Customer Reviews

Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood (Deluxe Edition)

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

This is easily one of the better efforts in the Friday series but it suffers just like the rest of them from cuts, cuts, cuts. This is, apparently, one of the most cut entries by far as the MPAA rejected many of the more elaborate gore effects. Director John Carl Buechler is a respected makeup effects man and was a good choice to helm a Friday flick. A lot was put into the effects, especially for Jason. This marks Kane Hodder's first turn as the hockey-masked killer, and he gets the best makeup effects for the role.

The New Blood's Jason is a full-blown, rotting, hulking zombie. Check out the exposed ribs and spinal column under the shredded clothes. We also get a look at Jason's face, or what's left of it (including a big hole in the cheek, exposed teeth, rotting flesh, etc). That alone is enough for fans to check out the film, even if you're just a casual horror fan.

The ::ahem:: story involves Tina (Lar Park Lincoln), a Carrie-like teen girl who travels back to Crystal Lake years after an unfortunate and uncontrolled episode with her telekinetic powers led to her father's death. Accompanying her are her mother and her psychiatrist. The latter is played by none other than Terry Kiser, aka Bernie Lomax from Weekend at Bernie's(!) Being a psychiatrist in a horror film, he's naturally evil, trying to exploit the girl's powers for his own gains. (At one point Tina finds newspaper clippings about Jason and the murders in the doctor's desk along with a gun. It's never made entirely clear whether he was concerned and afraid of their surroundings or if he wanted to use Tina to raise Jason from the dead).

Next door to the not-so-happy family, of course, a house full of young, stupid, would-be victims. (Apparently the brutal murders occuring regularly around the lake still don't detract vacationers!)

Well, once Tina raises Jason from the dead (involuntarily) the action gets under way. And he's quite busy, as this has easily one of the highest Friday body counts. Ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah... Our young vacationers are dispatched with a lovely array of sharp objects, gardening tools, and even a plastic party horn(!) Jason also repeats himself a bit by simply throwing one girl out the window, and crushing some poor sap's head. All of the murders are edited down until there's little blood and gore. What sets this Friday apart from the others in terms of cutting is the fact that Buechler himself has tried hard to petition Paramount to release a proper DVD version of the film with all of the material he had to cut for an R rating restored.

This, of course, is NOT that DVD.

Among the blood and guts left on the cutting room floor (ha!) is the death of good 'ol Bernie Lomax. Jason gets all handyman on us when he employs some kind of weed-wacker with a big circular saw blade on the doctor. You see almost nothing on this DVD, but apparently this was all quite grisly with innards flying everywhere. Supposedly one of--if not the--best effects in the film was trimmed as well. That would be the axe-in-the-face effect on that cheesy preppy guy by the lake. Melissa's death (by axe to head) was also quite special, according to Buechler.

Sure, it's sick. But isn't that why we watch these films? Why won't Paramount give us all a fair shake? And for a director of one of these classics to come out and lobby hard for a restored release--how great is that?

This is definitely one of my favorite Friday flicks. I would just love to see the rest of it. The tone of these films is dampened by all of the cuts and choppy edits in the murder portions.

This DVD is not recommended unless you reeeally want it or if you've worn out your VHS copy. Also, what the heck is going on with the artwork on these DVDs?! Check out the cover of this, or of Part VI. What's up? They can't get the original artwork? Completely, utterly lame.

Spoilers ahead.Read with caution.

Despite the relatively poor reviews it's received and the heavy lack of gore,Friday 7 is actually pretty cool and in my opinion is the fourth best of the F13th series (6,4 and 2 being the others). The script is a bit laughable.A girl with psychic powers that has the ability to lift objects and use them as weapons.It is a bit dumb,but all in all works out well.Jason looks REAL ugly and scary in this one (wait until he's unmasked.You'll probably faint because he looks so gruesome and disgusting).The acting isn't too bad,but is a bit laughable in parts (example,at one point Nick finds his brother Michael impaled on a tree branch.He just stands there.Would've you screamed in terror or had a heart attack if you found a friend or family member like that?) The best actor of the whole film overall is undoubtably Kane Hodder.His performance as Jason is very menacing and devilish and breathes countless amounts of life into the character.You've never seen an actor quite like him.The special F/X are Ok,but the film really shines in the make-up department.As I said earlier,Jason looks very gross when he's unmasked. It's truly the definitive Jason.You can see his spine,rib-cage and various other bones exposed. He looks fantastic.The scares are terrific.Creepy music and a very dark atmosphere make this a horribly scary movie.My only gripe is the severe lack of gore.There's hardly any.Hopefully,as Squall suggests,a remastered VHS and the DVD will contain cut footage,deleted scenes and loads of extras.At least the film's bloodier than Part 8. Overall,Friday 7 is a very enjoyable and scary chapter of the series.It's a lot better than Parts 8 and 9 (as well as Parts 1,3 and 5),but it's not quite as good as Parts 2,4 and 6.It's still excellent though.Rated R for mild slasher violence,mild profanity,brief drug use and some nudity.

"Friday the 13th Part 7 - The New Blood" is definitely one of the top 3 movies of the series if you ask me. Years ago, a young Tina got mad at her father and wished that he was dead after he hit her mom. Somehow, that brought Jason back to life and he killed her father. Now Tina is a teenager and she has telekinetic powers, and she's hurt over her dad being dead. She can see things before they happen and she can move and control objects by concentrating on them. She has to deal with a not so trustworthy doctor who tricks her and doesn't seem to believe her story about Jason. Tina must find a way to use her special powers to overcome Jason Voorhees before he kills everybody around the area of Crystal Lake, including herself.

"Friday the 13th Part 7 - The New Blood" is great because it is real interesting from the start, and it has great acting. In this sequel, Jason Voorhees is more relentless as a killer than he has been in the past 6 movies. It just seems he won't give up and that nothing will kill him, and that's another thing that really makes this movie stand out from the previous 6 movies in the series. If you like the other Friday the 13th movies, or great slash'em up horror flicks, I definitely recommend getting this one.

Part 7 of the Friday the 13th series is really a good movie. The story is a little over-the-top,with Tina and her telepathic abilities,but hey it's a Jason movie. Kane Hodder rocks as the psyco serial killer because of the attitude and pure menicing look he gives Jason, plus the special effects for the movie and just Jason specifically are awesome(You can see his bones in some places and he actually looks like he has been at the bottom of a lake for a while). And nothing can beat how Jason's mask crackes and blows in half at the end!!!!! I really like this movie and I think it is seconded only by Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives.

This movie is one of the best FRIDAY films, my fave bit, personally, is where Jason puts the Bushmaster 2000 through Dr Crews's stomach (he deserved it, the bastard).

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD DVD

*** ½ Out of 5

Release Date- September 15th, 2009

THE MOVIE
Considered by many fans to be the best sequel and by some the best of the series; I have to disagree on both accounts, but The New Blood was a fun entry into the series. Not exactly a classic of the genre, but generally well made and fun.

PACKAGE DESIGN
I was never fond of the original artwork for the movie, but this new artwork I personally think is rather lousy; it isn't the worst artwork, but I just didn't care for it.

AUDIO COMMENTARY- John Carl Buechler, Kane Hodder, Lar Park-Lincoln
Buechler and Hodder record a new commentary track, Hodder does his over the phone with Buechler on the other end. Lar Park-Lincoln though isn't with them and her track and Hodder's and Buechler's are edited together.

JASON'S DESTROYER: THE MAKING OF THE NEW BLOOD- 15:04
This was a strong feature that mostly covers the battles with the MPAA and how they had to cut the movie down to avoid an X-Rating and also covered is John Carl Buechler's battles with the Associate Producer over the vision of the movie; I'm sure most fans of the series probably already know everything brought up, but it's still a fun watch. Interviews with John Carl Buechler, Lar Park-Lincoln, Kane Hodder, Kevin Blair, Barry Zetlin, Diana Barrows, Elizabeth Kaitan, Fred Mollin, John Otrin

SLASHED SCENES- 16:13
This was sort of seen on the Crystal Lake to Manhattan set; the set featured the cut gore scenes with Buechler and Hodder doing a commentary; this time around the commentary is gone and more scenes were added that were cut from the final cut. Most of the footage is weak looking with some of the footage almost being unwatchable; the gore scenes are great to see, but the rest of what was cut isn't anything special and was better off being left on the cutting room floor, but it's still nice to see.

MIND OVER MATTER: THE TRUTH ABOUT TELEKINESS- 7:22
Decent feature that is too brief to really be too good; interesting, but like I said too short to be much.

MAKE OVER MADDY NEED A LITTLE TOUCH UP WORK MY A**- 2:39
This feature is with Elizabeth Kaitan and Diana Barrows and was a nice filler feature; nothing special, but semi entertaining.

TRANSFER
Mastered in High-Definition, The New Blood is nice improvement over the original DVD release; flesh tones look a lot better and the colors are far more detailed and overall any details lost in the old DVD are improved upon in the new transfer; there is some grain through the movie, but it's never distracting. I own the first 3 on Blu-ray and the rest on the Deluxe Editions and all are improvements over the original DVDs any details lost on the old transfers are found in the new ones, but is still feel The Final Chapter is the only one that got enhanced by the new transfer seeing as the original DVD looked like a high quality VHS; overall The New Blood has a really excellent transfer and this shows DVD can still look excellent if the time is put into it; The Final Chapter is still my favorite of the HD transfers, but The New Blood looks strong and is in my opinion as good as the first 2 movies on Blu-ray.

AUDIO

5.1 Surround
2.1 Surround

The sound is strong, but never really enhances the movie in my opinion.

FINAL WORDS ON THE DISC
Overall this was a fairly decent release at the end of the day the disc doesn't really have all that much, but it's still nice to have a legit SE DVD for the film. Sadly this is still R-rated and I would have liked to have seen Paramount attempt to re-master the footage a little bit and put it back into the film; with some decent extras and a nice transfer I'd recommend the DVD to fans of the series.

With Jason Voorhees how having evolved into a nearly unstoppable monster, "The New Blood" introduces a new adversary for the masked one in the form of a mentally-shaky telepathic teenage girl. Not as full-throtle horror as "Jason Lives" but sexier, inventive, and perhaps the most visually spectacular chapter to this point, "F13 VII" succeeds in every sense of the word. Also features one of the greatest climaxes in Friday history, in a series where even the weaker chapters almost invariably pick up markedly toward the end (except for 1 particular chapter, which I've already chastised too much in previous reviews, to the point where I'm starting to feel uncomfortably Scrooge-like). Fantastic special effects, worthy of Oscar condsideration, although I think the Academy usually doesn't consider movies like to this due to political correctness, especially in the 80s, when the politicians's yammering was at its shrillest. That shouldn't detract from the excellent work that went into making "The New Blood" one of the technically-soundest Fridays, and one of the best chapters overall in a great series.

As an interesting sidenote: the year this came out, four other legendary and long-running horror lines also put out outstanding entries: "Hellbound" (the secon "Hellraiser"), the first "Child's Play", "Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers", and the fourth "Nightmare On Elm Street" movie ("The Dream Master"). All among the top ten horror movies of 1988 (one of horror's greatest years), and all extremely recommended, as is The New Blood.

Okay, even I had to admit that when I first saw that Friday The 13th Part VII was coming out at my local theatre I was shocked. Not shocked because they had made another, that was almost to be expected (especially with the ending to Part VI), but that I wasn't even sure what else they could do! Well, needless to say that I was impressed to see an original idea: a young girl with telekinesis to play our young blonde heroine. This movie ended up being my second favorite in the series and gives me exactly what I expect in a Jason film!

It's probably a few years after Tommy Jarvis drowned Jason in the bottom of Crystal Lake and now a young girl named Tina has just seen her father hit her mother one too many times. Tina runs out to the dock and begins to flee in a boat. When her father makes it outside to plead with her to stay, we get to see that Tina is much more than your average child when she uses telekinesis to destroy the dock her father is on and accidentally pin him underwater (next to Jason, of course). We then fast forward to Tina in her early twenties (if you're timelining the Jason series we're near the 22nd century by now) returning to Crystal Lake to finish her therapy and try to be "normal" again. As always happens in this series, the house next door is being rented by a bunch of teenagers and all sorts of parties, sex, drugs, and other naughty behaviors of youth are guaranteed. The very night she arrives Tina attempts to bring her father back and accidentally brings Jason back to life instead! It's only a matter of time before Jason begins to see his woods getting tainted by young kids behaving badly and the killing starts.

This installment had a good dose of everything in my opinion. It had an interesting storyline (far fetched, maybe, but interesting nonetheless), it had some great gory inventive scenes (weed wacker!), and it had plenty of cheesy lines and pointless nudity. The hands down best part of this film has to be the final fifteen minutes. We get a mano-a-mano faceoff between Tina and Jason in plenty of different atmospheres complete with the removal of Jason's mask so we can see just how deformed his hideous mug is at this point!

Terry Kiser (Weekend At Bernie's) makes an appearence as Tina's doctor, Dr. Crews, and although he gives a pretty weak performance, it's still a familiar face. If you were a fan of 80's and 90's "B" films (Vice Academy anyone?) then you should notice Elizabeth Kaitan playing Robin. Lar Park-Lincoln plays the strong willed Tina and although she seems constantly disturbed, does a pretty decent Carrie impression. The most noticed addition is Kane Hodder playing Jason (he plays the role in Parts VII-X), he gives the role such a large presence along with a real expressionistic feel to Jason's movements (yes, it's possible to ACT as Jason!).

The DVD is, again, standard, but ultimately a disappointment in my book. We get the movie in widescreen, we get an upgrade to 5.1 surround sound (yeah!), and we get the trailer. The reason it's a let down is that it is obvious that many scenes in this movie were cut (half of the really good deaths are cut-aways or we don't even see the wounds) and I feel that this would have made for a great unrated edition! Paramount, yet again, claims these were lost scenes, but I don't buy it for a second! This movie was clearly hacked to pieces and if it were completely uncut I'm pretty sure it would be bumped up to number 1 in my book! This movie still has everything I wanted out of a Jason film and should be purchased along with Part IV and VI before any others are even considered!

Jason's movies are many;
Part Five was a bomb, Part Eight was a dud.
The best of the series?
Definitely "The New Blood!"

For a white-hot babe,
(You know who I'm thinkin')
you can't go far wrong
when you choose Lar Park Lincoln.

A more frightening Jason,
(chasing Susan Blu's daughter)
portrayed to perfection
by tough-man Kane Hodder

I'm afraid of his mask
and his rotating saw,
but nothing's more chilling than
"Ch-ch-ah-ah!"

This movie, unlike the others in the Friday series, has GREAT special effects: Jason gets electricuted, on fire, houses blow-up, just simply phenominal. Second best in the Friday series.(Best is Part 4-Final Chapter) If you like a pure thriller/slasher movie, you will enjoy this movie beginning to end.

Special effects: 5/5
Thrill/intensity level: 4.5/5
Acting/directing: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4.35/5