from Chris Snelgrove
| Published
Fans love to debate which Friday the 13th movie is the best, but most can agree on the worst. that’s it Jasonwhich sent our favorite hockey-masked killer into the 25th century.
The film has a 20 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 25 percent fan rating, meaning that almost everyone agrees that “Jason in Outer Space” stinks worse than Pamela Voorhees’ severed head. However, I have always had a soft spot in me not so cut off head over to this movie and I’m here to tell you that Friday’s “Worst” isn’t just good, it’s actually one of the best movies in the franchise.
Why Jason X is one of the best Friday the 13th movies
What is so good about him Jasonyou might ask? Let’s start with the obvious: our titular killer is played by Kane Hodder, the man who has long established himself as the best Jason Voorhees performer. He always brings plenty of raw physicality to his performances as the Crystal Lake Killer, and he’s in fine form during this crazy science fiction movie. If the wild opening involving his escape from a state prison doesn’t cement that for you, just check out the first future kill, in which he bodily shoves a poor researcher’s face into a cryogenics vat before smashing her head in half with one brutal punch.
Which brings us to the next obvious point in this movie’s favor: Jason X has some great kills. My personal favorite occurs when the surviving crew of starship Grendel tries to distract Jason with a Star Trek-style holodeck, perfectly recreating Crystal Lake in 1980. (or, as the Zoomer-sounding crew member calls it, “nineteen eighty”). The killer is coaxed by two girls who ask him if he wants to smoke weed or have premarital sex before crawling into their sleeping bags; soon Jason puts the “smashing” in “smashing” as we see him holding one of the full sleeping bags and beating the helpless holographic victim against her friend.
It’s a callback, of course, to the infamous killing of Jason in the sleeping bag in the seventh Friday the 13th movie. This is just one example of how this movie is a love letter to the entire franchise and is full of great little easter eggs to enhance the enjoyment of longtime fans. Some hate the idea of ​​seeing Jason out of his comfort zone, but from Hodder’s performance to the incredible kills to the cheeky script, it’s clear that this is a true labor of love for everyone involved.
If you enjoy following the insane legend of Friday the 13th, Jason offers a lot of weird tidbits, including the fact that Jason is canonically captured by the United States government. They repeatedly try to kill him in various ways, and after discovering that he simply cannot be killed, they decide to weaponize him. It’s all fascinating, and the fact that the sole survivor of the Crystal Lake Research Center (!) knew enough to program the aforementioned holodeck distraction means the government even knew that Jason was following horror movie rules by killing those who use drugs or have sex.
The cast of Andromeda dazzles in a horror film
On top of that, Jason has something every good Friday the 13th movie needs: great characters. Lexa Doig is perfect as Jason’s 21st-century companion, and she dazzles here even more than she did in the humble sci-fi hit show Andromeda.
Other notable performances include Lisa Ryder (who was also in Andromeda) as a stay-at-home mom android, Peter Mensah as a tough-as-nails space marine, and Jonathan Potts as the laziest professor in the galaxy.
Reference to Beowufl and other literary references In Jason X
Finally, if you can look past all the glorious shlok, Jason it’s surprising clever movie. For example, even before Jason is properly thawed, his machete confection ends up cutting off a person’s arm. Their sci-fi technology puts it back together, but since this ship is named after the Beowulf villain Grendel (who had his arm ripped off), it’s clearly a literary homage. Speaking of literary references, an out-of-control Grendel (Jason killed the pilot) ends up destroying Solaris, a space station named after the seminal 1961 sci-fi novel. of Stanislav Lem.
Now I’ll level with you: Jason it’s not a perfect movie and you’ll spend even more time flinching Buffy-esque trial dialogue than you spend flinching at the early clothes. But this movie features Jason’s best acting, great characters, and memorable kills. These qualities alone make it better than any mainstream Friday the 13th film since Part IV except for Jason lives.
Jason it’s not available to stream right now, but it’s worth tracking down for any horror fan looking to indulge in some sloppy fun.
And if you’re not in it for serious shlock, why are you even watching these movies? Just go watch some “elevated horror” and let the rest of us enjoy a Friday the 13th movie filled with all of Joe Bob Briggs’ essential requirements for a great horror movie.
