After nearly a full season of television and over a year off on the screen, Jason needed to come back in a big and new way to maintain interest in the movie series. One of the initial talks was to do Freddy Vs. Jason, but neither Paramount nor New Line Cinema were willing to let go of their profitable franchises. They finally decided that if they couldn't have Freddy, they needed the final girl to be a TRUE match for Jason. The final girl would have supernatural powers as well: telekinesis.
As always, we begin with the trailer. The trailer is definitely one of the better ones from the later entries of the series. It actually shows clips from the movie, unlike the trailer for Jason Lives. It's fun enough, but it is incredibly spoiler heavy. It's a far cry from the trailers for the first two entries in the series. The tagline for the film is: On Friday the 13th, Jason's back. But this time someone's waiting. I like the tagline quite a lot. It's ominous and hints at a spectacular final battle. Overall, the movie was advertised well enough, I mean, this is Part VII after all.
The movie begins with a voice over from the actor who plays Crazy Ralph, which is a major plus for all the fans of the franchise. The prologue features clips from Part 2, The Final Chapter, and Jason Lives. It gives a fairly extensive retelling of Jason Lives too. This makes since because it had been a while since Jason had appeared on the movie screen. I like the prologue a ton. It's a gift to the fans who have stuck through thick and thin, good entry and bad for this franchise. It's a very nice touch. Not as great as The Final Chapter prologue, but I won't complain.
The death scenes for the most part are lackluster. Let me make this clear: this is not the director's fault. This is the MPAA's fault. Every death scene was trimmed down to it's bare minimum. John Carl Buechler made a make-up effects extravaganza and none of it actually appears in the final film. The best death is (of course): the sleeping bag death. This would not have been the best death had the make-up effects been left in the final product. On the DVD in a very rough cut workprint, you can see all the hard work that went into the make-up effects. It's truly some of the best of the series and THE best outside of Tom Savini's work.
We cannot discuss Part VII without discussing the crucial element of casting Kane Hodder as Jason. Kane gave a face to the series and a star in the killer, but more on that in future reviews. The make-up on Jason is utterly fantastic. Every single scratch is accounted for in the make-up. Kane's presense in the role is so demanding of attention, it's striking. He gives a presence to a very lackluster film overall.
Tina, what a fantastic final girl. She's haunted by her powers. She accidentally in a fit of rage when she was young killed her father. Her powers are very untamed and it's frightening to see how powerful they can become. Lar gives a strength to Tina that hasn't been seen in final girls since Part III. Tina is a nice girl. She's incredibly attached to her mother and unfortunately loses her mother to Jason. She wants REVENGE. She uses her telekinesis to pretty much whoop Jason's butt. She's got an edge to her that we haven't seen in final girls for a while.
After praising the make-up effects and the final girl, where did this film go wrong? The side characters are just set up to die. This was a make-up effects show. You don't care when characters die. In fact, the film sets up a few for you to cheer when they do eventually die, which I find a little sickening. Long are the days when every character's death mattered. This series has become about the cool deaths and the gore and when they can't even deliver that...you're in trouble. We haven't had good side characters in a while, but the main girl is so well defined. If only the other characters could have been as well defined. It's quite a shame really.
As far as the music goes, it's a weird blend between Harry Manfrideini and Fred Mollin. Harry had scored the previous six films. Fred was scoring the TV series. They recycled some of Harry's cues and Fred wrote new music for the picture. It's not a good blend, but that will change with the next film. However, to my recollection this is the last time in the original series we'll hear the classic Friday cues.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood was released on Friday the 13th, May 1988. It ranked #1 at the box office for the opening weekend. On a budget of $2.8 million, the film grossed $19,170,001. With continuing diminishing box office returns, the series had begun to run out of steam. The profits for such a low budget are extraordinary, but it's a FAR cry from the profits of the first film. Audiences didn't have to wait long for another Friday the 13th because within only a few days, the first season of the TV series was continuing and nearing it's climax.
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