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SOURCE-Paramount Blu ray
I was sure I covered this film years ago. Nope just a short 3 sentence thing when I covered all 12 Jason films.
Figuring most people reading this know this film well enough I don't have to do a through review of the plot. Not that I do that often anyways.
All the previous Friday the 13th films I saw in a theater with my favorite Uncle back then. Part 6 was different. The Uncle that took me to many movies back then either had no kids. Or his kids were very very young and so he took me to see movies with him.
I remember seeing the tv ad for this movie. After part 5 I figured we would not get another Jason film. Everybody hated part 5. And the little bit I had read on it said Paramount was mad at how it was a flop,not sure how a film that made a good profit is a flop. But there was part 6. Subtitled Jason Lives. Does that mean that Tommy is gone I wondered?
Was sure one weekend after this hit the movie theater I would be there to see if with my fave uncle. Nope not sure how or why by a cousin who is like 5 months older than me talked his very strict very religious mother into taking us to the theater in the next town over to see this.
Bit of word about this cousin. From when I was born until I was 10 or so besides my parents I had no family living close to me. Besides a great Uncle,brother of my maternal grandmother. His wife and their 3 kids. Their 2 oldest kids were grown and gone from the house by the time I was 4 or 5. But their youngest son,named Jason,was basically my age. So often I would be dropped off at his house. Jason and I had almost nothing in common. Didn't really get along that well.And it didn't help that his mother babied the hell out of him.
For example when he was a young kid,like under school age,if his mother was playing any game with him she would make sure that Jason won. Which lead to a few times at school where Jason didn't win something and either cried and/or got mad and acted up.
It was right before school started in 86. Jason and I ,along with another friend,were about to start Jr High at a school we were not suppose to goto. Long story short we lived in the area where the JR high we should goto was known for having the worst teachers in the state. And it isn't like Mississippi is known for having good school. I had just turned 12 weeks before this. Not sure why but I was staying the night over at my cousin's place. We were up late ,no school the next day so his mom let him goto bed whenever he wanted to,saw the ad for part 6 and he tells me How he is going to talk his mom into taking him to see it opening night.
"yea right. Your mom won't let you see the previous films. Your mom grounded you for a month for saying butt. No way."
Then next morning while we are having breakfast Jason asked his mom and she said she would take him and me. OK cool I get to see the movie but sucks I have to go with Jason and his mom. I knew she wasn't gonna buy me a large soda and large popcorn like my fave uncle would.
We go. Aunt sat at the end of the row with Jason next to her. I left an empty seat between Jason and I. Everytime someone cussed she reached over and tried to cover his ears. During the sex scene in the motorhome she covered his eyes and told me to do the same ,I didn;t cover my eyes. After it was over ,still not sure why,she fussed at me for the movie. Guess either she thought going to see it was my idea. Or Maybe jason told her that. Who knows he had a bad habit of ratting me out for stuff I did or making up stuff to get me into trouble.
The entire ride home from the theater was just her telling me how the movie was horrible. And I should feel ashamed for wanting to see it. Never mind it was her son who asked to go see it and her that invited me. I would have been happy going with my uncle instead of an asshole cousin.
Thinking about it that was the last film I went and saw with Jason. And maybe the last time I spent the night at his place.
Ok so the film starts with our 3rd actor in 3 films to play Tommy Jarvis. Him and Horshack are heading to Jason's grave. To make sure Jason is dead.
Tommy digs up the coffin. Opens it up. Stabs jason with a piece of metal fence. Lightning strikes it and Jason LIVES.
Crystal Lake has been renamed. Tommy ends up on the run with the town sheriff's daughter helping him fight Jason. They end up drowning Jason at the bottom of Crystal Lake.
This while being the end of one trilogy in the Friday series,the Tommy Jarvis trilogy of films 4,5,6,it is also the start of the Jason is a zombie trilogy.
Also after part 5 which was loaded with nudity and gore,Part 5 has a few characters that get introduced to just get naked and die not long afterwards,the MPAA was strict as fuck with this film. No nudity that I can remember.That sex scene I mentioned showed nothing. Not that much blood and/or gore. And by the 5th sequel in this long running franchise you want gore/blood and nudity. Matter of fact this films lack of nudity ended up causing myself and Jason to get in trouble.
Was not long after school started. So maybe a month after we saw the movie. Knowing almost no one at this school Jason was trying to impress some kids. He thought lying about seeing a naked woman would impress these kids,most of who lived in a part of the area that had cable tv so most of them had seen stuff like Porkys long before this. "Yea then they showed her breast and they were huge huh Double T?" Thinking I would back him up. "Jason they didn't show her tits. There was no nudity in the film!" He got mad,started yelling "I KNOW WE SAW TITTIES!" I told him we didnt and "TO SHUT THE HELL UP DUMBASS" . Betting him "Ok when it hits VHS I will rent it. And we will watch it again. If there is no titties you owe me 25 bucks. If there is I owe you 50 bucks. " he agreed.
Back then movies left theaters and it was sometimes over a year before it hit home video. Usually a film would hit HBO 6 months after it left theaters. Then few months after HBO it hit VHS. I was lucky one of my new friends had HBO and a VCR. So early the next year he recorded it for me. I got the tape. Told Jason "Look this Thursday tell your mom you need to come to my place to work on some homework. My parents will be at their bowling league. We can watch the movie."
We watch it,see I am right,and he gets mad tells me "I will give you your money but tomorrow at school don't mention I lost" See what I mentioned earlier about his parents making sure he won games. Having already made a decent group of friends by this time at the new school the next day once we got dropped off first thing I said to Brandon,Jesse and Donald was "Jason lost the bet. No Titties in the movie" Jason got mad called me "A lying bitch ass" took a swing at me and I stepped back. Pulled my fist back and was just about to punch him when the Principal ,Mr Weathersbee(yes that legit was his name) grabbed my fist. We got in trouble,cussing and fighting. But it was the start of the kids at school really starting to realize Jason was a douchebag.
Why is 6 so loved when it is missing two major factors in the previous films popularity? Cause this time we get not only a good story but also characters we care about. After 2 films we have come to know Tommy. We saw him as a kid lose his family and his mind. Then as a teen we saw him lose the closest thing he had to a new family and at the end of the film we thought he had went over the deep end and would become the killer in the next film. This time we get a grown Tommy. One who all he wants is to make sure Jason is dead. And one who after reviving Jason does all he can to stop Jason.
The new characters are also not bad. The Sheriff is a guy I remember seeing often on sitcoms of that era. The Actress playing his daughter I don't know from anything else.
I do find it odd that this is the one Jason film with no nudity. It is not gory. And it is still one of the best in the run.Just shows how getting a good script and good actors/actresses can really elevate a film.
Friday the 13th Part VI:Jason Lives gets a B+.
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