Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI

A definite improvement over the fourth and fifth installments, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI follows Jason (C.J. Graham) as he embarks on yet another murderous rampage after he’s inadvertently resurrected by his old nemesis, Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews). Filmmaker Tom McLoughlin does a superb job of immediately luring the viewer into the proceedings, as Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI opens with what’s probably the most effective pre-credits sequence in the entire franchise – with Tommy and a hapless friend (Ron Palillo’s Allen) unleashing a now-virtually unstoppable Jason by accidentally bringing him back from the dead. It’s just the sort of appreciatively ludicrous interlude that’s generally been sorely missing from this pervasively dull series, although, perhaps predictably, the engaging vibe begins to dissipate almost immediately once the narrative proper kicks off – as McLoughlin offers up a tedious (and painfully repetitive) storyline that doesn’t even boast any compelling instances of gore. (The sole highlight is a gleefully absurd moment in which Jason breaks the back of one of his victims in the nastiest manner imaginable.) Writer/director McLoughlin admittedly takes a slightly more stylish approach to the material than the series’ other filmmakers, and yet Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI is, in the end, just as underwhelming and uninvolving as its six predecessors.

** out of ****