Badasses, Boobs and Body Counts
Home
About/Contact Me
Badasses
Boobs
Body Counts
Everything Else
BBandBC Podcast
The Plot: Jason X begins in a large military warehouse, the Crystal Lake Research Facility to be exact. We see Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) secured by chains awaiting cryogenic suspension. It seems that there have been several unsuccessful attempts to kill Jason so the thought is to freeze him until a better plan can be devised. The guard watching Jason covers him with a blanket as Jason is eying him. Next we meet the films primary female lead, Rowan (Lexa Doig). Rowan, in an attempt to stop Dr. Wimmer (played by the great David Cronenberg) from removing Jason from the facility, is told to move aside and that she’s no longer in charge. Upon removing the blanket that covers the killer, we see the guard that covered him underneath it, dead. Naturally, Jason kills Dr. Wimmer and in the process Rowan picks up a shotgun and proceeds to trick Jason into the cryogenic room where she traps him inside a cryo-chamber. Rowan activates the chamber and at that very moment, Jason stabs her through the wall causing it to leak and freeze everything in the room.
The year is now 2455, some 445 years after the aforementioned events. A small group of students lead by Professor Lowe (Jonathan Potts) opens the door to the cryo-room discovering both Rowan and Jason Voorhees. According to Kay-Em14, a synthetic android (Lisa Ryder), the human girl can be re-animated and saved if hurried. Jason on the other-hand is too far damaged to bring back. Back on the Grendel (the crews spaceship) the process of re-animating Rowan begins. In the morgue, just down the corridor, Adrienne is ordered by Professor Lowe to dissect Jason’s body. After Rowan is re-animated, Professor Lowe runs off to call his financier and is told he has Jason Voorhees, a mass murderer of some 200 people and his body could be worth a nice sum to the right buyer. With dollar signs in his eyes, Lowe is off to inform Adrienne to stop the dissection, but it’s too late as Jason has unthawed and is doing what he does best, killing.
The final third of the film is were we see Jason mowing through the crew of the Grendel and he does so in such grand style. One by one he kills the security grunts and continues on with the crew. The few who do manage to survive this long, put a plan together to slow Jason down while they attempt to fix the ship in hopes of escaping. They use the ships holographic simulator to throw Jason back in time to the 80′s presenting him with two topless campers smoking pot and wanting to have sex. This idea is nostalgic but only slows Jason down a bit as he eventually ends up killing the two girls in order to finish the job at hand, killing the remaining crew members.
The Takeaway: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something that will likely lead to a few hate mails ending up in my inbox. Jason X is by far the second best Friday the 13th film in the series (the first being the original). Despite the hate shown towards the film by so many die-hard Friday the 13th fans and film critics, the film is well directed, well written and well acted. Here are my reasons for saying so. Kane Hodder, the man behind the Jason make-up, is relentless and has given the character a whole new set of balls. Prior to Hodder appearing as Jason in the series, the character seemed lethargic at best. Killing, yes, but doing it without passion. As soon as Hodder stepped into the role, all that changed as he played the character with passion and it shows through the kills found in parts 7, 8, 9 and 10 (or X if you will). That’s not to say that 7, 8 and 9 are very good films (though 9 remains a popcorn favorite of mine), it’s just to say that the Voorhees character in these films were much different then what appeared afterwards.
The film is also well written in terms of were it starts and were it ends. One glaring issue I have with the script is how no one in the cryogenic facility found Rowan and Voorhees. I’m of the opinion that this was an oversight on Todd Farmer’s part as it’s never explained how the facility was abandoned following the incident. Putting that aside, the script is smart and follows the series quite well in terms of Jason’s motives to kill. It also allowed the film to progress in terms of technology and the upgrading of Jason giving him a much more BADASS look and attitude. Will the next Friday the 13th film continue to follow this futuristic path? Not likely, considering the film that followed was Freddy vs. Jason (the real so-called sequel to part 9 but one that had been delayed until after Jason X ). That being said, was Freddy vs. Jason a Nightmare on Elm Street film or a Friday the 13th film?
So if you’ve seen Jason X and blew it off as mind numbing, I implore you to watch it again and pay close attention to the story and how it progresses. I think you’ll see it in a whole new light and appreciate the film for what it is, a terrific follow-up to Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (part 9).
Film Facts: Jason X was directed by James Isaac (The Horror Show, Pig Hunt) and was written by Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine, Drive Angry). It was filmed in Toronto, Ontario (is it me, or is everything filmed in Canada these days?) in an abandoned military base outside of Toronto. Filming began in March of 2000 and ended in April of the same year. As far as the results go, and it’s all about money, Jason X grossed only $13,121,555 (U.S. gross) making it the lowest grossing Friday the 13th film to date ( Freddy vs Jason being the highest with $82,622,655 U.S. gross). And with a budget of $14,000,000, yes, it lost money making it a box office failure.
Favorite Badass Moment: Jason getting an upgrade Favorite Boobs or Boobs in a Scene: The two topless Crystal Lake virtual campers Favorite Death Scene: Jason killing Adrienne by freezing her face then shattering it
Boob Count: 3 pair Body Count: 19
IMDB Rating: 4.3 / 10 My Rating: 6.5 / 10
Final Thoughts: This is another film that doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Jason is truly a badass in this and it deserves to be looked at again by fans of the series.
NEW REVIEW >> Black Sabbath (1963) wp.me/p2bXgm-G6 12 hours ago
RT @ Trizdog : Zito driving in a run @ Jeff_Daniels doesn't look good. 12 hours ago
RBI for #9 in the order! 12 hours ago
RT @ maven1974 : Check this out if you wish to hear me talk about some of the most random stuff (and horror, too) with @ DrunkonVHS http:// ... 12 hours ago
RT @ maven1974 : Check out this show because...you know...it's me. Well, in the second half. Thanks, @ DrunkonVHS . Love ya! ;) http:/ ... 12 hours ago
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Join 387 other followers
Black Sabbath (1963)
Mr. Vampire (1985)
BBandBC Podcast EP07 – The Bride of Frankenstein Girl
Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
Psycho II (1983)
BBandBC Podcast EP06 – Nine Cats for the Inferno
My Heroes: Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney
BBandBC Podcast EP05 – Street Kombat
Fly Me (1973)
Louisiana Hussy (1959)
100 Years of Horror
After Movie Diner
Aloha Mister Hand
Andy Sidaris Dot Com
Back on Line Back on Duty
Beardy Freak
Blood Sucking Geek
Cinema Schminema
Cinematic Shocks
Devour the Podcast
EL GORE
Evil Episodes
Exploding Helicopter
Grindstone Grindhouse
Hard Ticket to Home Video
Head in a Vice
Isaac' s Picture Conclusions
Parlor of Horror
Promote Horror
Schlock Treatment
Strictly Splatter.com
The B-Horror Blog
The Last Dragon
The Projection Booth
The Timothy Carey Experience
Tim's Film Reviews
Trash Film Guru
Vic's Movie Den
Wafu FM
Wide Weird World Of Cult Films
Written in Blood
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.