Friday the 13th: Part VII – The New Blood

Friday the 13th: Part VII – The New Blood follows Lar Park-Lincoln’s Tina Shepard, a teen with telekinetic powers, as she inadvertently brings Jason (Kane Hodder) back from the dead, with the film detailing the reign of terror that ensues as Jason heads back to Crystal Lake. It’s clear that the addition of a Carrie-like heroine has been designed to inject the seriously stale series with a newfound energy, and yet the film, not surprisingly, establishes itself as just another run-of-the-mill installment revolving almost entirely around Jason’s far-from-creative (and disconcertingly) bloodless rampage through the woods. Filmmaker John Carl Buechler’s excessively lazy approach ensures that there’s little here worth getting excited about, as the film, aside from the aforementioned Carrie-like twist, boasts few attributes designed to set it apart from its exceedingly mediocre brethren. By the time the anticlimactic Tina/Jason showdown rolls around, the viewer has lost all interest in the outcome and it’s clear that Friday the 13th: Part VII – The New Blood ultimately stands as one of the more overtly pointless entries within this franchise. (And what’s with the oddly abrupt ending that doesn’t even bother leaving the door open for yet another installment?)

*1/2 out of ****