Plot: What’s it about?
After an extended period of mental imbalance, Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews) has recovered and returned to a semi-normal life. But he still wonders about Jason Voorhees, as in whether or not he is dead and if so, how long he will remain as such. In an effort to put his mind at ease, he and a friend venture to Jason’s grave, where Tommy plans to unearth the remains and cremate them, which should slam the door on Jason forever. But things don’t work out just as planned and when a bolt of lightning strikes the corpse of Jason, he is juiced back to life once again. Now that Jason is back on the loose, he begins a new spree of blood soaked violence, leaving a string of murdered victims in his wake. As his rampage pushes forward, Jason stalks victim after victim, all while Tommy is unsure of what to do, how to stop Jason once again. Although he has put Jason into the ground before, can Tommy manage to defeat the monster one more time?
This is not the best installment in the Friday the 13th series, but it is a lot of fun to watch and in slasher movies, that’s a vital ingredient. Of course, watching a madman carve up folks isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but if you like the series, you should be pleased with this, the sixth volume in the line. As with the other Friday the 13th flicks, we see lots of violence, murder, and bloodshed, but this one also packs some humor in at times. As most horror series seem to delve into self humor at some point, I wasn’t surprised by this, but all in all, this one is more slapstick at times than I had expected. Even as I watch now, I am surprised by some of the choices made by the filmmakers, but since it all works out in the end, I won’t complain much. I could point out plot holes and bad acting of course, but as this is the sixth installment in a horror movie series, what would the purpose, as I think we all expect these flaws. I give Friday the 13th Part VI passing marks on all counts, thanks to some good death scenes and the doses of humor, which really spice this one up. Paramount has done little to warrant a purchase, but fans of the series will still want to nab this disc.
This volume in the series was written & directed by Tom McLoughlin, who steers this installment in some directions. As I mentioned above, this movie has more elements of humor than any previous Friday the 13th flicks, which could have been good, or turned out to be a miserable decision. As it stands, I think the choice was a right one, as the humor is well placed and executed, which keeps it from ruining the entire picture. But while McLoughlin tinkered with some fringe elements here, he knew to leave the core basics intact, so there’s lots of Jason and of course, a whole lot of blood laden, painful deaths. McLoughlin has also directed such projects as One Dark Night, Murder of Innocence, Sometimes They Come Back, Leave of Absence, and The Unsaid. The cast here includes Thom Matthews (Mean Guns, The Return of the Living Dead), Jennifer Cooke (V, Gimme an F), and Ron Palillo (Snake Eater, Tv’s Welcome Back Kotter).
Video: How does it look?
Friday the 13th Part VI is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. This is a superb overall presentation, with an impressive image and minimal complaints, the kind of transfer we’ve come to expect from Paramount. The film’s bold color scheme is intact and looks terrific here, with vivid hues and the like, but no signs of errors. Just as good are the black levels, which offer a high amount of visible detail, but never overexpose, so the contrast is right on the mark. I did see some grain in a few instances, but nothing too serious and in the end, this is a very good visual treatment and much better than I had expected.
Audio: How does it sound?
Although the previous five installments in the series were mono, this one sports a 2.0 surround option and by default, also sports a much richer overall sound. This is by no means up to the modern standards, but it sounds good and by comparison, blows the previous five Friday the 13th films out of the water. There is some scant surround use, but not too much and in this case, that seems to be enough. I also noted some nice subtle presence, which enhanced the atmosphere even more and that was quite welcome. The dialogue is also clean and well presented, so I have no real problems to report. This disc also includes English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc contains the film’s teaser trailer.
