PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When it comes to the Friday the 13th franchise, people tend to revere the first 6 films – he’s dead, he’s alive, Tommy Jarvis kills him, Tommy Jarvis might be the new Jason, Tommy Jarvis brings him back to life, Tommy Jarvis kills him again… But once Jason hits the bottom of that lake in Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part 6, many people forget how he actually got out of there. He does eventually leave Crystal Lake and visits Manhattan and even space, but by then, he becomes almost a caricature of himself. But there is a film in the franchise that no one talks ever really talks about that’s smack in the middle of the others, and that’s Friday the 13th part VII: The New Blood. It’s a bit of a stand alone story, but that’s no excuse. As the film’s 30th birthday approaches, I’m here to make the argument as to why this one should be as beloved as the other films in the franchise.
Released 30 years ago on May 13th, 1988, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood was directed by special FX guru John Carl Buechler (more on him later). He also did the special effects for this film, as well as stepping in front of the camera to play the fireman who picks up Jason’s mask at the end. The script was co-written by Michael vs. Jason’s (2004) Daryl Haney and some unknown guy credited as Manuel Fidello, who took over after Haney left. They should have just named him Alan Smithee and left it at that. That infamous F13 music was co-scored by horror movie composer Henry Manfredini and Fred Mollin (Beverly Hills 90210 TV series), while Stranger Things‘ Iain Paterson produced. Friday the 13th veteran Frank Mancuso, Jr. also earned an executive producer credit.
As far as the cast, Lar Park-Lincoln (House II: The Second Story 1987) stars as young psychic Tina Shepard, with Susan Blu as her mother, Amanda, and Terry Kiser (Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s 1989) as Tina’s douche canoe shrink, Dr. Crews. The sex-starved teens were played by The Hills Have Eyes II’s (1984) Kevin Spirtas (as Kevin Blair), Staci Greason (One Stormy Night 1992), William Butler (Night of the Living Dead 1990), Larry Cox (Heathers 1988), Susan Jennifer Sullivan (Charles In Charge TV series), Diana Barrows (My Mom’s A Werewolf 1989), Heidi Kozak (Slumber Party Massacre II 1988), Jeff Bennett (Freddy’s Nightmares TV series), Jon Renfield (Into the Homeland 1987), Craig Thomas (I’m Not There. 2007), Diane Almeida (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane 1990), Elizabeth Kaitan (Twins 1988), Michael Schroeder and Debora Kessler. Walt Gorney, the original film’s Crazy Ralph, voiced the movie’s opening narration. Of course, the disturbingly menacing Kane Hodder starred in The New Blood as Jason Voorhees.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s take a look at why this film is so great.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
11. Say Goodbye To What We Know
Things change quite a bit in the series after after the events in Friday the 13th Part VII: A New Blood. Jason leaves his stomping grounds of Crystal Lake and only returns sporadically in this particular timeline in the franchise. He goes on to off some high school seniors on a boat in New York in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), wakes up in the future and finds himself in space in Jason X (2001), and becomes Freddy Krueger’s Springfield puppet in Freddy vs. Jason (2003). The more recent films also change Jason’s nature, including making him able to possess his family members in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), switching him from a standard, undead monster to something supernaturally driven.
10. A Formidable and Well-Equipped Final Girl
For the first time since young Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) appeared on screen in 1984 in Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, Jason had a new antagonist who was willing to fight back. Tina Shepard (Lar Park-Lincoln) was a final girl who fought more with her mind than with her fists, and probably did more damage to the undead Mama’s Boy than any other adversary. The horror community wondered if the film – sometimes referred to as Jason vs. Carrie – was Paramount’s answer to not being able to agree with New Line on a Jason vs. Freddy script, but alas, it’s never been officially confirmed.
9. John Carl Buechler’s Fight to Keep His Bloody Vision Intact
Director/FX Artist John Carl Buechler had to resubmit Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood back to the MPAA 9 freaking times to finally get approval for an R rating, and is still considered to be the most heavily censored entry in the F13 franchise. Although the uncut version of the film and all of its edited material were destroyed by Paramount, the rare 1989 Dutch VHS release is still available if you look for it hard enough. The outtakes include: Maddy’s face getting stabbed in the woodshed, Dr. Crews’ body being cut in two in the woods, a longer sleeping bag scene, Russell’s axe in the face by the lake, Jason holding David’s head, and an ending scene of Jason jumping out of the water and grabbing a fisherman. That last one is reason alone to hunt down the tape.
8. Kane Hodder’s First Time Playing Jason
Although known throughout the horror industry for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees, Kane Hodder had to start somewhere, and that was in The New Blood. He had never been considered by previous F13 directors, but when John Carl Buechler saw Kane eat live worms on the set of 1987’s Prison, he knew he had found his undead vengeful killer and he pushed Paramount Pictures to let him cast Hodder. Another plus to having Kane in the role was the fact that the Hollywood stuntman could do all of his own stunt work, which was a plus. Funny story: William Butler, the actor who played Michael in the film, was also on the makeup FX team, and was in charge of helping Kane with his prosthetics. Because the actor would sweat in the often reused, airtight latex appliances, Butler gave him the nickname “Stinky Voorhees.” The nomenclature would stick for the rest of his F13 career, since Kane would pick one random cast of crew member and piss somewhere in their dressing room. Classy!
7. A “Peaceful” Ending
At the time, this was the first F13 film that ended with no zombies lunging out of the lake or scaring off little dogs in the night. Jason appeared to truly be dead, and there was no ominous music or jump scares to imply that Jason was, in fact, still alive under there and ready to come back for yet another sequel. But we all knew better, didn’t we?
6. This Is Kane’s Favorite Jason Role
Whether it was his interaction with the locals (while in full Jason attire, Kane was walking through the woods at 2am and scared a local cop nearly to death), the FX work, which he believes is the best makeup of any other Jason, the freedom to perform stunts the way he wanted to do them to make them even more dramatic, or his favorite kill (find out which one below), Kane calls Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood his favorite of the franchise.
5. Hiding in Plain Sight
Way before the idea was made famous in the 2008 film, The Strangers, The New Blood had Jason take on the silently-watching-from-the-shadows role as well. As David (Jon Renfield) is getting himself a snack after having sex with Robin (Elizabeth Kaitan), he walks into the darkened kitchen toward the fridge. The camera stays on him, but if you look carefully during the lightning flash, you’ll see Jason standing in the left corner of the room, biding his time to kill once again.
4. The Most Unmasked Screen Time
While he had been unmasked at some point in every one of the previous installments (Roy Jason from Part V included for the sake of list completion), the reveal of Jason Voorhees in The New Blood was one that gave audiences what they wanted – a good, long look at that rotting, lovable mug. From the time when Tina psychically squeezed the mask right off his head at 1:05 in to the the final climax when Tina’s dad popped up out of the water and dragged the moldering demon away at 1:10, Jason’s unmasked face was on screen for a full five minutes.
3. Kane Is Literally On Fire
In previous Hollywood films, when an actor needed to be set on fire, the effect would be created with trick photography (what we know know as CGI), so he would never really be set aflame. Although there had been instances when stuntmen would bite the bullet and let themselves to incinerated, they would only have to endure the actual flames for a few seconds at most. In Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, when Tina sets Jason on fire, Kane Hodder agreed to let the FX department light him up. To accomplish this effect, they used a rigged apparatus to actually capture the ignition on film. In that moment, you are actually watching Kane Hodder truly being set on fire! He then stayed on fire for a record-setting 40 seconds.
2. The Best Makeup In The Franchise
It’s no secret that Director John Carl Buechler is a fantastically talented FX artist – even horror director Roger Corman said so when he asked him to join his makeup team at New World. The man has worked on just about every horror franchise known to man, including Ghoulies to Nightmare on Elm Street to Halloween to Indiana Jones to Watchers to Carnasaur to Re-Animator to Hatchet, as well as 2002’s Curse of the Forty-Niner, Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (1993), the Blood Surf remake (2000), Cellar Dweller (1988) and even The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987). Knowing that he also worked on the prosthetics and makeup for this film makes it all the more satisfying that he decided to show so much of Jason in his full glory. Even Kane Hodder agrees.
And finally…
1. The Sleeping Bag Death Scene
Rated as Kane Hodder’s favorite kill ever, the Sleeping Bag Scene is one of the most memorable deaths in all of F13 history. If you were lucky enough to have seen the film in the theater, you witnessed Jason drag lady camper Judy (Deborah Kessler) out of her tent, twist up the end of her sleeping bag like a loaf of bread, wind up and swing that chick six times into the side of a tree.
Unfortunately, because of censorship by the MPAA, the current version of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood only shows Jason slam her one measly time into that impenetrable oak, but it’s still enough to get those bloody juices flowing (literally). Kane admits that he had difficulty swinging the 95 lb. bag because the dummy inside was heavier than he thought it would be. Buechler had to film several retakes of the stuntman hauling that heavy ass bag. In frustration, he hauled off and kicked the thing, a shot that actually made it into the film. Surprisingly, the scene itself was created by Writer Daryl Haney because he used to have fantasies of offing his own sister that very same way. Well, who doesn’t?
Final Thoughts
To any horror fans out there reading this, I’d love to hear your take on Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. Does anyone else out there agree with me that this film is a fantastic addition to the F13 franchise? Or hey, if you think I’m off my rocker, let me know that, too. Don’t be shy. You know you want to say something.
