Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives

Director: Tom McLoughlin Tom McLoughlin

Overview

This impressive entry in the popular horror series brings back the relentless killer Jason Voorhees, this time as a supernatural zombie. Tommy Jarvis, now played by Thom Matthews, accidentally resurrects Jason when he impales the killer's corpse with a metal pole during a lightning storm. Numerous murders follow, beginning with Tommy's friend (Ron Palillo) having his heart torn out of his chest by the zombie killer. Implicated in the crimes by a mean-spirited sheriff (David Kagen), Tommy is freed from jail by the sheriff's daughter, spunky Megan (Jennifer Cooke). The cast converges on Camp Crystal Lake, which has been renamed "Camp Forest Green" by superstitious locals, in time for Tommy to send Jason back to the bottom of the lake, if only temporarily. Harry Manfredini's score is among his best, and the makeup by Martin Becker, Gabe Bartalos, R. Chris Biggs, and others is outstanding. Cooke makes an appealing heroine as Megan, although Matthews' Tommy has lost the interesting mental disturbances of previous entries and becomes just another bland hero. Tom McLoughlin's direction is effective, and the film has a memorably funny supporting turn by Bob Larkin as a grumpy drunken caretaker. Alice Cooper sings the title song, "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)." Although no classic, this is a solid horror film with a witty script and engaging characters. Jason would rise again to face a telekinetic teen in the disappointing Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/10/2017
UPC:	0032429276902
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	R
Source:	Paramount
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Thom Mathews	Tommy
Jennifer Cooke	Megan,Megan
David Kagen	Sheriff Garris
Kerry Noonan	Paula
Renee Jones	Sissy,Sissy Baker,Sissy
Tom Fridley	Cort
C.J. Graham	Jason Voorhees
Darcy DeMoss	Nikki
Vincent Guastaferro	Deputy Rick Cologne
Tony Goldwyn	Darren
Nancy McLoughlin	Lizbeth
Ron Palillo	Allen Hawes
Alan Blumenfeld	Larry
Matthew Faison	Stan
Ann Ryerson	Katie
Whitney Rydbeck	Roy
Courtney Vickery	Nancy
Bob Larkin	Martin
Michael Nomad	Officer Pappas,Thornton
Wallace Merck	Burt
Roger Rose	Steven
Cynthia Kania	Annette
Tommy Nowell	Tyen,Billy,Tyen
Sheri Levinsky	Bus Monitor
Temi Epstein	Little Girl
Turas O'Har	Little Boy
Kane Hodder	Actor
Nancy McLaughlin	Lizbeth
Michael Swan	Officer Pappes
Thom Matthews	Tommy
Harry Manfredini	Composer

Technical Credits

Tom McLoughlin

Martin Becker	Special Effects
Don P. Behrns	Producer,Producer
Tom McLoughlin	Director,Screenwriter
Mark Wolf	Special Effects
Gregg Barbanell	Sound Effects
Dane A. Davis	Sound Effects
Laura Graham	Sound Effects
Fern Champion	Casting
Pamela Basker	Casting
Frank Mancuso Jr.	Executive Producer
Lonnie Smith Jr.	Stunts
Diane Hetfield	Stunts
James Thornton	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

In their quest to pepper this horror sequel with self-reflexive humor, fright-flick in-jokes, and obscure references, the producers of Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives don't eliminate the tedium of a tired formula so much as distract their audience from the pointlessness of their enterprise. It's possible to make it all the way to the final reel of this retread without paying too much attention to the mechanics of plot or character. From the amusingly exaggerated titles sequence to the Alice Cooper theme song, this film celebrates the ubiquity and instant familiarity of its source material. The result is a deeply cynical exercise, but one that's far more enjoyable than the installments that bookend it. True, the once-interesting Tommy Jarvis -- now two actors past his best incarnation (as played by Corey Feldman) -- has become an interchangeable teen protagonist. But that's because the filmmakers wisely realize that any further attempts at psychological acuity would distract from the gleeful mayhem at hand. Later installments, particularly the leaden seventh and 11th entries, would attempt to wrest pathos and drama from the material. But Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives represents the first flowering of the parodic impulse that would power the superior ninth and tenth episodes in the franchise.