Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI

Paramount abandoned plans to continue the “Friday the 13th” series without Jason Voorhees and brought him back with a vengeance in this sixth installment that ended up becoming a fan favorite. Jason has been dead and buried for years, but ever-troubled Tommy Jarvis (here played by Thom Mathews) is still having nightmares about the masked killer; his plan to cremate the infamous slasher’s body backfires considerably when instead he ends up resurrecting the source of all this woes (via lightning bolt, at that). Now a zombie of sorts rather than a mortal superhuman (or whatever he was), Jason returns to his old stomping grounds, which has since been renamed Forest Green to avoid negative publicity … though now the property and its horny denizens are going to have to contend with a whole new round of bloody mayhem. Writer-director Tom McLoughlin brings a sense of meta-humor to the proceedings and delivers what could be seen as more of an action film with slasher movie elements; the reborn Jason seems right at home in a world with a relatively large-scale paintball sequence, car chases, shootouts and several moments where the characters break the fourth wall as they seem to accept their own doom. – IFC Staff