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Evil Gets An Upgrade: Ryan goes back to the Future with Jason X

Having recently watched Hellrasier: Bloodlines, a movie that takes a movie maniac and puts him in space, I was reminded of a movie that I think is overlooked by the horror movie crowd and written off by Friday the 13th fans, Jason X. Going into space can be bad news for a horror franchise(Leprechaun 4, and the before mentioned Hellrasier) but I think Jason X actually succeeds in placing its villain in space.

 The Friday the 13th franchise was in trouble. After disappointing fans and movie goers with the dreadful Jason Goes To Hell, people wondered if the stalker of Crystal Lake had indeed gone to Hell. And for 7 years it seemed that Jason had in fact been laid to rest. But interest in the character had not waned and New Line was still circling Freddy vs Jason. Instead of waiting for Freddy vs Jason to get made(one of the few bright spots in Jason Goes to Hell was the ending, and New Line had been trying for years to make a VS. movie) Sean Cunningham decided to make another Jason movie.

Todd Farmer(the writer on the movie) only pitched one idea and that was placing it in the future and space so it would not factor in the timeline for a Freddy vs Jason movie. He was given the assignment and James Issacs was selected to direct. Being a fan of Friday the 13th I was really worried about this film. Of course I would go and see it but Jason in space sounded really lame. It was then delayed for a year where it collected dust for a year before it was released April 24, 2002 to a very weary horror audience. In fact it opened #3 with just 6.6 million. And it is to this date the lowest grossing film in the franchise but I think the fans missed a good slasher movie

The movie opens with a captured Jason. He is on his way to be placed in cryogenic suspension. The reason is they can’t kill him so they are going to put him on ice. However an idiotic doctor decides that he is too valuable to just freeze and wants him “soft”, stating that his ability to regenerate cells needs to be studied further. Of course Jason gets free and starts killing everyone. Rowan, the one person who believes Jason is too dangerous to be contained is able to lure him into the cryogenic chamber and freeze him. But Jason is able to stab her through the chamber and thus unleashing the gas freezing both him and Rowan in the room…

Flashforward 450 years and a student expedition finds both Rowan and Jason frozen. They take both of them on their ship and use future technology to revive Rowan because Jason appears “dead”. Soon Rowan wakes up from a very long nap and is told Jason is on board as well, and is assured that he is quite dead, we know better. Jason has already awaken and killed a woman in a very gruesome way.

Jason next plays a game of cat and mouse with a bunch of army guys on the ship, which I think is the movies strongest and scariest part. The scene takes place in the cargo hold with tight corridors and dark places to hide. Jason systematically picks off the grunts one by one until they are all dead.

 Jason continues to pick off the crew members one by one when one student decides to do something about it. He uploads his android with the ability to use weapons with extreme effectiveness. So effective in fact she kills Jason. End of movie! The kids win! Oh wait, it just so happens that Jason was knocked into the medical bay and is being automated. And Uber Jason is born! I won’t ruin the end of the movie but there is a great scene involving VR and Jason is deadlier then ever.

 This movie is lots of fun. Granted there are some silly parts but I do think it’s one of the better Friday sequels. The one glaring weakness and it pains me to say this but Harry Manfredini’s music is horrible. It actually hurts the movie a lot. I love the old theme music but the rest is sloppy and does not fit the tone of the movie. The lighting is weird at parts too making it look a little like a SyFy made for TV movie. But those complaints are minor and I still enjoy the movie. According to an interview with the director there is a lot of deleted scenes that I would love to see, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for an ultimate edition of this movie on Blu-Ray. So there you go if you are a horror movie fan give this one a try, it’s good I promise.

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