After being blown away by a team of FBI agents, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) needs to find a way to overcome certain death. When his bloodied remains are sent to the morgue, his heart, still intact, is able to hypnotize a coroner and take over his body. After brutally dispatching a couple of FBI agents, he heads back to his favorite stomping grounds: Crystal Lake.
Among horror movie series, “Friday the 13th” has always drawn a dedicated following, though its quality varied wildly across installments. Just when audiences thought the series had ended with the 1989 release “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan,” 1993 surprised everyone with “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday” – a film that would completely reshape the series’ familiar pattern.
The movie’s first few minutes brilliantly trick viewers. It starts predictably enough: a lone woman makes herself at home in a cabin by Crystal Lake. But when Jason shows up for his usual hunt, everything changes. In an unprecedented twist, FBI agents spring a trap, and within minutes, they’ve blown the infamous killer to pieces with heavy artillery. This stunning opening, though, sets up the film’s real story.
What follows is strange new territory for the franchise: Jason’s spirit lives on through his heart, which, when eaten, allows him to possess different bodies. This bizarre plot device means the hockey-masked killer barely appears in his traditional form, showing up only at the story’s beginning and end. Adding to this unusual approach, the film weaves in new lore about Jason’s family tree, claiming that only his living relatives – Diana Kimble (his half-sister), her daughter Jessica, and Jessica’s child Stephanie – can truly destroy him.
The plot brings in Creighton Duke, an oddball bounty hunter played by Steven Williams, who claims to know the secret to ending Jason for good. He teams up with Steven, Jessica’s ex and Stephanie’s father, for a climactic battle at the Voorhees house in their quest to finally stop Jason.
But despite its creative ambitions, “Jason Goes to Hell” ranks among the series’ biggest disappointments. While trying something new is admirable, keeping Jason off-screen for most of the movie was a significant misstep. Horror fans watch these films to see their favorite villains – whether it’s Jason, Freddy, Pinhead, or Michael Myers – not to watch random possessed people stumbling around.
The film’s style choices don’t help either. Director Adam Marcus clearly wanted to channel John Woo’s signature slow-motion action scenes, but this approach feels completely wrong for a slasher film. The acting falls flat, and even the music, usually a reliable element thanks to composer Harry Manfredini, takes an odd turn, with an over-the-top score that feels more distracting than frightening.
The movie’s only truly memorable moment comes at the very end, when hellish forces pull Jason underground, leaving his mask behind. As Freddy Krueger’s gloved hand bursts through the earth to grab the mask, accompanied by his signature laugh, it hints at a crossover that wouldn’t actually happen until “Freddy vs. Jason” hit theaters a full decade later – and even then, it failed to live up to expectations.
Available on a special 4K Ultra HD™ Limited Edition May 20th
Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century, and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that’s transporting him.
“Jason X” (2002) stands out as the Friday the 13th franchise’s most daring experiment, transforming its murderous antagonist into a space-faring menace. Though it initially flopped with critics and audiences alike, this unusual installment has since found its niche among dedicated fans.
The story opens in 2010 at a research center near Crystal Lake, where scientists study the seemingly unkillable Jason Voorhees. When Dr. Rowan LaFontaine (Lexa Doig) suggests freezing Jason indefinitely, her colleague Dr. Aloysius Wimmer (played by famed filmmaker David Cronenberg) interferes, fascinated by Jason’s healing powers. The situation spirals out of control, resulting in both LaFontaine and Jason being accidentally frozen.
Fast-forward to 2455: Humans have abandoned a ruined Earth for a new planet. A team of researchers stumbles upon the frozen pair and brings them aboard their ship, the Grendel. This clever shift in setting keeps Jason’s killing spree fresh while preserving the series’ core appeal.
The movie’s greatest strength lies in its playful self-awareness. Unlike the grim “Jason Goes to Hell” or the uneven “Jason Takes Manhattan,” this entry fully embraces its outlandish premise. Kane Hodder, making his last appearance as Jason, brings a commanding presence to the role. His transformation into “Uber Jason” – a cyborg killing machine—cleverly merges horror with sci-fi tropes.
The film’s cast manages to create memorable characters rather than just cannon fodder, while the futuristic backdrop helps break free from the tired Crystal Lake formula. Though perhaps not the series’ finest hour, “Jason X” deserves credit for its bold reinvention of a familiar format. By mixing horror with science fiction and adding a dash of self-aware humor, it offers something genuinely different for viewers willing to follow Jason into space. The result is an entertaining oddity that proves even well-worn horror franchises can still surprise audiences.
Available on a special 4K Ultra HD™ Limited Edition May 20th
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