JASON X (2002)
Starring Kane Hodder and Dylan Bierk
The best Jason movie since the sixth, "Jason X" does its best to meld the "Friday" franchise with sci-fi, with low-budget space effects look like computer generation rejects from the "Next Generation" TV series. Pulling off such a stupid idea is a testament to the creativity of director Isaac and first-time screenwriter Todd Farmer (who also has a small part as a victim).
Unlike the awful "Jason Goes to Hell," which also tried to meld the Jason mythos with a kind of sci-fi (having Jason being possessed by a slug-like entity that can jump from body to body), "Jason X" pays tribute to the original franchise while ripping off "Alien." We saw it with "Leprechaun in Space," but it's done better here.
The film starts in the near future, with Jason imprisoned in a research facility at Camp Crystal Lake. David Cronenberg has a cameo as a scientist who wants to prevent Jason from being frozen (they've already tried killing him unsuccessful) so that his body and its amazing regenerative abilities can be studied. Naturally, Jason gets loose and kills a bunch of people. One woman (Lexa Doig) is able to stop him, however, by freezing his body, and unintentionally freezing herself in the process.
Flash forward 400 or so years. An expedition of student scientists uncovers the frozen Jason and would-be victim at the facility, take them aboard a spaceship and head off to Earth II, the new habitat for humans (Earth has become unliveable). Once on board the ship, the story quickly takes on "Alien" dimensions, with the professor/head of the expedition hoping to preserve Jason for greedful reasons and Doig playing the Sigourney Weaver character, trying to warn everyone on board about the monster in their midst. Naturally, Jason comes to life, and the crew and 400-year-old girl survivor are forced to battle the monster/psychopath aboard the ship.
The movie is better than it sounds. The Jason formula -- man in hockey mask kills off sexually active teens -- even works in space. The fact that it was made by people who weren't ashamed of making a Jason movie also helps. Farmer's script actually delivers a high-octane action-packed ending, along with genuine scares and, of course, loads of self-mocking humor. Unlike other horror-actioners of late, the film does scare. You fear for these characters. Amazing but true. The film is also surprisingly gory. A man is cut in half. A woman's face is frozen then broken off. Jason's head explodes. The censors let the filmmakers get away with a lot more than they did in the 1980s.
The very best scene in the movie, however, is a virtual reality trip back to Camp Crystal Lake with Jason confronting campers again, and it makes one yearn for the days that his franchise stuck to its roots. But this is still the best film the series has produced since "Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives." Panned by critics, as all films in this franchise are, "Jason X" got some praise from fans, but flopped at the box office. It was followed by "Freddy vs. Jason."