Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan’

Written by Scott Edwards

There is nothing better than high school graduation. With all of the parties that follow and getting to see your friends for one more awesome night, there really is nothing better. But it can also be a sad event as you know that not everyone is going to be going off to college at the same school and it might be the last time you see your friends for many years. I guess it really just depends on how you look at things. When thinking back to my graduation, we got rained and hailed on and were rushed through because there was another class behind us, but the fun that commenced afterwards was memorable and I would not trade that in for anything in the world.
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Arriving at the party cruse for the seniors of Lakeview High School, everyone is excited for their trip. Heading to New York for their final celebration, an unexpected passenger makes her way aboard. Rennie has been the outsider in her class and kept it that way after losing her parents in a car crash when she was little. Being taken in by her Uncle Charles, who teaches at the high school as well, he is not too pleased to see his ward coming along, with her fear of water and all. But Rennie is ready to have the trip of her life and will not let her uncle get in the way of that.

At the top of the boat, Sean is given the order to take the boat out, but does not know all of the commands that he needs to call out before freeing the boat from the dock. A disappointment to his father the Admiral, sailing may not be what his final choice in life will be. On the back of the boat, J.J. and Wayne are working on a music video and J.J. is having the time of her life with her new guitar. While everyone has been settled in for their quick trip across the water to New York, a couple of the students have taken notice that Jim and Suzi have failed to join them. Thinking little about that, they have no idea what has happened at Crystal Lake.

Dropping anchor when arriving at their first destination, Jim hits a power line, setting off a massive underwater fireworks display. With Jason resting comfortably in his watery grave, he is awoken once again with the electricity and ready to make those who have invaded his space pay with their lives. Taking care of Jim and Suzi without issue, Jason finds himself arriving on the ship filled with young and horny high schoolers that need to pay the price. Picking them off one by one, Jason Voorhees is back once again and will not stop until all of those who have disrespected him are dead and buried.

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Heading up to the ship’s cabin, Sean sees that his father and the first mate have been brutally killed and calls all of the remaining students up to get their thoughts on what they should do next. With all of the other passengers depending on Sean to be able to sail them to safety, the rumbling of Jason Voorhees’ name fills the air. Charles is not having any of the stories and tries to take command of the situation but has no idea what to do next. Thinking that the deck hand that seems to be crazy is the one behind the murders, Charles is able to confront him with a flare gun, but quickly finds out that he is not the killer as he lies dead on the deck. Losing power in the ship, the survivors have only one option of surviving and lower a lifeboat into the water and make their way for land.

Not being able to see where they are going, Sean is able to navigate close enough to find New York and the group is ready to put this nightmare behind them. But when arriving in the big city, the group sees how violent it can be there as well as Rennie is taken away by a couple of muggers. Before they are able to undress her, an unsung hero arrives from the shadows as Jason Voorhees has followed the group from the boat. Being drugged, Rennie starts to see the world in a different light and is able to pinpoint her fear of the water and knows that there might be only one way to beat the vengeful killer.

When all is said and done, I could not get over the fact that Jason could never dry off. I know that this seems to be silly, but the movie was as well and even though it was entertaining with some new kills on a cruise ship, I simply wanted just a little bit more. I mean having Jason Voorhees in New York City with all of the crime that takes place there, I would have loved to have seen him take his killing spree to the next level and just start hacking gangbangers to pieces, but alas, he only has eyes for the kids that come from his little lake.

​Rennie really had the toughest go in this movie, as she is haunted by something that happened in her past and cannot figure it out until her life depends on it, but Sean was always there to try and keep her safe and grounded, even when he didn’t have a clue what to do next. One of the greatest takeaways from this movie is how disgusting this version of New York City really is, I mean when the sewers are filled with toxic waste every night at midnight, what kind of city is that? Well, there are still more movies showing up in my recommended list that have Jason’s name attached, so I guess that this is series is far from over. Stay Scared.

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