This is where the series takes a quick decline in quality and loses people, even though we get our first portrayal of Jason by Kane Hodder, who most would agree is the best at the role, and is also the actor who has done the role in more movies than any other. I’ve got some pretty mixed opinions on the matter, I think just about all of them do phenomenal in one aspect or another but Hodder would probably be my second favorite very narrowly under Ted White from The Final Chapter. Part 7 is easily Hodder’s best portrayal of the character in my opinion, the much I’m sure of.
Part 7 is the entry some refer to as Jason VS Carrie, where Jason is pitted against a girl with telekinetic abilities. It’s an interesting element to try and add a little more supernatural into your supernatural slasher and the climax of the movie is probably the best in the series, however the first acts fall completely flat and the ending is one of the most ridiculous messes in horror history rivaled only be the next installment of this franchise.
Other than Terry Kiser and Kane Hodder, the characters in this movie are some of my least favorite in the franchise, with leads Lar Park-Lincoln and Kevin Blair having such miserable chemistry it’s hard to watch when they push Blair’s character, Nick, into being the love interest. The background characters are uninteresting and this movie really starts the trope that most slasher franchises have where you’re just rooting on the killer to kill the annoying kids. These kids aren’t even annoying, they’re just boring. One of the most frustrating parts about this movie is that the character you can actually enjoy to hate and want a gruesome death is Terry Kiser’s character, Dr. Crews, had his kill cut down so much by the MPAA that it’s very unsatisfying. Speaking of which, you’d think that a Friday film directed by John Carl Buechler, one of the top makeup artists in horror (RIP), would have the best kills in the franchise. Unfortunately it’s nowhere close due to MPAA interference.
I know that’s a lot of negativity, but even through the movies faults there are still a lot of good things this movie has going for it. As mentioned, this is Hodder’s best performance in the role and is easily the best looking Jason in the franchise and the stunts and action sequences in the films climax are worth slogging through the rest of those faults alone. I’m having some technical issues that are slowing me down on videos but hopefully when this is released I’ll be caught up on my video reviews for the series so we can get something a bit more in depth.
Either way, it’s time to start looking at some kills.
The Kills
- Jane – Stabbed in the back of the head with a tent spike. At least I think that’s what it is. She’s pinned to a tree with what’s definitely a tent spike, but that is pretty shiny while the object she gets stabbed with is dull, so…I don’t guess it matters, she’s stabbed either way.
- Michael – Gets stabbed in the back by that tent spike when Jason launches it at him. 2nd movie in a row where he’s good at throwing weapons. They should definitely make that a core mechanic in a video game.
- Dan – This one is going to get complicated for me. Jason punches a hole through the guys back while simultaneously snapping his neck. So I could count this as either killing him with his bare hands or by snapping his neck. I’m going to go with the bare hands because that’s what happens first but that could really go either way.
- Judy – Killed by getting her feet slammed against a tree so hard that it made her head appear. I’ve made fun of this kill since I was a kid, and it was pretty depressing to learn this was one of Hodder’s favorites. Either way, He killer her with his bare hands.
- Russell – Slashed in the face with a machete.
- Sandra – Drowns her. Some of these just aren’t even fun.
- Maddy – Slashed in the gut with a sickle. I really wish this was zoomed out just a little bit so you can see Jason twirl the blade a little bit so he hits her with the right side. I just noticed that while skipping through it for this analysis, never noticed it before.
- Ben – Head crushed with Jason’s bare hands. Still no Rick. Will never get over that eye popping out towards the screen with the wire just shining at you.
- Kate – Gets stabbed in the eye with a party horn with a satisfying honk at the end.
- David – Stabbed in the gut, later it shows his severed head. Since a stab in the gut is usually lights out in this franchise I’ll go with it, but realistically I’d say the decapitation is what did it.
- Eddie – Slashed to death with a machete. Guess that soap on a rope isn’t sounding so bad now, huh.
- Robin – Defenestrated. What, no cars blowing out? The doublemint twins would be disappointed.
- Mrs. Shepard – Impaled with a brush ax. Should I give Dr. Crews this kill since he got the Corey from Halloween Ends style assist on it? And credit to the Friday the 13th Wiki, I had to look up what that implement even was…
- Dr. Crews – Slashed with a branch saw. As mentioned, this kill was disappointing because the MPAA gutted it (pun intended). Otherwise it would have been one of the better in the series. I just want to know where Jason got this in the seconds it took for him to be done killing Mrs. Shepard.
- Melissa – Slashed in the face with an ax, and then thrown at Tina and Nick.
Conclusion
Jason Voorhees kills 15 people in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.
| Method: | Amount of Kills: |
|---|---|
| Impaled | 1 |
| Stabbing | 4 |
| Slashing | 5 |
| Killed with bare hands | 3 |
| Defenestrated | 1 |
| Drowned | 1 |
| Method: | Amount of kills: |
|---|---|
| Stabbing | 16 |
| Strangled | 1 |
| Hammer claw to the head | 1 |
| Throat slit | 3 |
| Impaled | 13 |
| Slashing | 11 |
| Electrocuted | 1 |
| Killed with bare hands | 10 |
| Defenestrated | 2 |
| Decapitated | 4 |
| Drowned | 1 |
| Unknown cause of death | 4 |
| Movie Title: | Total kills: |
|---|---|
| Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) | 9 |
| Friday the 13th Part III (1982) | 12 |
| Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) | 13 |
| Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) | 18 |
| Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) | 15 |
| Total Altogether: | 67 |