A Nightmare from Friday to Halloween: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

The three most prominent American horror franchises (Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street) have influenced American cinema even beyond the horror genre. As of 2021, there are exactly 31 movies across all three franchises, and I am going to attempt to watch all of them, for this Halloween, one per day.

I’m surprised that this movie’s subtitle isn’t parodied more. I’ve heard enough of (random Movie title) 2: Electric Boogaloo, but I need more movie titles like Minions 2: Gru Takes Alaska or some similar nonsense. The whole getting Jason to Manhattan is one sweaty as hell exercise that presupposes that a cruise ship would go inland for a graduation party rather than into, I don’t know, international waters. I do appreciate that Jason gets a change in scenery and he gets to be murderous in different locations. Also, I swear the whole toxic waste in the sewer thing was giving me serious Ninja Turtles vibes. There has got to be fanfiction of a Jason vs. the Ninja Turtles crossover somewhere, because if there isn’t, that’s money in the bank. I don’t really have much else to say about this movie except that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, though again, that’s a pretty damn low bar for this franchise.