Jason X (2002)

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In the movie we fast- forward to 2008 where we see Jason whose finally been caught by The Crystal Lake Research Facility. Scientists have decided to freeze him forever until they find out a way to kill him. Scientists decide that instead of freezing Jason and storing him, they want to research his regenerating power for the good of mankind. Rowan played by Lexia Doig disagrees and urges them to freeze him. Mistakenly, Jason breaks free from his shackles and slaughters all the scientists and now begins chasing Rowan. She is cornered in the cryogenic freezing room and lures Jason into the chamber and freezes him. But when she think she’s safe, Jason stabs her through the chamber and accidentally makes the chamber leak, freezing them both. Fast- forward 455 years into the future where space researchers go on a field trip into the now abandoned facility where they discover the frozen Jason and Rowan.

When Jason is taken aboard the ship, he accidentally thaws out and comes to life to wreak havoc on the ship and he’s mad as hell. I found this to be a refreshing slasher movie. Why? Well, we haven’t seen a “Friday the 13th” movie in almost ten years and this is a good one. First off Kane Hodder, probably the most popular Jason actor revives his role as the machete swinging hockey maniac and does an excellent job of it. Jason is bigger better and faster than ever and he pulls out no punches. The killing scenes are excellent in this. One I found cool in particular was when Jason freezes a girls face and smashes it on a table. Excellent. He’s stealthier and smarter in this, considering someone in this movie states that Jason’s brain is small. I also liked one scene where Jason starts fighting with a soldier and he clotheslines the guy impaling him on a large cork. Bravo. This is a great change of pace from the usual Camp plot line. The last three movies of the series seems to stem away from the Camp plotline and embarks on new devices.

In the movie, Jason has a great fight scene with a gun- toting android. Unfortunately the android wins by blowing away Jason’s limbs and head. Jason then gets rebuilt by these little tiny robots and becomes Android Uber-Jason, more powerful and more bad- ass than ever. His mask was especially cool because it looked metallic and molded into his skull. There’s really nothing more I can say about Jason. The characters in here aren’t the stereotypical ones that we’ve seen in all nine movies. We have (What I think) is a great and interesting array of characters. The main character isn’t the whiney virgin we’re used to. Lexia Doig is excellent by displaying her feminine strengths, My favorite character in this has to be the android. But she gets a taste of her own medicine when she attempts to fight the android Jason and pays with her head. We don’t see the token black characters in this.

We have the leader of the group of soldiers who isn’t afraid of Jason though he knows he’s no match. In the end they have one last face- off. There’s no bitchy female in this one which was a positive note. I found some scenes to be campy but hilarious nonetheless. Especially one scene where to distract Jason, they create a holographic Camp and give him two fake female campers to slaughter. Funny stuff! The finale is excellent and leaves the door open for yet another sequel. I’ll be ready and waiting for Jason XI! The problem with this is that they make a big deal about the android Jason and he only comes out in the last half hour of the film. Not that it wasn’t cool to see Jason slicing and dicing again but I would have liked to seen the Uber-Jason more.

The special-effects for this film are somewhat cheesy at times and very campy. There are some bits of dialogue and effects in here that are very very cheesy. There’s one point where one girl utters, “This sucks on so many levels.” Ugh. This movie makes lots of attempts at social commentary but falls flats very fast. It also tends to take the shift from horror to campy. Some scenes were so goofy that it was unbearable at times. I felt that the science-fiction element to the movie ruined the horror element greatly. At times I forgot which genre this was. I hated how fast the movie went. It skipped and copped out on many elements which would have made this movie an excellent watch. All in all, I have such a soft spot for Slasher movies so the flaws didn’t affect the score much. Well, what can I say? Shoot me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie; I love slashers and as far as B-horror movies go with camp, and cheese, this is a good one.