Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part 6 (1986) - Review Blitz
Originally published March 2015.I’m fairly certain I’m not alone in my opinion of Part 5, as it seems like this film is trying to pretend like it didn't happen. For one thing, it negates the statement of Jason being cremated as he's been buried in this one (he has to be). Another indication they want to pretend like Part 5 didn't happen is that they recreate Part 5’s opening scene in a different manner, as if to say, "This is what really happens."
Tommy Jarvis returns as a character but is once again played by a different actor from the previous film. The opening scene takes place in a graveyard where apparently Jason Voorhees was buried. There's a cardboard gravestone with his name written on it, so I'm sure the funeral was extravagant. Are we to assume someone must have taken the time to bury him and scribble his name on the headstone? Who would want to do that for a notorious serial killer? Regardless, Tommy does something even dumber than bothering to bury someone Jason Voorhees: he digs up and stabs the corpse with a metal pole in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Okay, desecrating Jason's grave and stabbing it with a metal rod shouldn't be an issue, but in the films that follow, lightning brings him back to life like a Frankenstein monster more than once. Friday the 13th Part 6 is the first film that decides to overtly say, “Jason is no longer just some guy, he’s supernatural.” Thus, while the pole is stuck in Jason’s chest, lightning strikes, he’s resurrected and storms back toward Crystal Lake. Another thing that Part 5 did was get some distance from the location, but for the rest of the series, Crystal Lake will make an appearance at some point or another, even if it is brief.
So what else can be said about this movie? Not much in all honesty. Aside from the opening, it’s a by-the-numbers Friday movie. It seems whatever budget they had did not go into the effects because the murders are either really bland or off-screen. There are a couple of ridiculous ones here and there like the one in the RV with the face through the side, but the violence takes a back seat to Tommy running around like a maniac saying "Jason Lives!" and unintentionally making the police think he’s committing the murders. By the way, the whole plot point that was carried from Part 4 to 5 about him becoming the next Jason is thrown out the window and he’s just some handsome dude with a flannel shirt, though not with a six-pack or martial art knowledge like the last time. The last Tommy Jarvis was really screwed up in the head, this one is more loud and obnoxiously nuts in that he seems like he’s just trying to make things harder for his cause of stopping Jason. He somehow manages to stop Jason, but I was really confused as to how he managed to come up with the idea and the method of doing so in the first place...
Pros
Not as weird as the last movie
The villain from Ghost is in the movie and dies; he was a dick in Ghost
The one intentionally asshole counselor guy is pretty entertaining
Dunno what was up with the whole paintball part of the movie was about but I can sort of remember it I guess
Kids diving for their beds… it’s weird but funny to me
There’s some humor in this one I guess.
Cons
Much like the rest, there’s a lot of dead air in this movie where nothing notable is happening
I don’t really remember much of this movie
Tommy is an idiot and ends up being annoying for how dumb he is
The way Jason is incapacitated is pretty dumb and ridiculous, I don’t even understand how it would even work especially considering he’s an unstoppable zombie by this point
Don’t remember many boobs in this movie
Final Verdict: Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part 6
I don’t really have an opinion on this one. It’s ultimately kind of forgettable, which is one of the few things that Part 5 has over it. Overall, I don’t think it’s the worst of the bunch, but it definitely falls in the middle somewhere. Not terrible, just nothing special.