Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) Paramount Pictures/Horror RT: 88 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, nudity, sexual content, drug use) Director: John Carl Buechler Screenplay: Daryl Haney and Manuel Fidello Music: Harry Manfredini and Fred Mollin Cinematography: Paul Elliott Release date: May 13, 1988 (US) Cast: Lar Park Lincoln, Kevin Blair, Susan Blu, Terry Kiser, Susan Jennifer Sullivan, Elizabeth Kaitan, Diana Barrows, Jeff Bennett, Jon Renfield, Heidi Kozak, Larry Cox, Craig Thomas, Diane Almeida, William Butler, Staci Greason, Michael Schroeder, Debora Kessler, Kane Hodder, John Otrin, Jennifer Banko. Box Office: $19.1 million (US) Body Count: 16
Rating: ** ½
For me, this is where the F13 series started going downhill. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood should have been awesome given its interesting premise. Director John Carl Buechler (Troll) incorporates elements of Carrie by having a telekinetic teen taking on Jason Voorhees. It’s a good story hampered by a noticeable lack of gore. That’s right, the MPAA strikes again! They really went to town this time demanding that several scenes of explicit gore be cut to avoid the dreaded X rating. It’s painfully obvious by the editing that the good parts were excised. It’s so disappointing. It makes The New Blood less than it could have been.
My other issue with this F13 flick has to do with continuity. How long after the events of the previous movie does this take place? Why did they change the name from Forest Green back to Crystal Lake? These are my main questions. The writers never bother to address either one. Aside from that, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is a pretty good horror flick. The basic storyline is fairly solid and Lar Park Lincoln (House II: The Second Story) makes an appealing lead. It’s a shame some of it feels off.
This latest chapter opens with seven-year-old Tina Shepard (Banko, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) discovering her latent telekinetic powers when she accidentally drowns her drunken father (Otrin) in Crystal Lake. Ten years later, she and her mother Amanda (Blu) return to Crystal Lake with her psychiatrist Dr. Crews (Kiser, Weekend at Bernie’s 1 & 2) to help Tina deal with the tragedy. So he claims, but we know it’s complete BS. This is Bernie Lomax we’re talking about here! Tina’s recently been released from a mental institution and just wants to live a normal life. The not-so-good doctor insists that his patient demonstrate her special abilities, explaining that they’re actually a side effect of her guilt feelings.
Meanwhile, a group of young adults have gathered at the house next door for a surprise party for a guest-of-honor that will never arrive. Nick (Blair, The Hills Have Eyes Part II) takes an immediate liking to Tina which arouses the jealousy of rich bitch Melissa (Sullivan). The other guests are preppy Russell (Cox) and his girlfriend Sandra (Kozak), stoner David (Renfield), sci-fi geek Eddie (Bennett), perky Robin (Kaitan), nerdy Maddy (Barrows), jock Ben (Thomas) and his girlfriend Kate (Almeida). Talk about a random bunch, right?
On her first night back at Crystal Lake, a stressed-out Tina inadvertently resurrects Jason from the lake. Soon after that, she starts having gruesome visions of murder. The not-good doctor dismisses them as side effects of her deep-seeded guilt. So what’s this guy up to? He wishes to exploit Tina for his own personal gain, what else?
It pretty much goes without saying that Jason embarks on yet another killing spree. While there are some cool kill scenes in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood , the lack of blood brings this aspect of the movie down a couple of notches. For the record, the highlights are as follows: the scene where Jason picks up a sleeping bag with a woman in it and smashes it against a tree, a girl gets a party horn jammed in her eye, Jason crushes a guy’s head with his bare hands, a man gets disemboweled with a tree-trimming saw and a woman gets an axe to the head. But the scene always cuts away before any blood is shown. Damn!
I used to have an issue with how cheap Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood looks (e.g. cheesy special effects, understated cinematography) before realizing what the director was going for. Obviously, Buechler wants this picture to have the look and feel of a low budget grindhouse flick. Well, mission accomplished! The makeup is interesting this time around with Jason looking like a rotting corpse (e.g. maggots, chunks of flesh missing, visible bones, etc.). The climactic battle between Tina and Jason is pretty cool. I don’t want to spoil it by describing it in detail.
The score isn’t so impressive this time around as Harry Manfredini splits his duties with another composer. The cast does an okay job in general. Like I said before, it’s an odd assortment of characters, but at least they’re not boring. Kiser has the whole bastard persona down pat; he could do such a role in his sleep. I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed with Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, but the reality of the situation is that the makers couldn’t keep the momentum going indefinitely. It had to happen sometime. But six great movies in a row is nothing to sneeze at. Call this one a near-miss.
