Friday the 13th: The Death of Jason Voorhees is a 1986 slasher film written and directed by Thomas Trentono. It is the sixth film in the Friday the 13th film series. Though it was billed as "The Death of Jason Voorhees", there have been further sequels in the franchise. Like its five predecessors, the film was a financial success. However, it received poor critical reviews. Many fans of the series often cite this film for its brutal gore effects and dark atmosphere.
The film's plot follows series antagonist Jason Voorhees as he stalks a family and group of neighboring teenagers residing on Crystal Lake.
Plot[]
The night after the previous film's events took place, paramedics clean up the remains left by psychopathic killer Jason Voorhees and deliver him to the county morgue (in nearby Fairfield) where the attending mortician Axel fails to notice signs that Jason is breathing. The Mayor of Crystal Lake, reeling from the political fallout from Parks' failure to warn the public is forced to fire the Sheriff, who gladly accepts his fate.
As the night's events come to a close, most of the staff leave. After escaping cold storage, Jason decapitates Axel with a hacksaw and his love interest Morgan, a nurse he guts with a scalpel.
The next day, a group of teenagers; Paul, his assertive girlfriend Sam, her reserved friend Sarah, Sarah's secret crush Doug, pervert Jimmy and know-it-all Ted are en route to Crystal Lake where they've reserved a cabin. They see a tombstone marked for Pamela Voorhees and come across a hitchhiker shortly before she is killed by Jason, who has returned to the area.
Upon finally arriving at the cabin, they meet their neighbors teenaged Trish Jarvis, her younger brother Tommy, who has a talent for makeup and mask making and their dog Gordon. William Parks, the former Sheriff, is their other neighbor but events of late have left him a broken man. Despite the efforts of Tommy, Parks and his mother fail to connect romantically.
Later, the gang also meet twins Tina and Terri on a hike and decide to go skinny dipping with them. Tommy and Trish accidentally happen upon the scene and Trish is invited to a party that night before they leave. As they are driving, Trish's car breaks down, and they are aided by Rob Montgomery, who claims to be hunting for bear in the area, though Tommy discredits that story. Arriving at the Jarvis house, Trish introduces Rob to their mother before he is rushed upstairs. Tommy shows Rob an impressive array of homemade masks before he departs to go camping. However Rob immediately goes to Parks next door, and reveals himself as the brother of Carly Montgomery, who was killed by Jason in the fourth film. Rob reveals that Jason's body is missing and two people from the hospital are missing. Parks has no desire to believe that Jason is alive, and requests Rob that he leave.
At the party, Tina tries to make a move on Paul. Jealous, Sam leaves the party to go for a swim, but she is stabbed through the bottom of a rubber raft she lays in for a rest. Paul, feeling guilty leaves the party in search of Sam, only to be killed when Jason shoots a harpoon gun into his groin. Terri decides to leave the party when Ted advances too quickly for her, but Tina instead moves on to Jimmy, taking him upstairs to have sex. Terri leaves the party alone and is impaled through the back by Jason. Ted finds an old stag film and starts watching it on a projector, Sarah hints to Doug that she wants to have sex with him and they go upstairs.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Jarvis returns from a jog, only to find the power is out in the house. She ventures outside to investigate and is suddenly attacked and killed off screen. Tina tells Jimmy that he was great in bed, alleviating an argument he and Ted had earlier about being a "dead fuck" and he goes downstairs to celebrate. Looking for the wine bottle's corkscrew Jason suddenly jams it in his hand, then kills Jimmy with a cleaver to the face. Upstairs, Tina notices that Terri's bike is still there before she is grabbed through the window and thrown to her death atop the teens' car. Ted is then killed when a knife is shoved through the back of his skull.
Trish and Tommy return home to find their mother missing. Trish decides to go out and look for her while Tommy stays and repairs the lights.
Back at the teens' cabin, Sarah and Doug consummate their relationship in the shower and she leaves to get ready for bed. While she is gone, Jason sneaks into the bathroom and kills Doug by crushing his skull against the wall. Sarah returns and discovers the carnage, she screams and tries to flee the house, but is killed when a hatchet is hurled through the front door and into her chest.
Tina finds Rob's campsite and he tells her about Jason's body being missing from the morgue. Convincing her Trish and Rob return to the Jarvis house as quickly. Tommy is safe and fine and Parks is there, ready to investigate the teens' house, which is eerily quiet. Parks leads Rob and Trish there. Trish discovers the bodies of some of the teens and tries to warn the two. Jason attacks, subduing Parks and killing Rob. Running home, Trish and Tommy barricade themselves in, but Jason breaks into the house. They hide in Tommy's room, but Trish is able to briefly knock Jason out, she decides to lure Jason away and tells Tommy to run when she does.
Jason chases Trish next door, and she finds she can't escape through the doors due to the bodies she runs upstairs and jumps out of the window, but survives the fall. Parks reveals himself to be alive, and her orders her to follow Tommy who has been instructed to go to Park's boat. Jason appears at the front door and he and Parks fight until Parks is rendered unconscious. Jason pursues the Jarvis kids to the dock.
While Tommy and Trish attempt to start the boat, Jason appears and gets on board. As Jason attacks, Trish tries to kill him with his own machete, but fails. Tommy, meanwhile, has managed to start the boat. Parks, having woken up, manages to get on board in time as Tommy drives the boat onto the lake blindly in the night. Parks and Jason continue their fight and Jason is finally subdued. Parks manages to get a chain around Jason's next, the chain is attached to his spare anchor. Jason attempts to escape as Parks pushes the anchor overboard and he pulls Trish into the water. The anchor lands on an underground ledge, perilously over the deepest position of the lake. Jason attempts to drown Trish, but Parks jumps in after them and saves her.
The anchor finally slips off the ledge and Parks watches as Jason is pulled into the abyss of the lake. Gone forever.
The next morning the police are there to clean up Jason's final rampage. The Mayor attempts to reconcile with Parks, who notes the Mayor failed to alert the public, just as he did. The divers reveal that Jason's corpse is too far to locate and Parks tells them to leave him there to rot. Then Parks refuses to accept his old job and goes off to be with Trish and Tommy who await their estranged father.
Cast[]
- Thomas Trenton as Jason Voorhees
- Bruce Greenwood as William Parks
- Kimberly Beck as Trish Jarvis
- Erich Anderson as Rob Montgomery
- Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis
- Crispin Glover as Jimmy
- Peter Barton as Doug
- Clyde Hayes as Paul
- Barbara Howard as Sara
- Lawrence Monoson as Ted (Teddybear)
- Joan Freeman as Mrs. Jarvis
- Judie Aronson as Samantha
- Camilla More as Tina
- Carey More as Terri
- Lisa Freeman as Nurse Robbie Morgan
- Bonnie Hellman as Hitchhiker
- Bruce Mahler as Axel
Reception[]
Box office[]
Friday the 13th: The Death of Jason Voorhees opened on Friday, June 13, 1986 on 1,687 screens to a then record-breaking weekend box office gross of $19,183,148. The film would ultimately take in a total of $49,980,880 at the U.S. box office, owing to the producer's claims that this would be the final film in the series. It placed at number 25 on the list of the top grossing films of 1986.
Critical response[]
As with the previous two entries, the sixth film was popular with critics overall. Of the Trenton trilogy, it received the most favorable reviews. The film was praised for having more of a plot than other films in the franchise, as well as its conclusion between the relationship between antagonist Jason Voorhees and protagonist William Parks. Jeffrey M. Anderson called it "the best of the Friday the 13th series, mainly because of the hero-villain storyline between the films two leads. Gerry Shamray called it "the only good "Friday". James Kendrick called it "a funny, largely enjoyable horror thriller and the best in Friday the 13th series in particular".
Fan reception was largely positive; as of the release of Jason vs. Jason X vs. Jason in 2013, it was considered a fan favorite in the franchise. This is largely attributed to Trenton's use of detail and devotion to his own creation.
Soundtrack[]
Music[]
The film's music was composed by Harry Manfredini, who composed the scores to all of the series' previous installments.
On January 13, 2012, La-La Land Records released a limited edition 6-CD boxset containing Manfredini's scores from the first six Friday the 13th films. It sold out in less than 24 hours.
References[]