Jason X

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!

“What happened to Earth One?”

Jason Goes To Hell had not exactly lit the world on fire when it was released, but it had been inexpensive to produce and had made an acceptable profit. The first film in New Line Cinema’s continuation of the Friday the 13th series (not to be named in the title for fear of legal recourse) had been a divisive affair. The dream of having Freddy and Jason battle one another still remained the ultimate goal, but there were still holdups keeping this from occurring as quickly as they had hoped. In the meantime, original film director Sean S. Cunningham needed to find a good way to use Jason Voorhees until he could produce the battle of the titans. In a pitch meeting with writer Todd Farmer, eventually an idea was floated that maybe Jason somehow ends up in space. Considering that it would be decidedly different from the prior entries, New Line Cinema gave the green light to move forward. The resulting film pays homage to the slasher tropes of the earlier films, but has science fiction and action elements that are tonally very different. The film also feels very much of its time of production – 2001. Despite its larger budget for a film in the series, the film was critically and commercially a failure. I watched the film recently to see how it compared to the earlier entries.

At Crystal Lake Research Center, hockey masked and indestructible serial killer Jason Voorhees awaits cryogenic freezing. Dr. Wimmer (David Cronenberg) wants to study Jason’s unique abilities to regenerate and has come to the center in order to take over the subject. He is warned against this but proceeds anyway. As expected, Jason breaks out of his chains and kills his captors easily including the doctor. Jason gives chase to a female scientist named Rowan (Lexa Doig.) She manages to shotgun Jason into a cryogenic chamber which seals around him. Jason punctures the chamber with his machete and successfully stabs her. To her dismay, the emergency lockdown freezes her inside the room with him. The cryogenically frozen area is not discovered until the year 2455 by a group of rummaging college kids. They come from a spaceship named Randall that is under the direction of the arrogant Professor Lowe (Jonathon Potts) who seeks to make profit off of the sale of his discoveries. On board the ship, there is also a lifelike cyborg named KM-14 (Lisa Ryder.) When they thaw out Rowan, and heal her injuries using nanotechnology, she warns them of Jason’s immense power and unstoppable urge to kill. They disregard her warnings and thaw out Jason. This unleashes Jason on a killing spree onboard the ship. 

Jason X was one of the most roundly disliked entries in the series when it was first released. It was a box office bomb, costing more than any of the earlier entries and performing worse than any entry before it. The filmmakers themselves seemed disappointed with the final results, including the writer Todd Farmer who felt completely dismayed by the final product. It is easy to see why they were so disappointed, because the film – despite its best intentions – doesn’t quite work. That said, I found the movie pretty entertaining in a difficult to describe way. The film feels incredibly “of its time” which appeals to me. From the spiked up hairdos, colorful clothing, and CGI that can not match the ambitions of the filmmakers – the film feels like a time warp to 2001. I was sixteen at the time that the film released and remember seeing a trailer for the film that played one of those awful Nu Metal songs. When I saw the trailer I imagine I simply said – “Nope.” Now that twenty years have passed, I couldn’t help but find its numerous misguided attempts endearing. The movie is not by any means “good,” but in a “so bad it’s good” way, I found parts of the film satisfactory probably just for how wacky some of the ideas in the film are.

The film tries its best to appeal to science fiction fans. Like Alien, it features humans living onboard a spaceship with a cyborg. Unlike Alien, all of the people onboard look like band members from the Backstreet Boys and S Club 7. The special effects that show the future of Earth as a desolate wasteland are as fun to look at as they are easy to rip apart. Even in 2001 those special effects could not have pleased anybody. The film tries to appeal to action fans by having showdowns between the cyborg and Uber-Jason which involve a lot of firepower. The film also tries to appeal to slasher lovers by having Jason still use his beloved machete to kill teenagers in the future. The film tries to please everyone, which in the end can’t help pleasing no one. Because the film can not seem to decide exactly who the audience is for the picture, it fails to commit fully to any genre. While this failure to commit to any genre makes the film unremarkable, it does allow the film to be an entertaining mess. 

While I can’t defend many of the film’s choices, there are some good things worth mentioning about the film. First off, I loved the cameo from David Cronenberg. I did not see that coming and loved it. Secondly, the movie has more sense of humor than any film in the series since Jason Lives. This helps the film a tremendous amount, even if the film can not overcome so many other missteps. Third, the film delivers a few classic kills (including a cryogenic kill that is one of the best in the entire series.) Fourth – Kane Hodder returns as Jason in his final role in the series. While his movies are not the best in the series, he is certainly the best person to inhabit the role of the character.

Overall – Jason X never rises to the heights of some of the earlier entries, but there are still some enjoyable moments mixed into the film. It is not as bad as many would have you believe, but it is fair to say that it is one of the lesser entries in the series overall.

Video

Shout! Factory presents Jason X in their Deluxe Box Set with a solid looking transfer utilizing an MPEG-4 AVC codec in the film’s original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer of the film is in good shape although it is a little bit soft looking at times. The film is visually a little bit flat, but the presentation of the film should satisfy fans of the picture.

Audio

Jason X features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track alongside a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo track that is new to this release. I viewed the film utilizing the surround track. Composer Harry Manfredini turns in his final compositions for the series on the film, and as one would expect, he does a competent job. This film was designed with surround sound in mind and benefits from some well appointed surround effects. This is a good surround track that should please fans of the film.

Supplements:

(These are just the supplements included for Jason X. This does not include the supplements on the bonus discs.)

• Introduction by Kane Hodder 
• Audio Commentary: Writer Todd Farmer and Author Peter M. Bracke.
• Audio Commentary: Director Jim Isaac, Writer Todd Farmer and Producer Noel Cunningham
• Outta Space: The Making of Jason X – Featuring Interviews with Noel Cunningham, Sean S. Cunningham, Kane Hodder and Todd Farmer – this half hour long piece examines numerous facets of the production of the film. Great stuff.
• In Space No One Can Hear You Scream – An Interview with Todd Farmer: this is a really well orchestrated interview with the writer of teh film (who also plays a small role in the picture.) I enjoyed seeing how the film initially rubbed him teh wrong way when he saw it in teh theater, but time has changed his opinion of the film. 
• Kristi Is a Headbanger – An Interview with Actress Kristi Angus – the actress who played a small (but memorable) role in the film discusses her memories from working on the film.
• Jason Rebooted – Sean S. Cunningham on Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X: This is the best piece on the disc. The producer of the film (and director of the original Friday the 13th) discusses his output at New Line Cinema. Fans of the series will really enjoy this discussion.
• The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees
• By Any Means Necessary: The Making of Jason X
• Club Reel: Clips from the film set to dance music. Was this played in a club? Strange and hilarious.
• Vintage Interviews – nearly an hour worth of cast and crew interviews.
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage 
• Electronic Press Kit
• Theatrical Trailers 
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery
• Posters and Behind-the-Scenes Gallery

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Jason X was a commercial and critical flop and in many ways it proved that the series was no longer commercially viable. Looking back on the film – it is a mess, but it is entertaining in its own way. I don’t think the film is quite as bad as some would say, but it doesn’t rank as one of my favorite films featuring Jason Voorhees. While the film itself is of debatable merit, fans of the film are going to be very pleased with the brand new supplemental features from Shout! Factory. The technical specs are good to great, and there is no reason to complain about how this film has been presented within the box set.