For some years now, I’ve been meaning to make a small playlist that groups all the Friday The 13th tracks into one convenient place. Well, this year it’s finally happening.
Sure, you could just click Jason’s picture in the Icons category, but there’s no playlist, damn it!
So, this year, grab a hockey mask, jump in the Jeep and head on down to Camp Blood. While you’re there, smoke a little grass, dance up a storm and celebrate Friday the 13th with The Best of Jason Voorhees, on 4 cassettes or 2 compact discs…
A Friday the 13th, in October? Now that’s a rarity. You know we gotta represent on this one. Good thing The Shindig is prepared with a poppy piece of Crystal Lake crooning from Jason’s later catalog.
A lot of people dislike Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood. I’m not one of them, but they exist and I can’t say I blame them.
Its heavily censored kills feel like highway robbery, it has one most disappointing endings in the series, the teenage fodder on display isn’t particularly interesting and the film just feels tired. Psychic girl unwittingly resurrects Jason? C’mon…
However, 7 has a lot going for it. I think of it as Jason’s last hoorah, for it’s the last time he’s in his element doing what he does best, before he takes off to Manhattan, other peoples bodies, Hell, Space, Elm Street, and ultimately Remakewood. Say what you want about 7, it never gets this good (or as true to itself) again.
But it is stretching its limits, as the whole thing finally succumbs to the Elm Street Effect and goes full-on supernatural.
The psychic angle, while a bit much, offers some interest though. Mainly, it puts a new spin on a formula that had already well worn out its welcome, having seen probably it’s best reworking in Jason Lives. It also finally gives Jason a formidable opponent, something really unseen up to this point in the series, silly as that opponent might be.
However, New Blood’s biggest plus come in the form of Jason himself, namely the addition of literal new blood, Kane Hodder, and the make-up work of John Carl Buechler.
Jason never looked this good before, or after. This is it. This is the most badass Jason around. With his spine-exposed and masked destroyed, he’s constantly dripping water and stalking around with a menace unmatched. And lets face it, that’s what we’re all here to see.
The soundtrack is coming up pretty short here though, in my opinion. Mostly just handed over to prog-wavers FM out of what feel like laziness, the songs never play much prominence, or hit any high notes. Even the score here feels a little wrong.
However, I’ve chosen one of those FM tracks for the Shindig, mostly so I can rant a little about Part 7 and post some gifs. Besides, that opening narration is too cool not too use somewhere.
And as if the psychic girl wasn’t Elm Street enough for you, this song’s all about dreaming. Sure, it’s a more figurative kind of dreaming, but I still I think it’s safe to say that by 1987, Freddy was winning the fight.
