FRIDAY THE 13th PART VI: JASON LIVES MOVIE REVIEW |
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You Support This Site When You Buy My Books E.C. McMullen Jr. PERPETUAL BULLET "'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book." - John Grant, Infinityplus E.C. McMullen Jr. WILLOW BLUE "'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down." - Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of FINAL DESTINATION IN OTHER BOOKS E.C. McMullen Jr.'s short story CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE in the anthology FEAR THE REAPER "This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time." - Steve Isaak, Goodreads HORROR 201: The Silver Scream Filmmaker's Guidebook featuring RAY BRADBURY, JOHN CARPENTER, WES CRAVEN, TOM HOLLAND, E.C. McMULLEN Jr., GEORGE A. ROMERO, and many more. Extensively quoted in PHANTASM EXHUMED The Unauthorized Companion Robert S. Rhine's SATAN'S 3-RING CIRCUS OF HELL Forward by GAHAN WILSON & FEO AMANTE. Featuring comics by ALEX PARDEE, WILLIAM STOUT, STEVE BISSETTE, FRANK DIETZ, JIM SMITH, FRANK FORTE, ERIC PIGORS, MIKE SOSNOWSKI, OMAHA PEREZ, DAVID HARTMAN, STEVEN MANNION, and more! And In CINEMA E.C. McMullen Jr. Head Production Designer MINE GAMES (Starring: JOSEPH CROSS, BRIANA EVIGAN, ALEX MERAZ) Dept. head Special Effects Make-Up (SFX MUA) A SIERRA NEVADA GUNFIGHT (MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE). Production Designer UNIVERSAL DEAD (DOUG JONES, D.B. SWEENEY, GARY GRAHAM) Art Director THE CRUSADER (COLIN CUNNINGHAM, GARY GRAHAM) |
"I've seen enough Horror movies to know that any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly" What do you get when you take one of the most beloved Horror franchises of all time, throw in Mary Shelly's FRANKENSTEIN, and a heaping dose of a badass soundtrack by the godfather of Shock Rock himself, Alice Cooper (WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE, CLASS OF 1984, MONSTER DOG, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE, THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS, DRAGONTOWN, DARK SHADOWS, SUCK)? Why, you only get the best movie in said franchise! Yes, folks! The review for FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES, comin' attcha! The mid-1980's was a time of big hair, guys looking prettier than girls, glam metal, and the height of the Slasher subgenre. Yes, the new monsters were here to stay. There were scads of flicks, mostly sequels of otherwise established films, during this time consisting of HALLOWEEN (Michael Myers), A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (Freddy Krueger), CHILD'S PLAY (Chucky), TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (Leatherface), and of course, FRIDAY THE 13TH. While the others produced some solid films in their respective franchises, it was the latter who really churned out some great ones: Especially JASON LIVES. It saw not only the return of Jason Voorhees (The opening credits with a nod to the legendary James Bond flicks, is totally priceless!) after the disastrous, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V: A NEW BEGINNING, but his nemesis Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews: THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD I & II, MEAN GUNS, SORCERORS) who is out to seek justice once and for all on the son of Elias and Pamela Voorhees. Not since the original FRIDAY THE 13TH have we seen this phenomenon. Even then, they were barely glanced at in the beginning. Here, they are present and accounted for in several scenes! Will miracles never cease to exist? But this deters the supernatural killer not a whit. He will simply work around them. Kids getting a little blood on them won't hurt. They can wash that shit off by using plenty of soap and elbow grease. Partying and rutting teenagers, on the other hand… Meanwhile, Tommy Jarvis runs afoul of the local sheriff, Garris (David Kagen: another one with a ton of TV credits such as FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES, ANGEL, BONES, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATIONS, HOUSE) who is ready to kick his ass back into next week for coming around hootin' and hollerin' about Jason Voorhees (C. J. Graham: HIGHWAY TO HELL, VENGEANCE). It doesn't help that his daughter, Megan (Jennifer Cooke: V [TV], DEADLY NIGHTMARES, A YEAR IN THE LIFE) has taken a shine to Crystal Lakes renamed, ahem, Forest Green (Sounds like a goddamn cemetery. Should have stuck with Crystal Lake) home to the second most notorious former resident after Mama Voorhees. No matter what Jarvis says to help matters, his pleas fall on deaf ears. Something just makes fathers, especially those in law enforcement, not apt to have even a thimble full of patience where it comes to those they consider "young punks" trying to woo their daughters. That shit just don't fly with them. They can't wait for you to say or do the wrong thing so they can throw a wrench in your works. Tommy Jarvis especially, is not a candidate for exclusion.
It takes a bit, but when things begin to take a plunge for the worse around the Lake area, then Sheriff Garris and his donut brigade decide to get involved. Director/writer, Tom McLoughlin (FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES [TV], FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES [TV], SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK, BEHIND THE MASK, THE UNSAID, writing creds: AMAZING STORIES [TV], THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE [TV], SHE-WOLF OF LONDON [TV], ONE DARK NIGHT) had a clearer vision than most of what a FRIDAY THE 13TH film must entail. He knew flat out you can't take the material too overly serious and to have fun with it. This is why he brought Alice Cooper into the mix. Sex, drugs (alcohol), and Rock n' Roll, my friends, that's what the 80's were all about. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES, was a definite product of its time. FINAL THOUGHTS Five Shriek Girls
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