American Express card. Like the opening, this kill illustrates what works so well in Jason Lives. It’s a perfect balance of tone. Jason is menacing, as Mancuso requested, and yet, there’s a real absurdity in the way that Lizabeth tries to reason with him. Clearly, he’s not human and has absolutely no interest in whatever material possessions she can offer. This is only reinforced after he kills her, and the camera zooms in on her American Express card floating in a muddy, bloodied puddle.
Lizabeth’s cash and American Express card after Jason kills her
The comedic elements surface a few more times throughout the film. For instance, the graveyard keeper Martin (Bob Lark) plays a drunken fool who stumbles upon Jason’s unearthed grave and is too intoxicated to realize that it’s not the Voorhees corpse in the coffin but rather Allen’s. He says, “Shitheads couldn’t even stick him in right. I’m not gonna touch that slimy sucker. Why’d they have to go and dig up Jason? Some folks have a strange idea of entertainment.” While delivering those last lines of dialogue, he looks at the camera and breaks the fourth wall, which is yet another nod and wink to the fans clamoring for Jason’s return after the previous entry excluded him. In one of the only other scenes featuring Martin, a panicked Tommy goes to the graveyard with Deputy Rick and Sheriff Garris, demanding that they look at the evidence showing Jason is back. Tommy pleads with Martin to dig him up, but the caretaker asks, “Dig him up? Does he think I’m a fart head?” The camera then cuts to a scene of child campers screaming “yeahhhhh” as the counselors talk about everything they’re going to do together. The cutting is quite effective in balancing the seriousness, mostly shown through Tommy’s character, with humor.
Furthermore, the film lampoons masculinity, which is most apparent in a scene involving insurance workers that play paintball in Jason’s woods. One of the men gripes that a female executive was included in the game. He complains, “This is a man’s game. It requires a man’s cunning, a man’s intelligence.” Shortly after he says that, he and his male counterpart are shot dead by the female exec, who makes them parade around in black bandanas that say dead in large, white letters. Another male co-worker, who has already been sniped and sports the headband, swings a machete against the trees and whines, “She should have stayed in the kitchen where she belongs. A woman shouldn’t be allowed in these games. It’s not a game. It’s life.” His over-the-top dialogue and clichéd character traits are reinforced by his punishing demise: Jason pushes him into a tree, crushes his head, and leaves a bloody smiley face on the tree. Jason then reclaims his famous weapon of choice, which comes in handy when he encounters the rest of the co-workers.
“Manly” insurance workers playing paintball
Another contrast to stereotypical masculinity is the film’s competent and resourceful final girl, Megan (Jennifer Cooke), who frequently challenges her father, Sherriff Garris. She’s also quick to believe Tommy’s story that Jason indeed has returned and is out for blood. At one point, while in her father’s office with her friends, she reinforces the myth and legend of Jason, asking if it’s possible that he could return to Camp Blood to find those responsible for decapitating his mother. It’s fair to say that Tommy would not be successful in defeating Jason during the film’s conclusion without Jennifer’s help, since she busts him out of prison by stealing Deputy Rick’s gun and revives him after Jason nearly drowns him in Crystal Lake. In the documentary Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, McLoughlin stated that he wanted Megan to have “a very 30s/40s snippy attitude.” Cooke added, “She really was a feisty girl…like most girls her age, she was figuring things out… including how to say no to her dad.” Megan’s strength and agency are a direct contrast to the criticism slasher movies received throughout the decade that they are demeaning towards women. Megan takes charge several times, and she pursues relations with the male lead, not the other way around.
Jason Lives is also unique because it’s really the only film in the franchise that doesn’t feature heavy nudity. There is only one major sex scene, which also includes one of the best kills in the movie. It features counselors Cort (Tom Fridley) and Nikki (Darcy DeMoss), who draw Jason’s attention because their sexual interactions literally rock the RV, which belongs to Nikki’s dad. As music booms from the mobile camper, Jason pauses and tilts his head, before cutting the power. Yet, like other kills in this movie, parts of the scene are meant to be outlandish, while jabbing masculinity and previous installments of the franchise. When Cort climaxes at the end of a song, Nikki says, “Cort, you didn’t already?” He also expresses reluctance to go outside and investigate why the power went out. Additionally, McLoughlin uses this scene to again echo Whale’s Frankenstein films. When Jason enters the RV, Alice Cooper’s “Teenage Frankenstein” is blaring to the point that Cort can’t even hear Jason kill Nikki in the bathroom. Soon after, Jason thrusts a knife in Cort’s ear, and the music fades out. The scene concludes with Jason leaping on top of the wrecked RV, with fire and smoke surrounding him. It’s one of the most memorable scenes in the film and one that again balances humor and Gothic elements, in this case atmosphere and Jason’s new supernatural qualities.
When the film opened in August 1986, it didn’t capture the #1 spot at the box office and fell behind James Cameron’s Aliens. Overall, it grossed $19.5 million and was the lowest grossing Friday the 13th to date. Generally, the reviews were mixed. Caryn James wrote for The New York Times, “But despite a few lighter touches, the film is still a gory waste of time that plays its murders for all the blood and guts they’re worth.” Gene Siskel, on the one hand, said the film was the least offensive in the series, but labeled it an “all-too-familiar bloody ritual.”
Part VII: A New Blood (1988) would see Kane Hodder take up the hockey mask and resume that role for several more sequels. A New Blood was much more serious in tone than Jason Lives, as it saw Jason go toe-to-toe with a telekinetic. Yet, the influence of Jason Lives on the wider horror genre is undeniable, and McLoughlin has stated that Kevin Williamson told him that its comedic and self-referential style was a major influence when he wrote Scream. More than thirty years after its release, Jason Lives remains a fan favorite because it did something different with the exhausted franchise. It referenced horror history, including locations named Karloff’s General Store and Cunningham Road, and it infused several Gothic elements that nod to the Universal era. Furthermore, its unique style of comedy was a breath of fresh air in a series that had largely become stagnant. McLoughlin masterfully balanced laughs with memorable kills, often within a single scene. As a result, Jason Lives is Friday the 13th sequel that resonates more than many of the others.
Works Cited:
Camp Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. Directed by Daniel
Farrands, 1428 Films, 2013. Shudder.
James, Caryn. “The Screen: Jason Lives in ‘Friday the 13th, Part VI.’” The New York Times,
2 August, 1986, section 1, p. 9.
Jason Lives: The Making of Friday the 13th Pt. VI. King Media Services, 2009.
Siskel, Gene. “The Flick of the Week.” The Chicago Tribune, 8 August 1986.
