It was either while I was in high school, or just after, when I saw first saw Jason X. It was my introduction to Friday the 13th and at the time my entire perception of the franchise was formed by this over-the-top cheesefest. Word on the street was that this was one of the the worst movies in the series and I certainly did get the impression that it was cheaply made. I wouldn’t be able to comment until now, over a decade later, on whether or not it fits in to the Friday the 13th canon in a meaningful and satisfying way. To that, I answer: who cares? I kinda had a blast with this movie.
Spin-offs and remakes aside, Jason X is the actual final entry in the Friday the 13th series, despite what parts four and nine boasted in the past. In what can be considered a stand-alone movie, this one completely disregards the events of Jason Goes to Hell, along with pretty much all of the other previous films. This chapter sees Mr. Voorhees cryogenically frozen after being somehow captured in 2008 (still the future, mind you) and reawakened over 400 years in the future and also in space. A team of students and their professor excavate Jason’s dormant corpse, bringing him onto their spacecraft for observation. From there things go where you would expect them to: Jason wakes up and begins a bloody rampage.
Despite the setting and some sci-fi gimmicks, Jason X actually sticks pretty close to its roots: horrible characters, gory kills, and a moderate amount of gratuitous nudity. Beyond that, it infuses the typical horror formula with action elements, relying on computer generated effects more than the series has in the past. With these new-age augments, the kills actually end up being some of the best in the series. One of the entire series’ most iconic kills comes in the form of a woman’s face being frozen in liquid nitrogen and subsequently being shattered on a desk. It looks better than mostly anything else seen in the franchise up to this point.
The kills are good and it holds up as a fun entry into the series, but it doesn’t quite transcend to being much more than that. The majority of the film’s production is reminiscent of a lot of late 90s/early 2000s horror movies, complete with jangly synth score and dated neo-futuristic design philosophy where everything is made of stainless steel. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this was actually a Syfy (formerly Sci-fi) channel original movie.
I guess after ten films my expectations have been gradually eroded because Jason X places in the top half of my favorite Friday the 13th installments. It released in 2002 and was seemingly immediately outdated in its sensibilities and overall aesthetic. However, as a mindless slasher it at least has some inventive kills and some self-aware humor that at least pokes fun at how little innovation these films contain.
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Current Ranking of Friday the 13th films:
1. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
2. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
3. Jason X
4. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
5. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
6. Friday the 13th Part III
7. Friday the 13th Part 2
8. Friday the 13th (1980)
9. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
10. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan