This - the tenth Friday
the 13th instalment - is best approached with tongue firmly in cheek,
and best appreciated if you’re familiar with this long running horror series.
If you’re not, here’s a quick summary: Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is
a mass murderer with the uncanny ability to come back from the dead, no
matter how - or how often - he’s killed. As this film begins, Jason
has been captured and is imprisoned - Hannibal Lector-style - in a top-secret
research facility, but it’s not long before he escapes to continue his
killing spree. However, research assistant Rowan (Lexa Doig) outwits
Jason and manages to trap him in a cryogenic chamber and freeze him. Unfortunately,
Rowan is accidentally locked in the chamber with Jason and frozen as well.
Fast-forward to over 400 years later, where Rowan and Jason are thawed
out on a spaceship! Although the ship’s crew assures Rowan that Jason
poses no threat, it’s not long before the hockey masked killer is up to
his old tricks again, slaughtering the spaceship’s crew one by one.
Jason X is frequently
ridiculous and plays like a parody of the Friday the 13th films, with many
jokes aimed at aficionados of the long-running series. This time,
Jason is ridiculously indestructible: being riddled with bullets and even
blown up - twice! - doesn’t stop him! The murders, in true slasher
movie style, are varied and elaborate, (including death by stabbing, decapitation,
impalement and even liquid Nitrogen!), but because the film is played for
laughs, the gory murders are more ridiculous than repulsive. Although
funny, it’s a shame that the film mostly aims for easy laughs, when some
sharper humour at the expense of the Friday 13th films would have
been refreshing. Nevertheless, there’s still plenty to enjoy, including
some neat little jabs at the Alien
series, some inventive moments involving virtual reality and even a cameo
appearance by David Cronenberg!
