Rating: 5 / 5
Contains spoilers
Okay, so a lot of people have issues with this movie. It looks like most feel one of two things about it. They think either A) putting him in Manhattan was stupid, or B) that was cool, but he wasn't there long enough. Both are true, but I don't really care about all that. I do have some issues with the movie; to me, it feels like one big plot hole. But I don't care about that either. Parts 7, 8, and 9 of the series are the ones that were released around the time I was a kid -- this one was actually released five months before I was born -- so they're really the ones I remember watching back then. They all have a special place in my heart, no matter how silly or gimmicky they are. This one has always been one of my favorite, and it will stay that way, despite the tiny little issues I have with it. Sure, the movie is nothing but a giant plot hole. Sure, they figured people were getting tired of the summer camp setting (which I absolutely never will) so they stuck him some place else, which felt weird. There are only two movies in the series that I will rate anything below five points, and even then I'm only willing to go as low as 4.9. So, there are only two reasons that I will really have an issue: if they A) mess with the story (part five, where Jason wasn't even present), or B) they mess with Jason's appearance (Jason X, when they turned him into a fucking ROBOT). So, in conclusion, despite its faults, I love Jason Takes Manhattan.
Here's the run-down. It wasn't just a random occurrence that took him to New York. A bunch of high school kids were going on some sort of graduation party/field trip to New York, and they were taking a cruise ship. They happened to go through Crystal Lake, where Jason was awoken via some electricity or something. He climbed aboard the ship, because even though they weren't technically in his camp, they were still invading his home, and he didn't like that. So he started killing all the kids on the ship, and of course, it eventually took them to New York. I don't care that the majority of the movie took place on a boat, because, to me, that just makes the events that much more terrifying for the victims. When they're at the lake, at least there's an endless amount of open space that the kids can run into. Even if their cars don't work (which they never do, of course), they're still not completely stuck. Here, though, there was absolutely nowhere they could go. They were trapped in a confined space with Jason, knowing that the only they could do was either hide or fight. Or throw him overboard, but good luck with that. Once they got to New York, they felt like they'd reached a safe haven. They thought, "Okay, we're here, there are other people around, and there are plenty of places to hide." They learned quickly that there was still no way to get away from him, of course. But that was a giant let-down and, and I feel like it showcases the exhaustion that they must have felt. They went through so much already while they were on the boat; they arrived at their destination, believing that they were safe, only to realize that nowhere was safe from Jason Voorhees. I think that these victims had a rougher time than the rest because of this.
Secondly, the way Jason looked. They didn't fuck with his appearance in the same way that Jason X did. For the most part, he looked just like he was supposed to. When he was unmasked, though...I don't know what the fuck that was. His face was flat, he had no teeth, and his skin sort of looked blue. Hillbilly smuf, anyone? When Jason's mask is removed, we're supposed to be terrified by how vile and gruesome his face is. This, though, was just funny -- and that shit ain't right. He was unmasked down in the sewers of New York. The two heroes threw some toxic waste on his face, it melted a little bit, and then he...turned back into a child. What? Yeah, little Jason returned, in the fetal position crying like a baby. Who knew that toxic waste was a time machine? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and it is actually the biggest issue I have with the movie. Maybe it was imagination or drug-induced hallucination (because Rennie had been drugged and almost raped by some thugs). Maybe they were trying to turn Jason into something different; something less than human that we hadn't seen before, but they weren't really sure how to do it. I think that was actually done better in Jason Goes to Hell. Sure, it was stupid as fuck, but at least it made a little bit of sense.
So, yeah; the movie has its issues, but it also has its charm. I don't care that it doesn't make sense. Sure, I like the stories they throw in, but that's not why I'm here. It's cool if they've got a good story, but mainly it's about Jason. I don't watch these movies to be engaged with the characters' stories. I don't watch them for the characters, because I could give two shits about any of them, despite how likable they are. I'm here to watch Jason fuck shit up. Ghost, mongoloid, whatever they were trying to turn him into...he still does that quite brilliantly.
Director: Danny Steinmann
resembles the original Blue Ranger. He doesn't really do much. He just has hallucinations about Jason coming back to get him. Oh, and he beats the shit out of anyone who pisses him off. Here's what I think the point of this movie is. Remember at the end of part four, where Tommy dressed up like Jason right before he killed him? It seemed like they were trying to make it look like Tommy was going to go crazy and "take Jason's place." And now, here he is, in a halfway house called Pinehurst, acting crazy and suspicious. It doesn't help that he disappears any time a murder happens, and the bodies of his fellow crazies are all stashed in his bedroom. There are a few people they try to make look suspicious, but they aren't really around long enough to be suspicious at all. Of course, none of this really matters at all. Going into this one, we're not given any clues whatsoever that it might not really be Jason. So, silly as we are, we assume it is. So making other people look suspicious is kind of silly. The only thing we have to go on in this one is a police officer stating that Jason is dead and gone. But that doesn't help either, because we know that even if they believe he's dead, it doesn't make it true. And even if he was dead, it's a horror movie, and that doesn't mean he's going to stay dead. So, it might not be a very good point, but that's what I think it was trying to do. 
No, I didn't think so. Some people really hate the fact that it wasn't really Jason, and it bothers me too a little bit. There were some problems with the story in this movie, but I see where it was trying to go with it. And whatever it lacks in story or execution, it makes up for in kills. There's a huge body count, and this movie actually has three of my favorite kills. Most of the kills weren't shown in their full glory, but actually after the fact (which is another thing I didn't like). One of those, though, is totally worth it: a girl gets her face all cut up by a pair of garden shears. We don't get to see it happen, but we get to see what's left of her face afterwards. A guy gets a leather strap bored into his eyes (I don't know how to explain it, but it was badass.) The comic relief for this one is a couple of hillbillies, Ethel and her son Junior. Junior was riding his motorcycle in circles around the house, screaming about how Tommy beat him up, and he runs right into pseudo-Jason's machete. It's all shits and giggles. 
Director: Joesph Zito
Tommy Jarvis - In Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Tommy was a young boy obsessed with horror special effects. He made his own masks and such, and in the end, it helped him defeat Jason. He cut all his hair off and made himself look just like Jason looked as a child. It confused him just enough so that Tommy could attack. This led us to believe that, since it was supposed to be the last film of the series, Tommy would "take over" for Jason. In the next film, Tommy was older and locked away in a mental facility. People started dying, and I think the idea was to make us believe that Tommy HAD taken over for Jason. But in the sixth film, Tommy was all grown up, released from the facility, and back to fight the monster once again. See, this is my point. Tommy survived through three of the films. There's always someone to survive in each one, but they never come back in the next (apart from Alice, but she didn't last very long). Tommy kept coming back, and he was never killed by Jason. He hasn't been seen since the sixth film, but he just disappeared; he wasn't killed. Despite the fact that it actually wasn't Jason doing the killing in part 5, I think it's impressive that he could survive through so much, where others failed. 
Tina - In Friday the 13th: The New Blood, Tina was a young woman with special powers: telekinesis. She's had these powers her whole life because of a traumatic experience as a child (her father died and she blamed herself), and she's gone back to the lake to face her fears. Along with her mother and a doctor, she wishes to learn to control her powers so she doesn't hurt anyone else. But she starts seeing things: scenes of the partying kids next door being murdered by a monster that she's telekinetically released from the lake. So, instead of controlling her powers, she must unleash them on Jason in order to survive. We all know that Jason isn't the brightest crayon in the box, so mind power is pretty strong over him. Tina's was strong and, since she could hit him from a distance with all sorts of objects, she gave him a pretty good fight. 
Kay-Em 14 Kay-Em 14 is from Jason X and she is a fembot. She was created by one of the little nerdy boys on the ship, to be used as a sexbot. But we learn quickly that Kay-Em 14 isn't only good for sex - she's also quite a badass. Since she's virtually indestructible herself, there isn't really much Jason could do with her (or to her). She pulls out the big guns (literally), and blows Jason to pieces. I was actually quite pissed at the fembot bitch for hurting my husband, but all was well in the end.
Freddy Kreuger - Of course, we couldn't leave Freddy off the list. I addressed this one in my last Friday the (not-so) 13th, but we'll go through it again. Freddy is the dream demon, he is the master of mind-trickery. Because of this Freddy, like Tina, gave Jason a hell of a fight. He, unlike anyone else, was able to actually throw Jason around like he was nothing. He also got into his mind and fucked with him a little bit, which actually isn't really saying much. Plenty of people have fucked with Jason's mind over the years, but none quite like Freddy.
