Every year since 2014, I’ve crafted a review of the “Friday the 13th” series—in order—and have arrived at this inevitable moment, where the last one, “Jason X,” is all that’s left. It’s kind of sad; this 2001 movie and the series’ subsequent 2009 reboot would be the last of the Camp Crystal Lake killer as future projects descended into lawsuits. And, as I stated last year in my review of “Jason Goes to Hell,” I don’t hold “Jason X” to be cannon. It’s a weird one-off. Jason ventures into space, there’s no attempt at an explanation between “Hell” and this film, and it lacks the charm and setting that made other “Friday” films successful. However, it’s one last time to see Jason. Fans of the series will appreciate that, and I doubt anyone who hasn’t seen a “Friday” film has any interest in stumbling into this one.
The plot is scant here—at best. Jason is imprisoned in chains at a research facility to be ‘studied’ for his regenerative capabilities (gee, when is the last time we’ve seen this plot…? “Alien,” “Halloween” (2018), “The Thing,” “The Blob,” etc.). One reasonable scientist, Rowan (Lexa Doig) wants to terminate him, but is of course overruled for the need of plot. The scene that follows—involving most at the facility being murdered by Jason (the most meta-aware the death of Dr. Wimmer, played by body horror aficionado David Cronenberg)—is expected and rather silly. The whole thing leads to Rowan and Jason being frozen in a cryogenic chamber, and later found, hundreds of years later, by a research team on a futuristic spaceship.
Zombie-Jason Goes to Space
Yes, this is all very goofy. It brings a 19% critic score and 25% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s even worse that the last two “Halloween” films by Director David Gordon Green (who didn’t deserve it). But I question why even grade this film (even though I’m about to), when, like the recent “Terrifier 2” uproar, it is a movie made for diehard Jason fans and no one else. There’s no reason to watch this film other than to see the space-aged ways Jason kills people. That’s it. I’m sure no one is reading this review in 2022 wondering if they should watch “Jason X” if they haven’t seen it prior. If that is the case though: yes, watch it. It’s quite hysterical, even if it’s a really bad horror movie.
“Jason X” plays with some of the tropes the series is familiar with. Mostly this includes Jason’s indestructible nature, as well as a few laughable characters we’re supposed to like to watch die. However, when the time came, I kind of just felt bad for them. There’s a professor who likes to sleep with his students (Jonathan Potts), a number of attractive coeds, a nerd type who’s creating an android (Lisa Ryder), and a militant team, led by Sgt. Brodski (Peter Mensah)—the best thing about this film.
The whole film takes place on a futuristic spaceship and plays with its sci-fi scope and limited knowledge of Jason. It spends a good deal of time fussing over Rowan’s reanimation from cryo sleep (like, she’s hot bruh), and devotes decent screen-time playing at a sci-fi film. It discusses how cryogenic reanimation is not even new anymore, much less interesting. These people at least seem from the future, which is one check in this film’s scant plus column.
A Meta Aware Film that’s More Comedy than Horror
So the film gives zombie-Jason no reason as to why he wakes up from cryo sleep once aboard this ship, and honestly why bother? He snaps to and starts to kill lots of people. His victims either make jokes as they die or make jokes about their dead shipmates they find along the way. I mean, why not? At “Jason Goes to Hell’s” end, Freddy Krueger—the hysterical, joking child killer—dragged Jason to hell with him. Maybe he also wrote this script? (*shrugs*).
The kills in “Jason X” vary. Some include what many horror lovers consider the series’ best—a face smash by liquid nitrogen—while others are mere stabbing deaths and slashes. Jason kills a bunch of people in VR while they’re playing a video game, while another unlucky youth feels the sharp end of his machete. Most of the acting is pretty poor—aside Mensah and Melyssa Ade, who plays Janessa. The film will later get some sci-fi attempts at scares. These include Jason undergoing a metallurgic upgrade, becoming basically invincible, and Kay-Em 14, the android, undergoing likewise. Probably the film’s most iconic scene is when the shipmates attempt to lure Jason into a trap using a VR hologram of nude, sleeping bag campers. This follows closely to one of Brodski’s many near deaths (“it’ll take more than a poke in the ribs to put down this old dog”).
Still, Will Draw in Jason Fans Like Moths to the Flame
Stuntman Kane Hodder plays Jason for the fourth time here, and his performance is fine, as usual. The film takes away some of the urgency of his kills by the sheer inability to care about any of the characters, as well as losing that heavy breathing MO that lines Hodder’s portrayal of Jason once he becomes invincible metal man. If it wasn’t before, Jason’s machete becomes iconic here. The film’s end—which drags on far too long—is bittersweet. It hints at a continuation of the Jason legend which regrettably never happened.
So at the end of the day, “Jason X” is not a good horror movie. It’s more comedic than it needs to be (or maybe it needs to be, I don’t know), isn’t really scary, and clambers around too long without resolution. There’s not much in character likability. However, the film’s saved from becoming insulting by being aware of just how meta it is, unapologetically. If you love “Friday the 13th,” you probably have to watch it. Otherwise, if it weren’t a Jason film, there’d be little reason for it to exist outside of sci-fi cable networks.
“Jason X” is available to stream or rent on most networks.
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