Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Encyclopedia
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is a 1986 slasher film
, the sixth film
in the Friday the 13th film series. The film was written and directed by Tom McLoughlin
. Although the original concept called for Tommy Jarvis, the protagonist of parts IV and V, to become the new villain, the poor fan reception of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
prompted the producers to bring back Jason Voorhees as the series' antagonist. In resurrecting Jason, McLoughlin made Jason an explicitly supernatural
force for the first time in the series, depicting him as being raised from the dead via electricity
; this version of Jason—a zombie
serial killer rather than a mortal superhuman
—would become the standard depiction for the rest of the franchise, until 2009's reboot. The film likewise broke with many other series conventions, introducing metahumor
and action film
elements including shootouts and car chases.
Despite being the second-lowest grossing film in the franchise to that point, it was the first film in the series since the original to receive positive critical reviews. In the years since its release, its self-referential humor and numerous instances of breaking the fourth wall
have been praised for prefiguring Wes Craven's Scream
series and other similar 1990s horror films. As of 2003's Freddy vs. Jason
, Jason Lives was a fan favorite of the series, in addition to receiving positive notice from horror film historians.
has been dead and buried for years. However, Tommy Jarvis, who killed Jason in self-defense when he was 12 years old, is still haunted by his encounter, resulting in his having been institutionalized for an extended period of time. Intent on cremating Jason's body to rid himself of his demons, Tommy escapes the mental hospital with his friend, Hawes, and breaks into the cemetery containing Jason's grave. He and Hawes exhume Jason's casket, but before they can cremate the body, an infuriated Tommy begins stabbing it with a steel fence post. The post acts as a conductor for an ongoing lightning storm, and Jason is resurrected from the dead. He kills Hawes with a punch through the heart and throws his body into the exhumed coffin, prompting Tommy to flee the cemetery.
Tommy returns to the town of Crystal Lake, the site of Jason's killings, which has now been renamed Forest Green to distance itself from negative publicity. Tommy attempts to warn the town sheriff, Mike Garris, of Jason's return, but Garris, aware of Tommy's institutionalization, writes him off as disturbed and has him locked in a holding cell.
Meanwhile, Jason begins a trek back to the lake that was the site of his drowning as a child. En route, he encounters Lizabeth and Darren, a pair of summer camp supervisors, who are themselves headed to the lake to supervise the re-opening of the summer camp. Jason attacks and kills them, leaving their bodies in the woods.
The next morning, Sheriff Garris's daughter, Megan, who is slated to be one of the camp counselors, arrives with her fellow counselors Cort, Sissy, and Paula to report Lizabeth and Darren missing. Tommy cites their disappearance as evidence of Jason's return, but is met with hostility from everyone but Megan, who takes a liking to him. Sheriff Garris sends the counselors off to the campsite and then escorts Tommy out of town; en route, Tommy flees to the cemetery to try to show Garris the open grave, only to discover that the groundskeeper—fearful of being implicated for digging up the grave due to his alcoholism—has covered the grave (and, consequently, Hawes's body) with dirt. Garris handcuffs Tommy and takes him to the city limits, warning him not to return.
Meanwhile, a quintent of business people playing paintball in the woods are set upon by Jason, who kills them and steals their supplies. That night, Jason continues making his way back to Crystal Lake, in the process killing the grave digger and a nearby couple having a picnic. Cort meets up with a local girl, Nikki, and leaves the camp to have sex with her in the woods; they end up in Jason's path and are both killed by him. Sheriff Garris ultimately finds the bodies, and believes that Tommy has killed them, living out a delusion of Jason's return. Tommy, meanwhile, has contacted Megan, having figured out a way to defeat Jason after having read books on monsters and folklore: He can be incapacitated by being trapped beneath the surface of the lake where he drowned. Megan attempts to bring Tommy back to the camp, but they are intercepted by one of Garris's roadblocks; Tommy is arrested and Megan is escorted back to the police station to await her father's return from the field. The police's attention on Tommy permits Jason to slip into the summer camp, where he kills Paula and Sissy, but refrains from harming any of the children.
Megan and Tommy escape the police station and make it to the lake, where the pursuing police are forced to acknowledge Jason's return when he attacks them. Garris and his deputies briefly incapacitate Jason by shooting him with high caliber weapons, but Jason ultimately recovers and kills them all. He then attempts to kill Megan, but is distracted by Tommy, who beckons to him from the lake. Seemingly remembering Tommy, Jason abandons Megan and wades out to the lake, where Tommy ambushes him with a chain attached to a large boulder. A fight ensues, during which both Tommy and Jason are knocked into the water; as Tommy attempts to swim to the surface, Jason pulls him underwater and he loses consciousness. Megan swims out to save Tommy and is likewise attacked by Jason, but finally incapacitates him by driving a motor boat propeller into his head.
Back on land, Megan revives Tommy with CPR and the children celebrate. At the bottom of the lake, Jason floats, attached to the boulder, still alive but powerless to escape.
"He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" had an accompanying music video, combining clips from the film with new footage featuring Cooper. It is not present on any home video release of the film, but can be viewed on YouTube
.
An official soundtrack has never been made available for sale.
To this end, Mancuso hired Tom McLoughlin, who had directed the successful horror film One Dark Night
but was also known around Hollywood for shopping around various comedy scripts he had written, a dichotomy that appealed to Mancuso. McLoughlin was given free rein on how he would present the story, with the only condition being that he bring back Jason and make him the film's villain.
McLoughlin decided to take the film in the direction of an old Universal Monsters
movie, specifically the 1931 version of Frankenstein
, which portrayed the monster as a lumbering killer brought to life by electricity. McLoughlin also drew from vampire
lore in order to give Jason a weakness, namely being returned to his "home soil"; to achieve this, McLoughlin disregarded the idea presented in Part 2 that Jason had survived his drowning, instead presenting the idea that Jason has always been some sort of supernatural force. He also decided to retcon the events of the fifth film in order to circumvent that film's cliffhanger
ending, which implicated that protagonist Tommy Jarvis had become a serial killer.
McLoughlin further decided to expand the series' thematic scope, incorporating action film
elements and postmodern
metahumor
; when Jason is first encountered in the woods near Crystal Lake, the character of Lizbeth comments that she and Darren should flee because she knows about proper conduct to survive a horror movie. McLoughlin would further satirize the franchise itself, as Martin the gravedigger comments on Jason's exhumation, "Why'd they have to go and dig up Jason?" before breaking the fourth wall and addressing the camera with the observation, "Some folks sure got a strange idea of entertainment." In addition to Frankenstein, McLoughlin also cited as inspiration his love of gothic horror, particularly the works of Edgar Allan Poe
, and his Catholic
upbringing; Jason Lives features the series' only explicit references to God
, and during the climax a praying girl is spared by Jason (a similar scene, in which the same girl prays for Tommy while Megan performs CPR, then mouths "Thank you" while looking skyward was deleted from the final cut of the movie, apparently against McLoughlin's wishes; he recalled in the 2009 DVD's director's commentary, "Somehow it didn't stay in... probably too much sentiment").
Although Mancuso retained control over the film's casting, he deferred to McLoughlin's judgment, with the only caveat being that the final girl
had to be a "very attractive blonde." To fulfill this requirement, McLoughlin chose Jennifer Cooke, based on her performance in the miniseries V. The role of Hawes, Tommy's would-be sidekick who dies within the first five minutes of the movie, was given to another television veteran, Ron Palillo
, famous for the role of Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter
.
John Shepherd was initially asked to reprise his role as Tommy Jarvis from the previous film. Shepherd, an evangelical Christian
who had reservations about returning to the series based on the atmosphere surrounding A New Beginning, was initially attracted to Jason Lives based on the scene in which a praying girl is spared by Jason. He ultimately decided to film the movie Caught, and shortly thereafter retired from acting to go to seminary
. Thom Matthews, who would take over the mantel of Tommy Jarvis, was chosen for his work in the horror comedy Return of the Living Dead
, although McLoughlin himself was unaware of Matthews' horror credentials until after shooting began. Other cast members were culled from actors whom McLoughlin had directed before (such as David Kagen) and McLoughlin's own family—Jason's first female victim in the film, Lizbeth, would be played by McLoughlin's wife, Nancy. In keeping with the series' tradition, the role of Jason was given to a stuntman, Dan Bradley.
, an area restaurant manager and former soldier. As part of a stage show put on at the restaurant, a magician would hypnotize audience members and place them in a scenario during which they encountered Jason Voorhees; Graham, who stood 6'3 and weighed 250 lbs, was asked to play Jason for the scenario. Jason Lives special effects coordinator, Martin Becker, was in the audience for one such show, and recommended Graham to Mancuso and McLoughlin. Both men were impressed with Graham's presence, and he was hired to film the remainder of Jason's scenes.
Jason Lives would become notable for being the only film in the franchise to contain no nudity; the characters in the film's sole sex scene are both fully clothed, a conscious move on McLoughlin's part to distance the series from the notion that the Friday the 13th films were morality tales in which premarital sex was punished by death. McLoughlin was pressured by the film's producers to have Darcy Demoss remove her shirt during the RV sex scene, but he only suggested the idea to Demoss, who refused.
Jason Lives was filmed in Covington, Georgia
, an area close to Atlanta, GA. The scenes involving the police department and town were filmed in Covington while the camp scenes were filmed at Camp Daniel Morgan outside the city limits of Covington. In the film, Camp Crystal Lake has been renamed Lake Forest Green. Surrounding Camp Daniel Morgan are Smokey the Bear
signs asking everyone to "Keep the Forests Green".
Some of the climactic moments of the film involving the primary characters in the lake were actually filmed in the swimming pool of McLoughlin's father. Although McLoughlin ruined the pool's filter in the process (it was jammed by gore churned into the water when Jason is hit with the boat propeller), McLoughlin's father was pleased that he could now boast a Hollywood film had been shot in his backyard.
Additionally, McLoughlin was made to extend Sissy's death, adding the shots of Jason dragging her to the ground and twisting her head off; as originally filmed, Sissy was simply pulled out of the cabin window, and wasn't seen again until Megan finds her head in the squad car.
McLoughlin also found himself in contention with the producers over how the film should end. As scripted, the movie was supposed to have concluded in the graveyard, with Martin the gravedigger meeting Jason's father, Elias—a heretofore unseen character in the series—with the implication that Elias knows Jason has been resurrected and has come looking for him. The studio balked at the scene, as they did not want the responsibility of having to introduce Elias' backstory in the next installment in the franchise; additionally, the added murder of Martin made the scene an impossibility to shoot. This ending would have tied up a continuity error from A New Beginning, when it is mentioned that Jason was cremated; a deleted scene from Jason Lives had Tommy asking Sheriff Garris why Jason wasn't cremated, as had been planned, at which point Garris informs him that someone paid the city to bury Jason; Elias' handing Martin a wad of money would have indicated that he was the man who paid for Jason's burial. The scene was later storyboarded for inclusion on the film's "Deluxe Edition" DVD release, with Bob Larkin reprising his role as Martin to provide voiceover. Elias, like Jason, was scripted to be completely silent.
McLoughlin ultimately shot three endings, two of which, against his expectations, were not included on the film's DVD release. In one ending, Jason's mask floats to the surface of Crystal Lake, having become detached during his struggle with Megan. In another, Deputy Colone was seen trying to reach the jail cell keys after having been locked in by Tommy and Megan; the door to the police station opens and the film abruptly ends, indicating that Jason had managed to get free. The producers disliked both of these endings, as each one left Jason's survival ambiguous, and wanted it explicitly shown onscreen that he was still capable of returning for a sequel. As a result, McLoughlin shot the film's current ending, showing a closeup of Jason's open, twitching eye.
(which is still classified as "Rotten", however).
Fan reception was largely positive; as of the release of Freddy vs. Jason in 2003, it was considered a fan favorite in the franchise. This is largely attributed to the use of humor, though some were put off by this approach.
Negative criticism of the movie includes general fatigue with the slasher film
genre, and the implausibility of Jason's resurrection.
in 1986; notably, the novelization features an appearance of Elias Voorhees, Jason's father who was originally meant to appear in the film, but was cut. The book also includes various flashbacks to Jason's childhood and the backstories of characters such as Tommy and Sheriff Garris are also expanded.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
, the sixth film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
in the Friday the 13th film series. The film was written and directed by Tom McLoughlin
Tom McLoughlin
Tom McLoughlin is an American screenwriter, film/television director and former mime whose credits include numerous television movies, such as Murder in Greenwich, the feature film Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives and the 2009 Lifetime Movie Network film The Wronged Man.In 1977 McLoughlin was...
. Although the original concept called for Tommy Jarvis, the protagonist of parts IV and V, to become the new villain, the poor fan reception of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is a 1985 slasher film. It was released on March 22, 1985. It is the fifth film in the Friday the 13th film series...
prompted the producers to bring back Jason Voorhees as the series' antagonist. In resurrecting Jason, McLoughlin made Jason an explicitly supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
force for the first time in the series, depicting him as being raised from the dead via electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
; this version of Jason—a zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
serial killer rather than a mortal superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
—would become the standard depiction for the rest of the franchise, until 2009's reboot. The film likewise broke with many other series conventions, introducing metahumor
Meta-joke
Meta-joke refers to several somewhat different, but related categories: self-referential jokes, jokes about jokes , and joke templates.-Self-referential jokes:...
and action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
elements including shootouts and car chases.
Despite being the second-lowest grossing film in the franchise to that point, it was the first film in the series since the original to receive positive critical reviews. In the years since its release, its self-referential humor and numerous instances of breaking the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
have been praised for prefiguring Wes Craven's Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
series and other similar 1990s horror films. As of 2003's Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises...
, Jason Lives was a fan favorite of the series, in addition to receiving positive notice from horror film historians.
Plot
Superhuman serial killer Jason VoorheesJason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
has been dead and buried for years. However, Tommy Jarvis, who killed Jason in self-defense when he was 12 years old, is still haunted by his encounter, resulting in his having been institutionalized for an extended period of time. Intent on cremating Jason's body to rid himself of his demons, Tommy escapes the mental hospital with his friend, Hawes, and breaks into the cemetery containing Jason's grave. He and Hawes exhume Jason's casket, but before they can cremate the body, an infuriated Tommy begins stabbing it with a steel fence post. The post acts as a conductor for an ongoing lightning storm, and Jason is resurrected from the dead. He kills Hawes with a punch through the heart and throws his body into the exhumed coffin, prompting Tommy to flee the cemetery.
Tommy returns to the town of Crystal Lake, the site of Jason's killings, which has now been renamed Forest Green to distance itself from negative publicity. Tommy attempts to warn the town sheriff, Mike Garris, of Jason's return, but Garris, aware of Tommy's institutionalization, writes him off as disturbed and has him locked in a holding cell.
Meanwhile, Jason begins a trek back to the lake that was the site of his drowning as a child. En route, he encounters Lizabeth and Darren, a pair of summer camp supervisors, who are themselves headed to the lake to supervise the re-opening of the summer camp. Jason attacks and kills them, leaving their bodies in the woods.
The next morning, Sheriff Garris's daughter, Megan, who is slated to be one of the camp counselors, arrives with her fellow counselors Cort, Sissy, and Paula to report Lizabeth and Darren missing. Tommy cites their disappearance as evidence of Jason's return, but is met with hostility from everyone but Megan, who takes a liking to him. Sheriff Garris sends the counselors off to the campsite and then escorts Tommy out of town; en route, Tommy flees to the cemetery to try to show Garris the open grave, only to discover that the groundskeeper—fearful of being implicated for digging up the grave due to his alcoholism—has covered the grave (and, consequently, Hawes's body) with dirt. Garris handcuffs Tommy and takes him to the city limits, warning him not to return.
Meanwhile, a quintent of business people playing paintball in the woods are set upon by Jason, who kills them and steals their supplies. That night, Jason continues making his way back to Crystal Lake, in the process killing the grave digger and a nearby couple having a picnic. Cort meets up with a local girl, Nikki, and leaves the camp to have sex with her in the woods; they end up in Jason's path and are both killed by him. Sheriff Garris ultimately finds the bodies, and believes that Tommy has killed them, living out a delusion of Jason's return. Tommy, meanwhile, has contacted Megan, having figured out a way to defeat Jason after having read books on monsters and folklore: He can be incapacitated by being trapped beneath the surface of the lake where he drowned. Megan attempts to bring Tommy back to the camp, but they are intercepted by one of Garris's roadblocks; Tommy is arrested and Megan is escorted back to the police station to await her father's return from the field. The police's attention on Tommy permits Jason to slip into the summer camp, where he kills Paula and Sissy, but refrains from harming any of the children.
Megan and Tommy escape the police station and make it to the lake, where the pursuing police are forced to acknowledge Jason's return when he attacks them. Garris and his deputies briefly incapacitate Jason by shooting him with high caliber weapons, but Jason ultimately recovers and kills them all. He then attempts to kill Megan, but is distracted by Tommy, who beckons to him from the lake. Seemingly remembering Tommy, Jason abandons Megan and wades out to the lake, where Tommy ambushes him with a chain attached to a large boulder. A fight ensues, during which both Tommy and Jason are knocked into the water; as Tommy attempts to swim to the surface, Jason pulls him underwater and he loses consciousness. Megan swims out to save Tommy and is likewise attacked by Jason, but finally incapacitates him by driving a motor boat propeller into his head.
Back on land, Megan revives Tommy with CPR and the children celebrate. At the bottom of the lake, Jason floats, attached to the boulder, still alive but powerless to escape.
Cast
- Thom MathewsThom MathewsThom Mathews in Los Angeles, California is an actor who is perhaps best known for his appearance in the horror films Return of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.-Career:...
as Tommy Jarvis - Jennifer CookeJennifer CookeJennifer Cooke is an American actress.She is perhaps best known for her role as the "Star Child", Elizabeth, who is half Human/half Visitor in the 1984 television series V. She also starred in the soap opera Guiding Light as Morgan Richards Nelson from 1981-1983. Cooke played "Debbie" on the...
as Megan Garris - David Kagen as Sheriff Mike Garris
- Darcy DeMossDarcy DeMossDarcy DeMoss is an American film and television actress whose credits include Eden, Erotic Confessions, Can't Buy Me Love and Vice Academy 3.-External links:...
as Nikki - Tom FridleyTom FridleyTom Fridley is an American film and television actor.The son of Ellen Travolta, stepson of Jack Bannon, nephew of John Travolta and Joey Travolta, cousin of Jonathan Rau, and half-brother of Molly Allen, Fridley has played supporting roles in television and film.His film credits include The Karate...
as Cort - Alan BlumenfeldAlan BlumenfeldAlan Blumenfeld is a veteran American character actor best known for his role in NBC's TV series Heroes as Maury Parkman, the telepath father of Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg...
as Larry - Matthew Faison as Stan
- Ann Ryerson as Katie
- Tony GoldwynTony GoldwynAnthony Howard "Tony" Goldwyn is an American actor and director. He portrayed the villain Carl Bruner in Ghost, Colonel Bagley in The Last Samurai, and the voice of the title character of the Disney animated Tarzan.-Early life:...
as Darren - Nancy McLoughlin as Lizbeth
- Ron PalilloRon PalilloRonald Gabriel "Ron" Palillo is an American television and film actor, perhaps best known for his role as high school student Arnold Dingfelder Horshack on the ABC sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, which aired from 1975 to 1979....
as Allen Hawes - C.J. Graham as Jason VoorheesJason VoorheesJason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
- Vincent Guastaferro as Deputy Rick Colone
- Michael SwanMichael SwanMichael Swan is an American film and TV actor.Swan was born in San Jose, California, the son of actress Alys Lucille and Donald Arthur Swan. He was raised in the wine business in Northern California, working for his Uncle Joseph Swan and Louis Martini and still keeps close ties with the industry...
as Officer Pappas - Courtney Vickery as Nancy
- Whitney Rydbeck as Roy
- Bob Larkin as Martin
- Wallace Merck as Toboloco
- Justin Nowell as Billy
Box office
The film opened in 1,610 theaters making $6.7 million its opening weekend. Domestically, the film for $19.4 million.Soundtrack
In addition to an original score, the soundtrack featured:- "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)"He's Back " is a song from American shock rock musician Alice Cooper's 1986 album Constrictor, and the theme song of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, a slasher film and sixth part of the Friday the 13th film series released in the same year...
" by Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, from his album ConstrictorConstrictor (album)Constrictor is the 16th studio album by rock musician Alice Cooper released on September 22 1986. After retiring from the music industry after the release of DaDa, Cooper remained in seclusion for three years. He starred in Monster Dog, a horror film for which he wrote two songs. He also guest... - "I'm No Animal" by FelonyFelony (band)Felony is an American new wave and rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1980s by brothers Jeffrey Spirili and Joe Spirili. The brothers were also known as Jeff Spry and Joe Spry.-History:...
, from their album Vigilante - "Teenage FrankensteinTeenage Frankenstein"Teenage Frankenstein" is the second single by American rock musician Alice Cooper from his 1986 album Constrictor. Though the single failed to chart, it helped to make Constrictor into Cooper's highest charting album since 1980's Flush the Fashion....
" by Alice Cooper, from his album ConstrictorConstrictor (album)Constrictor is the 16th studio album by rock musician Alice Cooper released on September 22 1986. After retiring from the music industry after the release of DaDa, Cooper remained in seclusion for three years. He starred in Monster Dog, a horror film for which he wrote two songs. He also guest... - "Hard Rock Summer" by Alice Cooper, from the box set The Life and Crimes of Alice CooperThe Life and Crimes of Alice CooperThe Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper is a 4-CD box set by Alice Cooper. It includes select tracks from every studio album released up until then, plus many B-sides, unreleased songs, and other rarities....
"He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" had an accompanying music video, combining clips from the film with new footage featuring Cooper. It is not present on any home video release of the film, but can be viewed on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
An official soundtrack has never been made available for sale.
Pre-production and writing
Although the previous film in the series, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, had been a financial success, it had disappointed the series' fans and received some of the worst reviews of any film in the franchise. In order to prevent further alienating the fans (and thus potentially endangering the series), the producers decided to take the series in a new direction, moving it away from what producer Frank Mancuso Jr. called the "coarse" nature of A New Beginning.To this end, Mancuso hired Tom McLoughlin, who had directed the successful horror film One Dark Night
One Dark Night
One Dark Night is an American horror film starring Meg Tilly and E.G. Daily. It was released in theaters in 1983 but was filmed two years earlier. It was released by Comworld Pictures.-Plot:...
but was also known around Hollywood for shopping around various comedy scripts he had written, a dichotomy that appealed to Mancuso. McLoughlin was given free rein on how he would present the story, with the only condition being that he bring back Jason and make him the film's villain.
McLoughlin decided to take the film in the direction of an old Universal Monsters
Universal Monsters
Universal Monsters or Universal Horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960...
movie, specifically the 1931 version of Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, which portrayed the monster as a lumbering killer brought to life by electricity. McLoughlin also drew from vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
lore in order to give Jason a weakness, namely being returned to his "home soil"; to achieve this, McLoughlin disregarded the idea presented in Part 2 that Jason had survived his drowning, instead presenting the idea that Jason has always been some sort of supernatural force. He also decided to retcon the events of the fifth film in order to circumvent that film's cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
ending, which implicated that protagonist Tommy Jarvis had become a serial killer.
McLoughlin further decided to expand the series' thematic scope, incorporating action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
elements and postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
metahumor
Meta-joke
Meta-joke refers to several somewhat different, but related categories: self-referential jokes, jokes about jokes , and joke templates.-Self-referential jokes:...
; when Jason is first encountered in the woods near Crystal Lake, the character of Lizbeth comments that she and Darren should flee because she knows about proper conduct to survive a horror movie. McLoughlin would further satirize the franchise itself, as Martin the gravedigger comments on Jason's exhumation, "Why'd they have to go and dig up Jason?" before breaking the fourth wall and addressing the camera with the observation, "Some folks sure got a strange idea of entertainment." In addition to Frankenstein, McLoughlin also cited as inspiration his love of gothic horror, particularly the works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, and his Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
upbringing; Jason Lives features the series' only explicit references to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, and during the climax a praying girl is spared by Jason (a similar scene, in which the same girl prays for Tommy while Megan performs CPR, then mouths "Thank you" while looking skyward was deleted from the final cut of the movie, apparently against McLoughlin's wishes; he recalled in the 2009 DVD's director's commentary, "Somehow it didn't stay in... probably too much sentiment").
Casting
The decision to retcon the events of Part V resulted in many members of that film's cast—whose characters had survived—having their contracts to return for a sequel terminated. At one point in time when Jason Lives was being considered as a direct sequel to A New Beginning rather than to The Final Chapter, the surviving characters Pam and Reggie from A New Beginning were to have died in the film's opening moments.Although Mancuso retained control over the film's casting, he deferred to McLoughlin's judgment, with the only caveat being that the final girl
Final girl
The final girl is a trope in thriller and horror films that specifically refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story...
had to be a "very attractive blonde." To fulfill this requirement, McLoughlin chose Jennifer Cooke, based on her performance in the miniseries V. The role of Hawes, Tommy's would-be sidekick who dies within the first five minutes of the movie, was given to another television veteran, Ron Palillo
Ron Palillo
Ronald Gabriel "Ron" Palillo is an American television and film actor, perhaps best known for his role as high school student Arnold Dingfelder Horshack on the ABC sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, which aired from 1975 to 1979....
, famous for the role of Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
.
John Shepherd was initially asked to reprise his role as Tommy Jarvis from the previous film. Shepherd, an evangelical Christian
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
who had reservations about returning to the series based on the atmosphere surrounding A New Beginning, was initially attracted to Jason Lives based on the scene in which a praying girl is spared by Jason. He ultimately decided to film the movie Caught, and shortly thereafter retired from acting to go to seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
. Thom Matthews, who would take over the mantel of Tommy Jarvis, was chosen for his work in the horror comedy Return of the Living Dead
Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa....
, although McLoughlin himself was unaware of Matthews' horror credentials until after shooting began. Other cast members were culled from actors whom McLoughlin had directed before (such as David Kagen) and McLoughlin's own family—Jason's first female victim in the film, Lizbeth, would be played by McLoughlin's wife, Nancy. In keeping with the series' tradition, the role of Jason was given to a stuntman, Dan Bradley.
Filming
After the first day of filming, Mancuso decided that he disliked Bradley's appearance onscreen as Jason. Although the scenes that Bradley filmed—in which Jason kills the paintball playing executives—were kept in the completed picture, the rest of Jason's scenes were performed by C. J. GrahamC. J. Graham
C. J. Graham is an actor who became one of many actors/stuntmen to play Jason Voorhees in the sixth film of the Friday the 13th film series.-Career:...
, an area restaurant manager and former soldier. As part of a stage show put on at the restaurant, a magician would hypnotize audience members and place them in a scenario during which they encountered Jason Voorhees; Graham, who stood 6'3 and weighed 250 lbs, was asked to play Jason for the scenario. Jason Lives special effects coordinator, Martin Becker, was in the audience for one such show, and recommended Graham to Mancuso and McLoughlin. Both men were impressed with Graham's presence, and he was hired to film the remainder of Jason's scenes.
Jason Lives would become notable for being the only film in the franchise to contain no nudity; the characters in the film's sole sex scene are both fully clothed, a conscious move on McLoughlin's part to distance the series from the notion that the Friday the 13th films were morality tales in which premarital sex was punished by death. McLoughlin was pressured by the film's producers to have Darcy Demoss remove her shirt during the RV sex scene, but he only suggested the idea to Demoss, who refused.
Jason Lives was filmed in Covington, Georgia
Covington, Georgia
Covington is a city in Newton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,118. The city is the county seat of Newton County...
, an area close to Atlanta, GA. The scenes involving the police department and town were filmed in Covington while the camp scenes were filmed at Camp Daniel Morgan outside the city limits of Covington. In the film, Camp Crystal Lake has been renamed Lake Forest Green. Surrounding Camp Daniel Morgan are Smokey the Bear
Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was created in 1944 with the slogan, "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". Smokey Bear's later slogan,...
signs asking everyone to "Keep the Forests Green".
Some of the climactic moments of the film involving the primary characters in the lake were actually filmed in the swimming pool of McLoughlin's father. Although McLoughlin ruined the pool's filter in the process (it was jammed by gore churned into the water when Jason is hit with the boat propeller), McLoughlin's father was pleased that he could now boast a Hollywood film had been shot in his backyard.
Post-production
McLoughlin's attempt to deliver a "different" kind of Friday the 13th film were met with skepticism from the producers. In a contrast to the series' other entries, which had to be edited for violence in order to avoid an "X" rating, the film's producers requested that McLoughlin add additional gore, violence, and murders to the film. The original cut of the film contained 13 killings as an in-joke; in order to appease the studio, McLoughlin had to add an additional three killings, bringing the total up to 16. These were the killings of Martin the gravedigger, and the recently engaged couple on a nighttime picnic. The scene of Jason killing Martin would later be cited by McLoughlin as one of his favorite parts of the movie, for the shot in which the picnicing man suddenly realizes that he's been spotted by Jason, which McLoughlin felt to be the film's scariest moment.Additionally, McLoughlin was made to extend Sissy's death, adding the shots of Jason dragging her to the ground and twisting her head off; as originally filmed, Sissy was simply pulled out of the cabin window, and wasn't seen again until Megan finds her head in the squad car.
McLoughlin also found himself in contention with the producers over how the film should end. As scripted, the movie was supposed to have concluded in the graveyard, with Martin the gravedigger meeting Jason's father, Elias—a heretofore unseen character in the series—with the implication that Elias knows Jason has been resurrected and has come looking for him. The studio balked at the scene, as they did not want the responsibility of having to introduce Elias' backstory in the next installment in the franchise; additionally, the added murder of Martin made the scene an impossibility to shoot. This ending would have tied up a continuity error from A New Beginning, when it is mentioned that Jason was cremated; a deleted scene from Jason Lives had Tommy asking Sheriff Garris why Jason wasn't cremated, as had been planned, at which point Garris informs him that someone paid the city to bury Jason; Elias' handing Martin a wad of money would have indicated that he was the man who paid for Jason's burial. The scene was later storyboarded for inclusion on the film's "Deluxe Edition" DVD release, with Bob Larkin reprising his role as Martin to provide voiceover. Elias, like Jason, was scripted to be completely silent.
McLoughlin ultimately shot three endings, two of which, against his expectations, were not included on the film's DVD release. In one ending, Jason's mask floats to the surface of Crystal Lake, having become detached during his struggle with Megan. In another, Deputy Colone was seen trying to reach the jail cell keys after having been locked in by Tommy and Megan; the door to the police station opens and the film abruptly ends, indicating that Jason had managed to get free. The producers disliked both of these endings, as each one left Jason's survival ambiguous, and wanted it explicitly shown onscreen that he was still capable of returning for a sequel. As a result, McLoughlin shot the film's current ending, showing a closeup of Jason's open, twitching eye.
Reception
Popular with critics overall, Jason Lives succeeded in receiving some positive attention from the mainstream press, the first time since the original Friday the 13th that an entry in the series received anything other than a negative review. As of 2011 it held a score of 54% at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
(which is still classified as "Rotten", however).
Fan reception was largely positive; as of the release of Freddy vs. Jason in 2003, it was considered a fan favorite in the franchise. This is largely attributed to the use of humor, though some were put off by this approach.
Negative criticism of the movie includes general fatigue with the slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
genre, and the implausibility of Jason's resurrection.
Other media
A novelization of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives was written by Simon HawkeSimon Hawke
Simon Hawke is an American author of mainly science fiction and fantasy novels. He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also written near future adventure novels under the penname "J. D...
in 1986; notably, the novelization features an appearance of Elias Voorhees, Jason's father who was originally meant to appear in the film, but was cut. The book also includes various flashbacks to Jason's childhood and the backstories of characters such as Tommy and Sheriff Garris are also expanded.