Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

Summary

I will be reviewing films from the Friday the 13th Collection: Deluxe Edition box set released by Shout! Factory until the entire box set has been covered. Stay tuned!

Editorial Note: there are some spoilers for the previous two films in the first paragraph and the synopsis has some minor spoilers (I have tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible in the review.)

“Happy Friday the 13th.”

In 1988, Paramount enlisted director John Carl Buechler, an acclaimed makeup artist and director of the movies Troll and Cellar Dweller, to direct the seventh entry in their Friday the 13th series. The script was penned by Manuel Fidello (whose career ended there) and Daryl Haney (who wrote mainly softcore features afterward.) The prior film, Jason Lives, had essentially established Jason as a form of immortal unstoppable zombie that can be restrained but ultimately can not be killed. With The New Blood, the series decided it was time to introduce the theme of telekinesis to the series. As I had mentioned in the prior review, the series essentially jumped the shark with Part VI, so audiences that chose to continue down the path of watching the films should not find it too objectionable that even more supernatural elements would be layered into the plot of the series. Unfortunately, the telekinetic plot element plays out poorly onscreen.

As the film begins, next to Crystal Lake, young girl Tina listens to her father and mother arguing. Her father is abusive and Tina is exasperated. She runs to the dock and hops in a small fishing boat, pushing off into the waters of the lake. Her dad runs to the dock and yells for Tina to return. She screams that she wishes he was dead and something strange happens. The dock shakes and then collapses in on her father. His body sinks into the lake. Years later Tina (Lar Park-Lincoln) rides in a car with her mother. Tina has been institutionalized under the care of Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser.) Tina blames herself for her father’s death. Her doctor has asked that they all return to Crystal Lake so that Tina can face her trauma. The doctor also wants to continue to evaluate the telekinetic powers of Tina that exercise themselves when she is made upset. Arriving at Crystal Lake, Tina meets Nick (Kevin Blair.) Nick has come to the lake to celebrate the birthday of his cousin Michael. All of Michael’s friends have also made the journey to the lake and await Michael’s arrival. When Dr. Crews makes Tina upset during a test of her abilities, she walks out to the lake by herself upset. She begins to wish that her father was alive. Unfortunately, her powers wake up the chained body of hockey masked killer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder.) She passes out. Jason begins to stalk and kill Michael’s friends, while Tina begins to have visions of the killer.

Now that I have seen all of the Paramount produced Friday the 13th films, I can say that The New Blood is probably my least favorite, although Jason Takes Manhattan actually manages to have an even worse idea for an ending than this film. While New Blood is certainly a lesser film in comparison to the prior entries in regard to its plot mechanics, it still offers ample opportunity for some good entertainment. The weakness of the film lies in the aspects focusing on telekinesis. Producers had hoped the finale would be essentially Jason versus Carrie. While it may sound good on paper, it honestly looks pretty bad onscreen. The finale is slowed down consistently by Tina staring at Jason and concentrating intently so that she can attack him with various objects. Jason basically just stands there waiting to be attacked like some sort of stunned monster in a video game. Despite some really well constructed and inventive effects, the finale is pretty bad.

Another issue with the movie is that with A New Beginning and Jason Lives, a decent amount of humor had been interjected into the series. The New Blood is simultaneously the most ridiculous Jason film, and the least comedically inclined. I think the film could have probably gotten away with the concept more easily by taking a few more cues from Jason Lives. By somehow taking itself too seriously, and having such a harebrained plot, the film can’t compete on the same level as the earlier films.

One of the saving graces of the film is that it features some of the most attractive cast members of the series. Heidi Kozak Hoddad and Elizabeth Kaitan are both  very memorable victims and two of the better looking women to ever be featured in the series. Heidi would have a prominent role in the movie Society, and Kaitan would be featured in numerous installments of the Vice Academy series. The film also benefits from the introduction of Kane Hodder as Jason. Kane is an imposing force onscreen and turns Jason into the unstoppable killer we all remember. He would go on to star as Jason in the next three installments before starring as Victor Crowley in the Hatchet series. Lar Park-Lincoln is likable enough as Tina, although the sequences that focus on her telepathic abilities feel a bit drawn out and poke holes in her performance. Terry Kiser (best known for his role as Bernie in Weekend at Bernie’s) is also memorable as the manipulative Dr. Crews.

Watching some of the special features, I felt pretty bad for director John Carl Buechler. While the plot mechanics might have hamstrung the project from the beginning, the MPAA certainly hampered the vision of the director. The film was recut seven times for the MPAA to avoid the dreaded “X” rating. In the special features his workprint footage shows some of the impressive effects that were cut and then destroyed. This footage, if it had been saved, could have radically changed the perception of the film. While it would certainly not fix the finale, it would still have left a more positive impression on viewers.

Overall – The New Blood is one of the lesser films in Paramount’s Friday the 13th series. Overly serious yet utterly ridiculous, the film can’t quite hit the right notes despite all of its best intentions. It does feature some beautiful victims and the debut of Kane Hodder as Jason. It is still entertaining even if it doesn’t compare well to the earlier films.

Video

Shout! Factory presents Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood in their Deluxe Box Set with a solid transfer utilizing an MPEG-4 AVC codec in the film’s original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is not as well done as the 4K scans of the earlier films in the series, and is a small step down from the good looking transfer of Jason Lives, but it still looks good. The film is visually a step above A New Beginning. Fans of the picture will be happy to see that the print is in pretty good shape and the grain structure is filmic. I can’t imagine any fans of the film being disappointed with how the film looks. 

Audio

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track alongside a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track that is new to this release. I watched the film utilizing the surround track. This film does not feature any new compositions by Harry Manfredini and instead relies on cues from his earlier compositions alongside new compositions by Fred Mollin. This lends the film a different sound than earlier entries, but still pays plenty of homage to the prior films. The dialogue is clear and the track is well done overall. 

Supplements:

(These are just the supplements included on the disc for the seventh film. This does not include the supplements on the bonus discs.)

• Audio Commentary: Director John Carl Buechler and Actor Kane Hodder. 
• Audio Commentary: Director John Carl Buechler and Actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder.
• Jason’s Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th, Part VII
• Mind Over Matter: The Truth About Telekinesis
• Makeover by Maddy: Needs a Little Touch-Up Work, My A**
• Slashed Scenes with Introduction by Director John Carl Buechler
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Posters and Behind the Scenes Gallery 
• Still Gallery 
• Fangoria Articles: Accessible only via PC Blu-ray drive.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is arguably the weakest installment in the original Paramount series of films. The script that tries to pit a supernaturally resurrected Jason against a telekinetic teenage mental patient somehow takes itself too seriously. The film was hamstrung by the MPAA which removed many of the well conceived special effects from the film, but the plot itself is really the reason why the film can’t compete with earlier entries. That said, the film introduced Kane Hodder as Jason and he is a great asset to the film. He is an imposing presence on screen due to his size and strength. The film also features scream queens Heidi Kozak Haddad and Elizabeth Kaitan which are both very easy on the eyes. Shout! Factory has provided a good looking transfer of the film and some good supplemental material including an audio commentary track with the late director which makes its Blu-ray debut.