''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (stylized onscreen as ''Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI'') is a 1986 American

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

written and directed by

Tom McLoughlin Thomas Maurice "Tom" McLoughlin is an American screenwriter, film director, film/television director and former pantomime, mime who is most notable for directing ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' and ''One Dark Night''. His other credits ...

, and starring

Thom Mathews Thomas Mathews (born November 28, 1958) is an American actor best known for his role as Tommy Jarvis in the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise—in particular '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986)—and Freddy Hanscom in ''The Return of ...

, Jennifer Cooke, David Kagen, and C.J. Graham. It is a sequel to '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning'' (1985) and the sixth installment in the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise. It was the final film to feature

Tommy Jarvis Tommy Jarvis is a fictional character in the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise. He first appears in '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984) as a child interested in special effects who encounters a seemingly unstoppable slasher—Jason Voorh ...

(Mathews) as the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

and marked

Tony Goldwyn Anthony Howard Goldwyn (born May 20, 1960) is an American actor, singer, producer, director, and political activist. He made his debut appearing as Darren in the slasher film '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), and had his breakthr ...

's film debut. Continuing from the events of the previous film, the plot follows Tommy after he accidentally resurrects mass murderer

Jason Voorhees Jason Voorhees () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the Friday the 13th (franchise), ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in ''Friday the 13th (1980 film), Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-kil ...

(Graham) while attempting to destroy his body to ensure he will not return. While Jason returns to Crystal Lake for another killing spree, Tommy must overcome his fear of the masked killer that has haunted him for years and find a way to stop him once and for all. The original storyline had Tommy become the series' new antagonist, but after the poor reception of ''A New Beginning'', the producers instead brought Jason Voorhees back and no mention is made of the events from the previous film. In resurrecting Jason, McLoughlin made him an explicitly

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

force for the first time in the series. This version of Jason, an

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...

and more powerful

superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with abilities and other qualities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. ...

, would become the standard depiction for the rest of the series. The film also introduced metahumor,

Gothic horror Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean m ...

, and

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

elements, including shootouts and car chases, into the series. ''Jason Lives'' was the first in the series to receive a positive reception from critics since the original. In the years since its release, its self-referential humor and numerous instances of

breaking the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th centu ...

have been praised for prefiguring Kevin Williamson's ''Scream'' film series. ''Jason Lives'' is considered a fan favorite of the series, in addition to receiving positive notice from horror film historians. It grossed $19.5 million at the U.S.

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

on a budget of $3 million. The film was followed by '' Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood'' in 1988.

Plot

Following the events of the last film,

is released from the local Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He still suffers from flashbacks of the mass murderer

, whom he killed several years ago. Tommy returns to Crystal Lake, renamed Forest Green, to confront his fears, along with his friend Allen Hawes. The pair visit Jason's grave during a thunderstorm, intending to cremate the killer's body and finally end Tommy's nightmares. After digging up Jason's corpse, Tommy experiences another flashback of his last encounter with Jason. As he furiously impales Jason's body with a metal fence post, two lightning bolts strike the post; this restores Jason as a

revenant In folklore, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. The word ''revenant'' is derived from the Old French word (see also the related French verb ). Revenants are part o ...

with

superhuman strength Superhuman strength is a superpower commonly invoked in fiction and other literary works, such as mythology. A fictionalized representation of the phenomenon of hysterical strength, it is the power to exert force and lift weights beyond what is ...

. After killing Hawes, Jason dons his hockey mask (which Tommy has brought). Tommy flees to the sheriff's office, where he attempts to warn the police of Jason's return. Instead, Tommy is arrested and jailed by the selfish, egotistical, and mean-spirited Sheriff Mike Garris, who is aware of Tommy's institutionalization. Sheriff Garris presumes that Tommy is hallucinating Jason's return. On the road, camp counselors Darren Robinson and Lizbeth Mott get lost looking for Camp Forest Green. They discover Jason, who murders them both. The following morning, Garris' daughter Megan – a blonde with a wild streak – arrives at his station, along with her friends Sissy Baker, Cort Andrews, and Lizbeth's sister Paula. The four teenagers report Darren and Lizbeth missing. Tommy warns them about Jason, who is now considered an

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

. Despite her prompt attraction to him, Megan isn't sure whether to believe Tommy. In the woods, Jason happens upon a corporate

paintball Paintball is a competitive sport, competitive team sport, team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called Paintball equipment#Paintballs, paintballs that b ...

game; he crushes the player Burt's face into a tree, decapitates three other players, and dismembers Roy, the final player. He also commandeers a machete from the players. As children arrive at Camp Forest Green, the teen counselors do their best to run the camp. They keep wondering what has happened to Darren and Lizbeth. Meanwhile, Sheriff Garris opts to transfer Tommy out of his jurisdiction to prevent anyone else from hearing his rants about Jason's return. On the way out of town, Tommy makes a run for Jason's grave, which Martin, the caretaker, has covered up to deny responsibility for the grave being robbed. Hawes' body is buried in Jason's place. A handcuffed Tommy is escorted out of town by the Sheriff, who threatens him if he ever returns. That night, Jason butchers Martin, along with Steven Halavex and Annette Edwards, a nearby couple who happen to witness the murder. Meanwhile, Cort meets with a girl named Nikki Parsley. Jason stalks Cort and Nikki in their RV and lures them outside but the teen couple drives away. Jason pulls Nikki into the RV’s bathroom and kills her. Jason then kills Cort which flips the RV. Jason walks out. When Garris' men find Nikki's and Cort's bodies, Garris promptly implicates Tommy in the double murder. Garris is convinced that Tommy's "delusions" regarding Jason have driven him berserk. Tommy contacts Megan for help luring Jason back to Crystal Lake, and she agrees. Meanwhile, Jason makes his way to the camp. He kills both Sissy and Paula but refrains from harming the children. Elsewhere, Garris pulls Tommy and Megan over. She points out that Tommy has been with her for the past few hours; therefore, he could not have murdered Cort and Nikki. Nonetheless, Garris locks Tommy up and tells Megan he'll decide what to do with her later. Then Garris and two of his deputies Thornton and Pappas head out for the camp to arrest Tommy's (nonexistent) "accomplice". Instead, Jason attacks all three lawmen, forcing Garris to accept that Tommy is right all along. Megan breaks Tommy out of jail, and they rush to the camp. Garris is killed by Jason while trying to protect Megan. Jason is about to kill Megan when Tommy calls to him from a boat out on the lake; remembering his killer, Jason goes after Tommy instead. Tommy chains a boulder around Jason's neck, trapping him underwater, but Jason demolishes the boat and drags him beneath the lake's surface. When Megan dives in to rescue Tommy, Jason grabs her leg; she pushes Jason off using the boat's outboard motor, sending him to the bottom of Crystal Lake. Megan swims Tommy back to shore and revives him via

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

. Tommy says that Jason is finally home. The final shot shows Jason underwater, still alive, but powerless to free himself.

Cast

* Jennifer Cooke as Megan Garris * David Kagen as Sheriff Mike Garris * Renee Jones as Sissy Baker *

Kerry Noonan Kerry Noonan (born January 25, 1960) is a professor at Champlain College and a former actress. She was born in New York but spent most of her life in Los Angeles, from where she moved to Vermont in 2008. Acting career Kerry Noonan is best known ...

as Paula Mott *

Darcy DeMoss Darcy L. DeMoss (born August 19, 1963) is an American film and television actress whose credits include ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'', ''Eden'', ''Erotic Confessions'', ''Pale Blood'', ''Stickfighter'' and ''Vice Academy 3''. She playe ...

as Nikki Parsley * Tom Fridley as Cort Andrews *

Alan Blumenfeld Alan Blumenfeld (born September 4, 1952) is an American character actor, best known for his role in NBC's TV series ''Heroes (U.S. TV series), Heroes'' as Maury Parkman, the telepathy, telepath father of Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg, and ...

as Larry * Matthew Faison as Stan * Ann Ryerson as Katie *

as Darren Robinson * Nancy McLoughlin as Lizbeth Mott *

Ron Palillo Ronald Gabriel Palillo (April 2, 1949 – August 14, 2012) was an American actor and teacher. He was best known for his role as the endearingly dim-witted character Arnold Horshack on the ABC sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979). Ear ...

as Allen Hawes * C. J. Graham as

Vincent Guastaferro Vincent Guastaferro (born April 6, 1950) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is known for playing the recurring role of Sgt. Vincent Agostini in the American police procedural television series ''NYPD Blue''. Born in Jersey Cit ...

as Deputy Rick Cologne *

Michael Swan Michael Swan (born June 11, 1948) is an American film and TV actor. Early life Swan was born in San Jose, California, the son of actress Alys Lucille (née Wilkinson) and Donald Arthur Swan.Whitney Rydbeck as Roy * Bob Larkin as Martin * Wallace Merck as Burt * Tommy Nowell as Tyen * Justin Nowell as Billy * Temi Epstein as Little Girl * Michael Nomad as Officer Thornton *

Roger Rose Roger Rose is an American actor, known for such films as ''Ski Patrol'' and for voice work in animated films and television series such as ''Happy Feet'', ''Rugrats'', ''Scooby-Doo'', ''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'', and ''Quack Pack''. ...

as Steven Halavex * Cynthia Kania as Annette Edwards While C.J. Graham is credited as Jason Voorhees,

Dan Bradley Dan Bradley is an American stunt coordinator and second unit film director. He has worked on ''Independence Day'', ''Spider-Man 2'', ''Spider-Man 3'', ''The Bourne Supremacy'', '' The Bourne Ultimatum'', ''Superman Returns'', ''Indiana Jones and ...

appears uncredited as Jason in the paintball scene.

Production

Pre-production and writing

Although the previous film in the series, '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning'', had been a financial success, it had disappointed the ''

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year ...

'' series' fans and received some of the worst reviews of any film in the series. In order to prevent further alienating the fans (and thus potentially endangering the series), the producers decided to take the series in a new direction, moving it away from what producer Frank Mancuso Jr. called the "coarse" nature of ''A New Beginning''. To this end, Mancuso hired

, who had directed the successful horror film ''

One Dark Night ''One Dark Night'' (also known as ''Entity Force'') is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Tom McLoughlin, and starring Meg Tilly, E. G. Daily, and Adam West. It follows three teenagers sent to a mausoleum for the night as p ...

'' but was also known around Hollywood for shopping around various comedy scripts he had written, a dichotomy that appealed to Mancuso. McLoughlin was given free rein on how he would present the story, with the only condition being that he bring back

and make him the film's villain. McLoughlin decided to take the film in the direction of an old

Universal Monsters The Universal Monsters (also known as Universal Classic Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise comprising various horror film series distributed by Universal Pictures. It consists of different horror creature characters o ...

movie, specifically the 1931 version of ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'', which portrayed

Frankenstein's Monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

(

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

) as a lumbering killer brought to life by electricity. McLoughlin also drew from

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

lore in order to give Jason a weakness, namely being returned to his "home soil"; to achieve this, McLoughlin disregarded the idea presented in '' Part 2'' that Jason had survived his drowning, instead presenting the idea that Jason has always been some sort of supernatural force.Jason Lives Director's Commentary He also decided to

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

the ending of the fifth film, where

( John Shepherd) was a serial killer. In fact, Pam Roberts ( Melanie Kinnaman)'s truck from the fifth film can be seen indicating she is alive. In the "Tommy Tapes" for '' Friday the 13th: The Game'' (2017) written by Adam Green, it's explained that the ending of the fifth film was Tommy's dream. McLoughlin further decided to expand the series' thematic scope, incorporating

elements and

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

metahumor; when Jason is first encountered in the woods near Crystal Lake, the character Lizbeth Mott (Nancy McLoughlin) comments that she and Darren Robinson (

) should flee because she knows about proper conduct to survive a horror film. McLoughlin would further satirize the series itself, as Martin the gravedigger (Bob Larkin) comments on Jason's exhumation, "Why'd they have to go and dig up Jason?" before breaking the fourth wall and addressing the camera with the observation, "Some folks sure got a strange idea of entertainment." In addition to ''Frankenstein'', McLoughlin also cited as inspiration his love of

, particularly the works of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

, and his

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

upbringing; ''Jason Lives'' features the series' only explicit references to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, and during the climax Nancy Perry (Courtney Vickery), a praying girl, is spared by Jason ( C. J. Graham). A similar scene, in which Nancy prays for Tommy (

) while Megan Garris ( Jennifer Cooke) performs CPR, then mouths "Thank you" while looking skyward was deleted from the final cut of the movie, apparently against McLoughlin's wishes; he recalled in the 2009 DVD's director's commentary, "Somehow it didn't stay in... probably too much sentiment".

Casting

The decision to retcon the events of ''Part V'' resulted in many members of that film's cast—whose characters had survived—having their contracts to return for a sequel terminated. At one point in time when ''Jason Lives'' was being considered as a direct sequel to ''A New Beginning'' rather than to ''Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'', the surviving characters Pam and Reggie Winter (

Shavar Ross Shavar Ross is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, editor, photographer, author, online retail entrepreneur, and spiritual mentor and teacher. He is known for his recurring television role as Dudley Johnson, Arnold Ja ...

) from ''A New Beginning'' were to have died in the film's opening moments. Although Mancuso retained control over the film's casting, he deferred to McLoughlin's judgment; the only caveat was that the

final girl The final girl or survivor girl is a Trope (cinema), trope in horror films (particularly slasher films). It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been ob ...

had to be a "very attractive blonde". To fulfill this requirement, McLoughlin chose Jennifer Cooke, based on her performance in the television series '' V''. The role of Allen Hawes, Tommy's would-be sidekick who dies within the first five minutes of the movie, was given to another television veteran,

, famous for the role of Arnold Horshack on ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...

''. John Shepherd was asked to reprise his role as Tommy Jarvis from the previous film. Shepherd, an

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

who had reservations about returning to the series based on the atmosphere surrounding ''A New Beginning'', was attracted to ''Jason Lives'' based on the scene in which the praying Nancy is spared by Jason. He ultimately decided to film ''Caught'' and shortly thereafter retired from acting to go to

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

. Thom Mathews, who would take over the mantel of Tommy Jarvis, was chosen for his work in the horror comedy '' Return of the Living Dead'', although McLoughlin himself was unaware of Matthews' horror credentials until after shooting began. Other cast members were actors who McLoughlin had directed before (such as David Kagen, who was also an acting teacher for female lead Jennifer Cooke) and McLoughlin's own family—Jason's first female victim in the film, Lizbeth, was played by McLoughlin's wife, Nancy. In keeping with the series' tradition, the role of Jason was given to a stuntman,

. Bradley, however, was replaced shortly thereafter by C. J. Graham. Bradley's involvement during the paintball scene is kept.

Filming

After the first day of filming, Mancuso decided that he disliked Bradley's appearance onscreen as Jason. Although the scenes that Bradley filmed—in which Jason kills the paintball playing executives—were kept in the completed picture, the rest of Jason's scenes were performed by C. J. Graham, an area restaurant manager and former soldier. As part of a stage show put on at a restaurant, a magician would hypnotize audience members and place them in a scenario during which they encountered Jason Voorhees; Graham, who stood 6'3 and weighed 250 lbs, was asked to play Jason for the scenario. ''Jason Lives'' special effects coordinator, Martin Becker, was in the audience for one such show, and recommended Graham to Mancuso and McLoughlin. Both men were impressed with Graham's presence, and he was hired to film the remainder of Jason's scenes. ''Jason Lives'' is the only film in the franchise to contain no nudity; the characters in the film's sole sex scene are both fully clothed, a conscious move on McLoughlin's part to distance the ''Friday the 13th'' films from their perception as morality tales in which premarital sex is punished by death. McLoughlin was pressured by the film's producers to have

remove her shirt during the RV sex scene, but he only suggested the idea to Demoss, who refused. ''Jason Lives'' was filmed in

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,192. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the Unite ...

, an area close to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The scenes involving the police department and town were filmed in Covington, while the camp scenes were filmed at Camp Daniel Morgan outside the city limits of Covington. In the film, Camp Crystal Lake has been renamed Lake Forest Green. Surrounding Camp Daniel Morgan are

Smokey Bear Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service in the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in United States history to ...

signs asking everyone to "Keep the Forests Green". Some of the climactic moments in the lake were actually filmed in the swimming pool of McLoughlin's father. McLoughlin ruined the pool's filter in the process (it was jammed by gore churned into the water when Jason is hit with the boat propeller).

Post-production

McLoughlin's attempt to deliver a "different" kind of ''Friday the 13th'' film were met with skepticism from the producers. In contrast to the series' other entries, which had to be edited for violence in order to avoid an "X" rating, the film's producers requested that McLoughlin add more gore, violence, and murders to the film. The original cut of the film contained 13 killings as an in-joke; in order to appease the studio, McLoughlin had to add an additional three killings, bringing the total up to 16. These were the killings of Martin the gravedigger, and the recently engaged couple Steven Halavex (

) and Annette Edwards (Cynthia Kania) on a nighttime picnic. McLoughlin later said he felt the shot in which the picnicking man Steven realizes that he's been spotted by Jason to be the film's scariest moment. Additionally, McLoughlin was made to extend Sissy Baker (

Renée Jones Renée Jones is a former American dramatic actress. Jones is best known for playing Lexie Carver on NBC's long-running soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', a role she began in 1993. She has been nominated five times for the NAACP Image Awards, NAA ...

)'s death, adding the shots of Jason dragging her to the ground and twisting her head off; as originally filmed, Sissy was simply pulled out of the cabin window, and wasn't seen again until Megan finds her head in the squad car. McLoughlin also found himself in contention with the producers over how the film should end. In the original script, the movie was supposed to have concluded in the graveyard, with Martin the gravedigger meeting Jason's father, Elias—a heretofore unseen character in the series—with the implication that Elias knows Jason has been resurrected and has come looking for him. The studio balked at the scene, as they did not want the responsibility of having to introduce Elias' backstory in the next installment. Additionally, the added murder of Martin made the scene a continuity error. This ending would have tied up a continuity error from ''A New Beginning'', when it is mentioned that Jason was cremated. A deleted scene from ''Jason Lives'' had Tommy asking Sheriff Mike Garris (Kagen) why Jason wasn't cremated, as had been planned, at which point Garris informs him that someone paid the city to bury Jason; Elias' handing Martin a wad of money would have indicated that he was the man who paid for Jason's burial. The scene was later storyboarded for inclusion on the film's "Deluxe Edition" DVD release, with Bob Larkin reprising his role as Martin to provide voiceover. Elias, like Jason, was scripted to be completely silent. McLoughlin ultimately shot three endings, two of which were not included on the film's DVD release. In one ending, Jason's mask floats to the surface of Crystal Lake, having become detached during his struggle with Megan. In another, Deputy Rick Cologne (

) tries to reach the jail cell keys after having been locked in by Tommy and Megan; the door to the police station opens and the film abruptly ends, indicating that Jason managed to get free. The producers disliked both of these endings, as each one left Jason's survival ambiguous, and wanted it explicitly shown onscreen that he was still capable of returning for a sequel. As a result, McLoughlin shot the film's used ending, showing a closeup of Jason's open, twitching eye.

Music

The film's music was composed by Harry Manfredini, who composed the scores to all of the series' previous installments. In addition to the original score, the soundtrack also featured: * "

He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask) "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" is a song by American rock musician Alice Cooper. It was released as the lead single from his 1986 album '' Constrictor'' and was used as the theme song for the motion picture '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jaso ...

" by

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

, from his album '' Constrictor'' * "I'm No Animal" by

Felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

, from their album ''Vigilante'' * " Teenage Frankenstein" by Alice Cooper, from his album ''Constrictor'' * "Hard Rock Summer" by Alice Cooper, from the box set ''The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper'' "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" had an accompanying music video, combining clips from the film with new footage featuring Cooper. 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. Unlike Parts 1-5, which utilized the films sound stems as a source for the music, Manfredini had the original master tapes in his possession and it was this source that was used to remaster the audio. It sold out in less than 24 hours, with this disc being reissued on September 13, 2019, using the same 2012 master.

Reception

Box office

''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' opened on August 1, 1986, in 1,610 theaters and grossed $6.7 million in its opening weekend, ranking number two at the US box office. Ultimately, it would go on to gross a total of $19.4 million, ranking at number 46 on the list of the year's top earners, though still a financial success, its 5,248,533 admissions were the lowest number of tickets sold of any ''Friday the 13th'' film up to that point.

Critical response

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' holds an approval rating of 58% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "''Friday the 13th: Part VI - Jason Lives'' indeed brings back ol' Voorhees, along with a sense of serviceable braindead fun." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described the film as predictable but "reasonably slick". Caryn James of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it "a gory waste of time", citing numerous logic problems and stating that McLoughlin's injecting humor into the series, while successful, was not enough to liven up the predictability of the story.

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' similarly judged that while the film's self-referential humor was good enough to make it the best film in the series, it was not enough to take away from the story being essentially the same as in the previous five installments. He gave it 1 1/2 stars. In a 2012 retrospective review, Ken Hanke of ''

Mountain Xpress The ''Mountain Xpress'' is an alternative newspaper covering news, arts, local politics, and events in Asheville and western North Carolina, US. Published each Wednesday in print and online, it has a print circulation of about 29,000. The Mountai ...

'' wrote that it "may not be exactly a good movie in the strict sense, but it's easily the best in the series", noting that he had seen all ten installments which had been released at the time. David Nusair said the film has "probably the most effective pre-credits sequence in the entire franchise ... just the sort of appreciatively ludicrous interlude that's generally been sorely missing from this pervasively dull series". However, he felt the bulk of the film, while an improvement over the previous two installments, suffered from tedious pacing and a lack of gore. He gave it two out of four stars, the same rating he gave to six out of the series' ten installments.

Other media

Novelization

A novelization of ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' was written by

Simon Hawke Simon Hawke (born September 30, 1951) is an American author of mainly science fiction and fantasy novels. He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also writ ...

in 1986; notably, the novelization features an appearance by a Mr. Voorhees, Jason's father who was originally meant to appear in the film but was cut. The book also includes various flashbacks to Jason's childhood and the backstories of characters such as Tommy and Sheriff Garris are also expanded.

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Film page at the ''Camp Crystal Lake'' web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1980s American films 1980s English-language films Friday Part 6 1986 films 1986 horror films American sequel films American slasher films Films about father–daughter relationships Films about summer camps Films directed by Tom McLoughlin Films scored by Harry Manfredini Films set in 1990 Films set in New Jersey Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Films with screenplays by Tom McLoughlin

Jason Lives ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (stylized onscreen as ''Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI'') is a 1986 American slasher film written and directed by Tom McLoughlin, and starring Thom Mathews, Jennifer Cooke, David Kagen, and C.J. Gr ...

Paramount Pictures films Resurrection in film Supernatural slasher films English-language horror films