"We LOVE pre-marital sex!"
The story is very simple (this is a slasher movie): In 2455, a group of students on a field trip to the now-uninhabitable Earth uncover 2 perfectly preserved bodies in cryostasis at the old site of the Crystal Lake Research Facility. One is an insignificant female named Rowan; the other is the most sadistic and unstoppable killing machine in history (guess who). The students revive the female and examine the other, seemingly deceased, body. Of course, subsequent mayhem abounds.
Many people may think it crazy of me to have had high expectations for the tenth entry in a slasher movie series, but the trailers to this flick did their job in making the movie look good. And for the most part, they didn't mislead the viewer. People may also think that it's downright insane that I could even like a movie with a plot as asinine as the one described above, but the fact that the audience and the cast seem to have a good time during the experience is what makes it so damned lovable.
But I can accept the fact that not everyone can relegate their moviegoing experience to just having fun with it, and their anal retentiveness forces them to pick apart the movie piece by piece. I'll freely admit that I have, on more than one occasion, been guilty of this. So, in the interest of fairness to all of you "Anal Angelas" out there, I'll register my beef with the flick.
Jason X totally disregards, at the very least, two of the previous Friday the 13th sequels, Jason Takes Manhattan and Jason Goes to Hell. As far as one can surmise from the first few minutes of this film:
1. Jason didn't take Manhattan.
2. Jason didn't magically turn back into his 12-year-old drowned self in NYC's sewers.
3. Jason doesn't suffer from any kind of curse that causes him to have to kill everything.
4. Freddy Krueger and other Hellish Henchmen didn't pull Jason down to Hell.
In fact, this film never acknowledges any prequel aside from the nod it gives to The New Blood (more on that later) and the continuity consistency of the crack in Jason's hockey mask, which was administered by Tommy Jarvis in The Final Chapter.
A trend that has developed in horror films since the original Alien film is the moving of a tired series from their natural setting to outer space (perfect example: Leprechaun 4). Jason X should be considered the most successful of those moves. The space environment breathes new life into the very tired horny-teens-on-the-lake formula. The move also gives Jason plenty of opportunities to get creative, resulting in some of the most innovative death scenes since staple slasher deaths were originated in the early days; I must use the example of the hottie scientist's death.
There are many good things about this movie. The most prevalent is that the movie never takes itself too seriously, which lets the audience have the fun I mentioned earlier. Now, I'm not saying that the movie doesn't have its share of staple slasher horror moments, because that's usually when the fun kicks in. The most enjoyable scene in the movie is the VR Crystal Lake diversion, which contains the aforementioned nod to The New Blood. Also, there is another innuendo to previous installments: near the end, some teenagers making-out lakeside get curious and go "check out" what just fell into the lake. Sure, it's not the most clever parodical line in history, but it's the writer's conscientiousness of the other movies in the series that makes it work so well. It definitely made me crack a retrospective smile; the 80's were the good ol' days...
All of you movie purists who must have your Crying Game and English Patient fixes, you better stay away from this movie at all costs, as should those who believe that genres shouldn't use elements from other genres (i.e. comedy in horror). But for those of you who don't fit into either of the above categories, you should receive at least a smidgen of enjoyment from the viewing of this film. When it comes to slasher films, many people may ask "Why another?" To this, I say "Why not?" This is a "Why not?" So, why not watch this?
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