‘Not only are you a lousy doctor, you are a coward…’
The Friday the 13th franchise has always been a mixed bag. The original is a cult classic. The second film in the series is awful, as is the fifth. But buried beneath the dreck there are moments of greatness shining through. The Final Chapter is probably the high watermark, featuring as it does both Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover, the fact that not only is it not the final chapter, but there would be eight chapters still to come is neither here nor there. Part VI is pretty solid, and The New Blood keeps the streak going nicely…
As a child, Tina (Lar Park-Lincoln) accidentally kills her own father using her telekinetic powers. Later, her insidious psychiatrist Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser) suggests that she return to the scene of that trauma to attempt to overcome it. Instead, she has to deal with Jason. There are also other teenagers knocking about but honestly, they are all lambs to the slaughter at this point with no discernable personality.
The last thing you want a Friday film to be is dull. You want either weird or terrible ideally. The New Blood is stubbornly competent with director Jonh Carl Buechler going back to basics in terms of kills and scares. This entry marks the first appearance of fan favourite Kane Hodder behind the hockey mask and he brings some real personality to Jason for probably the first time in the whole franchise. Luckily, there is also some bizarre and daft shit on the table to ensure that things never get too samey. The fact that Tina’s psychiatrist is arguably eviler than Jason is one such bold decision, but it is the way that Tina defeats Jason that provides the film’s most outrageous WTF moment.
Elsewhere, Buechler also makes the courageous call to show us Jason’s face. And what a face it is. A face that only a mother could love (shout out to Mrs Vorhees). In the end, The New Blood is one of the better Friday sequels despite ripping off Carrie and it also marks the final time that anyone tried to make a serious Friday the 13th movie (with the next three movies taking place in Manhattan, Hell and outer space respectively) and for that it should be celebrated.